180-572: Somerset House is a large building complex situated on the south side of the Strand in central London , overlooking the River Thames , just east of Waterloo Bridge . The Georgian era quadrangle was built on the site of a Tudor palace ("Old Somerset House") originally belonging to the Duke of Somerset in 1547. The present Somerset House was designed by Sir William Chambers , begun in 1776, and
360-434: A barracks for troops. Suffering from neglect, Old Somerset House began to be demolished in 1775. Since the middle of the 18th century there had been growing criticism that London had no great public buildings. Government departments and the learned societies were huddled away in small old buildings all over the city. Developing national pride found comparison with the capitals of continental Europe disquieting. Edmund Burke
540-574: A 224-year association of the revenue services with Somerset House. In 1842, the Excise Office had established a laboratory within its Broad Street headquarters for the prevention of the adulteration of tobacco products. It had started as basically a one-man operation by an employee of the Excise, George Phillips. After the Excise Office had been merged with the Office of Stamps and Taxes to form
720-401: A Roman bath. The refurbished palace was the setting for elaborate entertainments at the wedding of Anne's lady in waiting Jean Drummond on 3 February 1614, including a masque Hymen's Triumph written by Samuel Daniel . On 22 May 1614, Christian IV of Denmark paid a surprise visit to his sister. In 1619, King James granted the palace to Prince Charles . Frances Coke, Viscountess Purbeck
900-530: A chapel where Henrietta Maria of France , the wife of King Charles I , could exercise her Roman Catholic religion . This was in the care of the Capuchin Order and was on a site to the southwest of the Great Court. A small cemetery was attached and some of the tombstones are still to be seen built into one of the walls of a passage under the present quadrangle. Royal occupation of Somerset House
1080-667: A daughter of Esmé Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox , Margaret Wood , and members of the Ochiltree Stewart family . James invited Scottish lairds including Robert Mure of Caldwell to send gifts of hackney horses for the queen's ladies to ride. Anne bought her ladies and maidens of honour matching clothes and riding outfits, made by her Danish tailor Pål Rei and furrier Henrie Koss, and the Scottish tailors Peter Sanderson and Peter Rannald supervised by her master of Wardrobe, Søren Johnson . She had an African servant , noted in
1260-522: A direct hit in October 1940. Still more windows were shattered and balustrades toppled, but the worst was over by the end of May 1941. It was not until the 1950s that this damage to the South Wing was repaired. The work required skilled masons, whose services were hard to come by in the early post-war years. Sir Albert Richardson was appointed architect for the reconstruction. He skillfully recreated
1440-512: A gentleman of her bedchamber, wrote that in Scotland Anne would intercede with James on behalf of honest courtiers, if she heard that he was stirred up against them by "wrong information" or slander. In their first years of marriage, James VI and Anne of Denmark personally dressed in costume and took part in masques at the weddings of courtiers. These performances typically involved music, dance, and disguise. Between 1593 and 1595, James
1620-598: A ground-floor library, an apartment in the attic and a kitchen in the basement. The Geological Society was also accommodated in the Somerset House from 1828, as was the Royal Astronomical Society from 1834. The annual Royal Academy Exhibition was held in Somerset House from 1780 onwards, until the academy moved out in 1837 (initially to rooms in the new National Gallery , then to Burlington House , Piccadilly ). Its former accommodation
1800-551: A group of tourists staying the night at Trafalgar Square while about to embark for the Rhineland . The chorus of "Let's all go down the Strand – have a banana" is now recognised as a stereotypical part of Cockney music hall and parodied by English comedian Bill Bailey . John Betjeman used the title of the song for a television documentary made for Associated-Rediffusion in 1967. The same year, Margaret Williams used it for
1980-809: A headquarters building was constructed in the West Court (between the West Wing and the New Wing) for the Civil Service Rifles , a Rifle Volunteer Corps . By the start of the First World War the Civil Service Rifles, by then renamed the 15th (Prince of Wales' Own Civil Service Rifles) Battalion, The London Regiment , had its own Morris tube firing range (where the calibre of the rifle is reduced for indoor operation by
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#17327650843222160-519: A hunting session at Theobalds . After his initial rage, James smoothed things over by giving her a £2,000 diamond in memory of the dog, whose name was Jewel. Anne enjoyed living in London, while James preferred to escape the capital, most often at his hunting lodge in Royston . Anne's chaplain, Godfrey Goodman , later summed up the royal relationship: "The King himself was a very chaste man, and there
2340-556: A letter he had written to her in French : "Only to one who knows me as well as his own reflection in a glass could I express, my dearest love, the fears which I have experienced because of the contrary winds and violent storms since you embarked ...". Anne's letters arrived in October explaining that she had abandoned the crossing. She wrote, in French; we have already put out to sea four or five times but have always been driven back to
2520-738: A letter to Mar as "wilfulness". James wrote to Anne that he had not received accusations from Mar's supporters that her actions at Stirling were motivated by religious factionalism or "Spanish courses". He reminded her that she was "a king's daughter" but "whether ye a king's or a cook's daughter, ye must be all alike to me, being once my wife", and so she should have respected the confidence he, her husband, had placed in Mar. The French ambassador in London, Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully , heard that Anne would bring and exhibit her embalmed still-born male child in England in order to dispel false rumours about
2700-461: A lightweight queen, frivolous and self-indulgent. However, 18th-century writers including Thomas Birch and William Guthrie considered her a woman of "boundless intrigue". Recent reappraisals acknowledge Anne's assertive independence and, in particular, her dynamic significance as a patron of the arts during the Jacobean age . Anne was born on 12 December 1574 at the castle of Skanderborg on
2880-590: A matchmaker, however, Sophie proved more diligent than Frederick and, overcoming sticking points on the amount of the dowry and the status of Orkney , she sealed the agreement by July 1589. Anne herself seems to have been thrilled with the match. On 28 July 1589, the English spy Thomas Fowler reported that Anne was "so far in love with the King's Majesty as it were death to her to have it broken off and hath made good proof divers ways of her affection which his Majestie
3060-413: A plot. After a brief convalescence from the miscarriage , Anne travelled from Stirling to Edinburgh, where several English ladies had gathered, hoping to join her court, including Lucy, Countess of Bedford and Frances Howard, Countess of Kildare . Anne ordered a new gown of figured taffeta and had her white satin gown refashioned. New clothes were bought for her entourage, and her jester Tom Durie
3240-484: A shop at No. 435 in 1891. It moved to No. 391 in 1893, and is now currently based at No. 399. The Strand Palace Hotel was designed by F.J.Wills and constructed in 1925–1930. The entrance was rebuilt in 1968, with the original being moved to the Victoria and Albert Museum . The Strand underwent extensive redevelopment in the mid-20th century. The length of road from St Mary's eastwards up to St Clement's
3420-429: A stage comedy. Australian-born composer Percy Grainger used the name for his 1911 piano trio Handel in the Strand . Virginia Woolf wrote about the Strand in several of her essays, including "Street Haunting: A London Adventure," and the novel Mrs. Dalloway . T. S. Eliot alluded to the Strand in his 1905 poem "At Graduation" and in his 1922 poem "The Waste Land" (part III, The Fire Sermon, v. 258: "and along
3600-416: A supposed assault on the King, triggered the dismissal of their sisters Beatrix and Barbara Ruthven as ladies-in-waiting to Anne, with whom they were "in chiefest credit." The Queen, who was five months pregnant, refused to get out of bed unless they were reinstated and stayed there for two days, also refusing to eat. When James tried to command her, she warned him to take care how he treated her because she
3780-512: A three-hundred-strong retinue to fetch his wife personally. He arrived in Oslo on 19 November after travelling by land from Flekkefjord via Tønsberg . According to a Scottish account, he presented himself to Anne, "with boots and all", and, disarming her protests, gave her a kiss, in the Scottish fashion. Anne and James were formally married in hall of the Old Bishop's Palace in Oslo , then
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#17327650843223960-588: A use of a tube) fitted with vanishing and running targets at Somerset House. Somerset House had its share of trials and tribulations during the London blitz in the Second World War . Apart from comparatively minor blast effects at various times, sixteen rooms and the handsome rotunda staircase (the Nelson Stair) were completely destroyed in the South Wing, and a further 27 damaged in the West Wing by
4140-403: A willingness to use factional Scottish politics in her conflicts with James over the custody of Prince Henry and his treatment of her friend Beatrix Ruthven . Anne appears to have loved James at first, but the couple gradually drifted and eventually lived apart, though mutual respect and a degree of affection survived. In England, Anne shifted her energies from factional politics to patronage of
4320-413: A work "frankly derivative" of Somerset House. Chambers' own influences stemmed from Palladianism , the principles of which were applied throughout Somerset House, inside and outside, both in its large-scale conception and in its small-scale details. The footprint of the building was that of the old palace, ranging from its gateway block in the Strand across what was originally a gently sloping site down to
4500-466: A yearly income of 40,000 crowns. If she became a widow she would be independent of her son, Prince Henry. Anne would be able to grant leases of her English manors. An advisory committee was appointed to manage the property and income in England. She would continue to draw an income from her Scottish jointure properties. A similar commission for her Scottish properties had been appointed in April 1603 under
4680-458: Is apt enough to requite." Fowler's insinuation, that James preferred men to women, would have been hidden from the fourteen-year-old Anne, who devotedly embroidered shirts for her fiancé while 300 tailors worked on her wedding dress. Whatever the truth of the rumours, James required a royal match to preserve the Stuart line. "God is my witness", he explained, "I could have abstained longer than
4860-536: The Antonine Itinerary , and which later became known by the name Akeman Street . It was briefly part of a trading town called Lundenwic that developed around 600 AD, and stretched from Trafalgar Square to Aldwych . Alfred the Great gradually moved the settlement into the old Roman town of Londinium from around 886 AD onwards, leaving no mark of the old town, and the area returned to fields. In
5040-518: The Battle of Glenlivet . He wrote to Anne inviting her to join him as he tried to discover the whereabouts of rebel lords. She did not make the journey. The controversy over the prince continued, with public scenes in which James reduced her to rage and tears over the issue. Anne became so bitterly upset that in July 1595 she suffered a miscarriage. Thereafter, she outwardly abandoned her campaign, but it
5220-548: The Bishop of Carlisle , Salisbury House, used for royal lodgings in the 15th and 16th centuries, Bedford House demolished in 1704, Hungerford House, which was demolished and replaced, in turn, by Hungerford Market and Charing Cross station and Northumberland House , a large Jacobean mansion, the historic London residence of the Dukes of Northumberland ; built in 1605 and demolished in 1874. Northumberland Avenue now occupies
5400-453: The Board of Works , was commissioned to design and build the new Somerset House, but he died in 1775 shortly after being appointed. So Sir William Chambers , Comptroller of the King's Works , (who had in any case been vying for the commission) was appointed in his stead, at a salary of £2,000 per year. He spent the last two decades of his life, beginning in 1775, in several phases of building at
5580-581: The City of London , and is part of the A4 , a main road running west from inner London. The road's name comes from the Old English strond , meaning the beach or edge of a river, as it historically ran alongside the north bank of the River Thames . The river side of the street was home to grand houses, interspersed with slum alleys, between the 12th and 17th centuries. Historically important mansions built between
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5760-776: The Duchy of Cornwall Office Act 1854 (17 & 18 Vict. c. 93), was passed, noting that the Duchy's rooms in Somerset House were now needed "for the use of the Commissioners of Inland Revenue, whose present office is insufficient for the Business thereof, and adjoins the said Office of the Duchy of Cornwall". The act provided for the Duchy Office to move to new, purpose-built premises in Pimlico : now known as 10 Buckingham Gate ,
5940-758: The Geological Society and the Royal Astronomical Society ; they were all provided with new purpose-built accommodation in Burlington House. In 1789 the Navy Board moved into grand riverside rooms in the western half of the newly completed South Wing. It was soon followed by its subsidiary Boards, the Victualling Commissioners and the Sick and Hurt Commissioners , which (along with the autonomous Navy Pay Office ) occupied
6120-516: The Honour of Hatfield , Pontefract Castle , Nonsuch Palace , and the old palace at Havering-atte-Bower . Robert Cecil had considered other royal dowries, including those of Cecily of York , Mary Tudor , and Mary of France . Thomas Edmondes heard the settlement was "as much, or rather more, than has been granted to any former King's wife". The manor of Topsham in Devon included admiralty rights at
6300-527: The Jutland Peninsula in the Kingdom of Denmark to Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow and King Frederick II of Denmark . In need of a male heir the King had been hoping for a son, and Sophie gave birth to a son, Christian , three years later. With her older sister, Elizabeth , Anne was sent to be raised at Güstrow by her maternal grandparents, the Duke and Duchess of Mecklenburg . Christian
6480-637: The King's Wark and James went alone to hear a sermon by Patrick Galloway in the Parish Church . Five days later, Anne made her state entry into Edinburgh in a solid silver coach brought over from Denmark, James riding alongside on horseback. Anne was crowned on 17 May 1590 in the Abbey Church at Holyrood , the first Protestant coronation in Scotland. During the seven-hour ceremony , her gown
6660-575: The Legacy Duty Office to the north-west corner of the quadrangle, its design in keeping with Chambers's adjacent façade. Even as late as 1819, decorative work to the exterior of the North Wing was still being completed. In addition to applying a rich scheme of architectural decoration, Chambers enhanced the exterior of Somerset House with a multiplicity of sculptures and other visual embellishments. Giovanni Cipriani produced designs and
6840-463: The Middle Ages , the Strand became the principal route between the separate settlements of the City of London (the civil and commercial centre) and the royal Palace of Westminster (the national political centre). In the archaeological record, there is considerable evidence of occupation to the north of Aldwych, but much along the former foreshore has been covered by rubble from the demolition of
7020-715: The National Maritime Museum ) was also accommodated there, in the central room above the south portico. In 1832 the Navy Board and its subsidiaries were abolished and their departments placed under the direct oversight of the Admiralty . Their administrative staff remained in Somerset House, but communications with the Admiralty (based a mile away in Whitehall ) were problematic as what became known as
7200-757: The Pipe Office , the Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer 's Office and the Office of the Clerk of the Estreats ). As early as 1795 the Exchequer was requesting that more space be made available; Sir John Soane was engaged to redesign their offices, and as part of the scheme the Duchy was relocated to another part of the East Wing, prompting complaints from its officers. Pipe rolls and other ancient records of
7380-519: The Treasurer of the Navy allotted the 'mansion' at the river end of the terrace (which included a coach house and stables for ten horses in the vaults under the terrace). As well as providing office space and accommodation, Somerset House was the place where examinations for promotion to the rank of lieutenant took place, sat by several hundred midshipmen each year. The Admiralty Museum (a precursor to
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7560-608: The Tudor Somerset Place, a former royal residence, to create a large platform for the building of the first Somerset House , in the 17th century. The landmark Eleanor's Cross was built in the 13th century at the western end of the Strand at Charing Cross by Edward I commemorating his wife Eleanor of Castile . It was demolished in 1647 by the request of Parliament during the First English Civil War , but reconstructed in 1865. The west part of
7740-555: The Victoria and Albert Museum in June 2009. Somerset House now puts on a programme of art exhibitions, drawing on various sources. Strand, London The Strand (commonly referred to with a leading "The", but formally without ) is a major street in the City of Westminster , Central London . The street, which is part of London's West End theatreland , runs just over 3 ⁄ 4 mile (1.2 km) from Trafalgar Square eastwards to Temple Bar , where it becomes Fleet Street in
7920-578: The chancellor , John Maitland of Thirlestane. Nervous of the lengths to which Anne might go, James formally charged Mar in writing never to surrender Henry to anyone except on orders from his own mouth, "because in the surety of my son consists my surety", nor to yield Henry to the Queen even in the event of his own death. Anne demanded the matter be referred to the Council, but James would not hear of it. The issue remained unresolved and James went north after
8100-494: The "civil departments" of the Admiralty guarded their independence. In 1868, the Admiralty took the decision to move all their staff from Somerset House to Whitehall; this necessitated reconfiguring what had been a set of residences there pertaining to the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty into office accommodation. Nevertheless, the move was completed by 1873, and the expanding Inland Revenue immediately took over
8280-469: The 11th century. In 1313, ownership passed to the Knights of St John. Henry VIII gave the house to William, Baron Paget in the early 16th century. Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester , rebuilt the house in 1563, originally calling it Leicester House. It was renamed Essex House after being inherited by Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex , in 1588. It was demolished around 1674 and Essex Street, leading up to
8460-513: The 1620s it was acquired by the royal favourite George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham , and after an interlude during the Civil War it was returned to George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham , who sold it to developers in 1672. It was then demolished and new streets and buildings built on the site, including George Street, Villiers Street , Duke Street, Of Alley, and Buckingham Street. Cecil House , also called Exeter House or Burghley House,
8640-418: The 1850s and edited the journal Westminster Review from 1851. George Eliot lived at No. 142 between 1851 and 1855. Virginia Woolf regularly travelled along the Strand, and a King's College building named after her is in nearby Kingsway . The Strand is the subject of a famous music hall song " Let's All Go Down the Strand ", composed by Harry Castling and C. W. Murphy . The song opens with
8820-532: The 18th century until it was demolished in 1775. The house was rebuilt as a series of government buildings. The Stamp Office, later to become the Inland Revenue was established in Somerset House in 1789. In the late 20th century, a number of art galleries were set up on vacant parts, including the Courtauld Institute of Art and the King's College London School of Law . Savoy Palace was
9000-546: The 21st century, only the Adelphi, Vaudeville and Savoy remain. The Piccadilly branch line from Holborn to Aldwych was built partly to serve theatre traffic. The Coal Hole tavern was founded at No. 91 in the early 19th century, and frequented by coal-heavers working on the Thames. The impresario Renton Nicholson held song-and-supper evenings at the inn, featuring tableaux vivants . The actor Edmund Kean established
9180-633: The Blitz but was in poor shape until John Betjeman led a campaign to restore it in the 1970s. Essex Street Chapel , the birthplace of British Unitarianism , abuts onto the Strand. The original chapel was built in 1774, but damaged in the Blitz. It was restored after the war, and now serves as the denominational headquarters of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches . The print seller Rudolph Ackermann lived and worked at No. 101 The Strand between 1797 and 1827. His shop
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#17327650843229360-725: The City of London and a shop and café were opened, overlooking the river. The Gilbert Collection of decorative arts, and the Hermitage Rooms , which staged exhibitions of items loaned from the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, moved into the same area. The last Hermitage exhibition took place in 2007 and the Gilbert Collection galleries closed in 2008; the collection moved into new galleries at
9540-448: The City of London to be more likely. St Mary le Strand was designed by James Gibbs and completed in 1717, to replace a previous church demolished to make way for Somerset House. It was the first building to be designed by Gibbs, who was influenced by Wren and Michelangelo . The column on top of the church was originally designed to support a statue of Queen Anne , but was replaced with a spire following Anne's death in 1714. It survived
9720-436: The Crown Lands Office, The Auditors of the Imprest Office, The Pipe Office, The Office of the Duchy of Lancaster , The Office of the Duchy of Cornwall , The Office of Ordnance , The King's Bargemaster's House, The King's Bargehouses". Somerset House was still technically a royal palace and therefore Crown property , with most work being done by the King's Master Mason, John Deval . The building had been placed in trust for
9900-420: The Earls of Shrewsbury and Cumberland made a proclamation at Worksop Manor that her followers should put aside any private quarrels, and hangers-on without formal roles should leave. Courtiers and gentry made efforts to meet her on her journey. Lady Anne Clifford recorded that she and her mother killed three horses in their haste to see the Queen at Dingley . In the great hall at Windsor Castle , "there
10080-432: The French ambassador in London, Christophe de Harlay, Count of Beaumont , reported a rumour spread by James's friends that Anne was cruel and ambitious, hoping to rule Scotland as Regent or Governor for her son after her husband's death. Anne saw a belated opportunity to gain custody of Henry in 1603 when James left for London with the Earl of Mar to assume the English throne following the death of Elizabeth I . Pregnant at
10260-470: The Great Fire in 1666, but was declared unsafe and rebuilt by Christopher Wren in 1679. The building was damaged during the Blitz in 1941, gutting much of the interior, and was rebuilt in 1958 by Sam Lloyd, since when it has served as the central church of the Royal Air Force . The church is one of two possible origins for the "St Clement's" in the nursery rhyme " Oranges and Lemons ", though more contemporary accounts suggest St Clement's, Eastcheap in
10440-453: The Inland Revenue, the latter took over the laboratory; by 1858 it was reestablished in Somerset House as the Inland Revenue Laboratory (with Phillips remaining in charge). It was also known as the Somerset House Laboratory. Under the Inland Revenue , the Laboratory's work expanded to encompass the testing of many different substances, including food, beer and spirits, as well as tobacco. Phillips retired as principal chemist in 1874. James Bell
10620-400: The London residence of John of Gaunt , King Richard II 's uncle and the nation's power broker. In the 14th century the Savoy was the most magnificent nobleman's mansion in England. During the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, rebels, led by Wat Tyler , inflamed by opposition to the poll tax promoted by John of Gaunt, systematically demolished the Savoy and everything in it. In 1512 it was rebuilt as
10800-406: The Nelson Room and rebuilt the Nelson Stair. The work was completed in 1952 at a cost of (then) £84,000. In 1984 the Somerset House Act 1984 (c. 21) was passed, legislating the way for Somerset House to be redeveloped as a centre for the arts. In 1997 the Somerset House Trust was established as a registered charity to maintain the building and develop it as a centre for arts and culture. In
10980-459: The Palatinate , regarding it as beneath the royal family's dignity. She did not come to a betrothal ceremony at Whitehall , due to an attack with gout . However, she had warmed to Frederick, and attended the wedding itself on 14 February 1613. She was saddened by the tournaments on the following day, which reminded her of Henry. The couple left England for Heidelberg in April. From this time forward, Anne's health deteriorated, and she withdrew from
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#173276508432211160-433: The Principal Registry of the Court of Probate (latterly the Principal Probate Registry of the Family Division ) was based in Somerset House, prior to its move to First Avenue House, High Holborn . In addition to the learned societies, the ground floor rooms of the North Wing housed the Hawkers and Pedlars Office (on the west side) and the Hackney Coach Office, the Lottery Office, the Privy Seal and Signet Offices (on
11340-399: The Queen and the property (later known as Buckingham Palace ) reverted "to the use of His Majesty, his heirs and successors". By virtue of the same act, Ely House in Holborn (which had itself been purchased just a few years earlier as a potential site for new public offices) was sold and the proceeds applied to the Somerset House project. Initially a certain William Robinson, Secretary to
11520-452: The Queen's Building opened in 1968. The architect John Nash redeveloped the western end of the Strand in the 1830s, including the construction of Charing Cross Hospital , later (1990s) converted for use as Charing Cross police station . The street became well known for theatres, and at one point contained more than any other; including the Tivoli Music Hall at No. 65, the Adelphi , Gaiety , Savoy , Terry's and Vaudeville . In
11700-419: The Savoy Hospital for the poor. It gradually fell into dereliction and was divided into multiple tenancies. It was demolished in 1816–1820 to build the approach road to Waterloo Bridge . eventually being demolished in the 19th century. The Savoy Hotel now occupies this site. Durham House , the historic London residence of the Bishop of Durham , was built circa 1345 and demolished in the mid-17th century. It
11880-477: The Spanish Netherlands, seated around a conference table, probably in Old Somerset House. During the 17th century, the house was used as a residence by royal consorts. In the reign of King James I , the building was the London residence of his wife, Anne of Denmark , and was renamed Denmark House. She commissioned a number of expensive additions and improvements, some to designs by Inigo Jones . In 1609 Simon Basil and William Goodrowse made steps and terraces in
12060-415: The Stamp Office. The Lottery Office, established in 1779, was also abolished in 1831 and its residual business likewise passed to the Stamp Office. The Signet Office was abolished in 1851 and the Privy Seal Office in 1884. One of the first occupants of the building had been the Duchy of Cornwall Office. It was accommodated in the East Wing along with the Tax Office and various Exchequer offices (including
12240-434: The Strand and the river included Essex House , Arundel House , Old Somerset House , Savoy Palace , Durham House , York House and Cecil House , none of which survive. The aristocracy moved to the West End during the 17th century, and the Strand became known for its coffee shops, restaurants and taverns. The street was a centre point for theatre and music hall during the 19th century, and several venues have survived to
12420-411: The Strand including several palaces and townhouses inhabited by bishops and royal courtiers, mainly on the south side, with their own river gates and landings directly on the Thames. The road was poorly maintained, with many pits and sloughs, and a paving order was issued in 1532 to improve traffic. What later became Essex House on the Strand was originally an Outer Temple of the Knights Templar in
12600-411: The Strand was in the parish of St Martin in the Fields and in the east it extended into the parishes of St Clement Danes and St Mary le Strand . Most of its length was in the Liberty of Westminster , although part of the eastern section in St Clement Danes was in the Ossulstone hundred of Middlesex. The Strand was the northern boundary of the precinct of the Savoy , which was approximately where
12780-455: The Strand, including Charles Dickens , Ralph Waldo Emerson and Virginia Woolf . The street is the main link between the two cities of Westminster and London . It runs eastward from Trafalgar Square , parallel to the River Thames , to Temple Bar which is the boundary between the two cities at this point; the road ahead being Fleet Street . Traffic travelling eastbound follows a short crescent around Aldwych , connected at both ends to
12960-672: The Strand, up Queen Victoria Street"). John Masefield also referred to a "jostling in the Strand" in his poem "On Growing Old". The poem "Buses on the Strand", written in 1958 by Richard Percival Lister , featured in TFL 's "Poems on the Underground" scheme in 2013, appearing in tube carriages all over London. The scheme celebrated of the 150th year of the London Underground with works by poets with close London connections. The Strand Magazine , which began publishing in 1891,
13140-469: The Strand, was built on the location by property speculator Nicholas Barbon . Arundel House was originally the town house of the Bishops of Bath and Wells . It was owned by William FitzWilliam, 1st Earl of Southampton between 1539 and his death in 1542, with ownership passing to Thomas Seymour in 1545. After Seymour was executed in 1549, the property was sold to Henry FitzAlan, Earl of Arundel , and
13320-540: The Strand. The road marks the southern boundary of the Covent Garden district and forms part of the Northbank business improvement district . The name was first recorded in 1002 as strondway , then in 1185 as Stronde and in 1220 as la Stranda . It is formed from the Old English word 'strond', meaning the edge of a river. Initially it referred to the shallow bank of the once much wider Thames, before
13500-648: The Treasury and Exchequer (which had been moved to Somerset House from the Palace of Westminster in 1793) remained stored in the basements until the establishment of the Public Record Office in 1838. The office of Lord Treasurer's Remembrancer ceased to exist in 1833 and the Pipe Office was abolished in 1834; however space in Somerset House continued to be at a premium: in 1854 an act of Parliament,
13680-675: The West Wing, alongside the naval offices, but it was abolished in 1798 (administration of the salt tax having been transferred to the Board of Excise). During the 19th century the North Wing contained, in addition, the offices of the Poor Law Commissioners (1834–47) and the Tithe Commissioners (1836–51), who also acted as the Copyhold Commissioners. Magnificent as the new building was, it
13860-536: The West Wing; they had all hitherto been based in the City of London . Thus the various Navy offices occupied around a third of Chambers' completed building. In addition, the terrace to the west of the quadrangle provided dwelling-houses for the Comptroller of the Navy , the Secretary to the Board and three Commissioners of the Navy , along with the chairman, Secretary and two Commissioners of Victualling , with
14040-670: The Wolf Club at the venue, which is now commemorated by the Wolf Room. Charing Cross railway station was built on the Strand in 1864, providing a boat train service to Europe, which stimulated the growth of hotels in the area to cater for travellers. These included the Charing Cross Hotel, attached to the station itself. Today, there are several luggage outlets and tourist agents on the Strand, as well as old postage stamp dealers. The philatelist Stanley Gibbons opened
14220-463: The accounts only as the "Moir", who was probably a "page of the equerry", attending her horse. He was dressed in orange velvet and Spanish taffeta. When he died at Falkland Palace in July 1591, James paid for his funeral. The German physician Martin Schöner attended Anne when she was ill or in childbed. Two Danish favourites, Katrine Skinkel and Sofie Kass wore velvet hats with feathers to match
14400-471: The age, had been killed in Somerset House before his body had been smuggled out and thrown into a ditch below Primrose Hill . Somerset House was refurbished by Sir Christopher Wren in 1685. After the Glorious Revolution in 1688, Somerset House entered on a long period of decline, being used (after Queen Catherine left England in 1692) for grace and favour residences. In the conditions of
14580-629: The alleyways around the Strand were regular haunts for pickpockets and prostitutes during this time. The Rose Tavern, at the eastern end of the street, was frequented by lawyers during the 18th century. It was later demolished and became Thanet Place. The Crown and Anchor in Arundel Street was the main meeting place for the Catholic Association, and helped established the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829 . It
14760-612: The approach to Waterloo Bridge is now. All of these parishes and places became part of the Strand District in 1855, except St Martin in the Fields which was governed separately. The Strand District Board of Works was based at No. 22, Tavistock Street . Strand District was abolished in October 1900 and became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Westminster . From the 12th century onwards, large mansions lined
14940-414: The architect was Sir Robert Smirke . At the same time, as part of Smirke's scheme, the eastern third of the river frontage was completed, following Chambers's original design. Then, increasing demand for space led to another and last step. The western edge of the site was occupied by a row of houses used as dwellings for Admiralty officials who worked in the South Wing. Between 1851 and 1856, this terrace
15120-452: The arts and constructed her own magnificent court, hosting one of the richest cultural salons in Europe. After 1612, she had sustained bouts of ill health and gradually withdrew from the centre of court life. Though she was reported to have been a Protestant at the time of her death, she may have converted to Catholicism at some point in her life. Some historians have dismissed Anne as
15300-572: The arts and education. In the 16th century, the Strand , the north bank of the Thames between the City of London and the Palace of Westminster , was a favoured site for the mansions of bishops and aristocrats, who could commute from their own landing stages upriver to the court or downriver to the City and beyond. In 1539, Edward Seymour , 1st Earl of Hertford (died 1552), obtained a grant of land at "Chester Place, outside Temple Bar , London" from his brother-in-law King Henry VIII . When his nephew
15480-446: The autumn of 1617, King James changed the settlement, giving Anne an additional £20,000, to make £50,0000 yearly, from which she would pay for her household diet and stable if he died before her. Observers regularly noted incidents of marital discord between Anne and James. The so-called Gowrie conspiracy of 1600, in which the young Earl of Gowrie, John Ruthven , and his brother Alexander Ruthven were killed by James's attendants for
15660-625: The building still serves as head office for the Duchy. From 1785 the Commissioners for Auditing Public Accounts were also housed in the East Wing, as was the Duchy of Lancaster Office (having moved there from accommodation in Gray's Inn ) until it moved in 1823 to new offices across the road in Lancaster Place . The Surveyor of Crown Lands also had his office here until the early 19th century. The Salt Office initially occupied rooms in
15840-457: The building was referred to, then came into the possession of the Crown. The duke's royal nephew's half-sister, the future Queen Elizabeth I , lived there during the reign of her half-sister Queen Mary I (1553–58). The process of completion and improvement was slow and costly. As late as 1598 John Stow refers to it as "yet unfinished". In the summer of 1604, Somerset House was the location for
16020-464: The building, although its executive and senior management moved to 100 Parliament Street shortly after the merger. Various divisions and directorates of HMRC continued to occupy the East Wing until 2009, the West Wing until 2011 and the New Wing until March 2013, by which time all staff had been relocated (with most moving across the street to the southwest wing of Bush House ). This brought to an end
16200-455: The building. Meanwhile, work continued on the East and West Wings, which began to be occupied from 1788; by 1790 the main quadrangle was complete. It was originally envisaged that the main quadrangle would be flanked by two terraces of houses, one to the east and one to the west, providing accommodation for several of the Commissioners whose offices were based there. It is not certain at what pace
16380-540: The carpenter Frederick, her cooks Hans Poppilman and Marion, and her tailors. Her Danish secretary Calixtus Schein had two Scottish colleagues, William Fowler and John Geddie . The head of her first household was Wilhelm von der Wense . Servants from her home country provided familiarity and bridged a cultural divide. At first, observers like William Dundas thought the queen led a solitary life, with few Scottish companions. Later in 1590 more Scottish noblewomen were appointed to serve her, including Marie Stewart ,
16560-432: The centre of cultural and political activities, staging her last known masque in 1614, and no longer maintaining a royal court. Her influence over James visibly waned as he became openly dependent on powerful favourites. Although James had always adopted male favourites among his courtiers, he now encouraged them to play a role in the government. Anne reacted very differently to the two powerful favourites who dominated
16740-609: The church of the Nativity of Our Lady and the Innocents in the process. After Somerset was executed in 1552, it became an occasional residence for Princess Elizabeth . When she became Queen in 1558, she returned part of the house to Seymour's family (with ownership passing to his son, Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford ); the remainder was an occasional meeting place for the Royal Society. After Elizabeth's death in 1603, it
16920-495: The college acquired Strand House, Bush House and other buildings in the Aldwych Quarter. The Royal Courts of Justice , at the eastern end of the Strand, was designed in the mid-1860s by G.E. Street as a replacement for the older courts at Westminster Hall , though construction was so delayed that he died shortly before Queen Victoria opened the courts in 1882. The West Green extension to the courts opened in 1911, while
17100-476: The command of Admiral Peder Munk was beset by a series of misadventures, finally being forced back to the coast of Norway , from where she travelled by land to Oslo for refuge, accompanied by the Earl Marischal and others of the Scottish and Danish embassies. On 12 September, Lord Dingwall had landed at Leith , reporting that "he had come in company with the Queen's fleet three hundred miles, and
17280-613: The construction of the Victoria Embankment . The name was later applied to the road itself. In the 13th century it was known as 'Densemanestret' or 'street of the Danes', referring to the community of Danes in the area. Two London Underground stations were once named Strand: a Piccadilly line station (which was renamed Aldwych station ) that operated between 1907 and 1994 and a former Northern line station which today forms part of Charing Cross station . 'Strand Bridge'
17460-659: The court was at Wilton House . The yearly income would be £6,376 according to a summary sent by King James to Anne's brother Christian IV for approval in December 1603. Anne wrote to Christian IV, pleased by the comparison with Catherine of Aragon, who was also a king's daughter. An Act for the Confirmation of the Jointure was discussed and read in the House of Commons on 24 May 1604. The estate included Somerset House ,
17640-433: The courtyard varied greatly in size, but each occupied all six floors of its allotted area, the upper floors often providing living space for a secretary or other official. Large vaults for storing public documents were provided, extending under the entire northern section of the courtyard. The North Wing, fronting the Strand , was the first part of the complex to be built; its design was based on Inigo Jones 's drawings for
17820-579: The current day. At the east end of the street are two English Baroque churches: St Mary le Strand by James Gibbs and St Clement Danes by Christopher Wren . This easternmost stretch of the Strand is also home to King's College , one of the two founding colleges of the University of London . Other notable structures include the Royal Courts of Justice and Australia House . Several authors, poets and philosophers have lived on or near
18000-481: The east side). The Hackney Coach commissioners had been established on a permanent footing in 1694, while the Board of Commissioners of Hawkers , Pedlars and Petty Chapmen dated from 1698; the latter was abolished in 1810 and its work taken over by the Hackney Coach Office until its abolition in 1831, whereupon responsibility for licensing both of hackney carriages and of travelling traders passed to
18180-596: The end of December 1595, the Queen's council, re-appointed as a financial administration known as the Octavians , gave Anne of Denmark a purse of gold which she then presented to the king as a New Year's Day gift. Anne's financial position changed in England when she was awarded a new jointure estate based on lands, manors, and parks which had previously been given to Catherine of Aragon . Administrators, led by Sir Robert Cecil , were appointed in November 1603, while
18360-485: The end of her life. A further source of difference between Anne and James was the issue of religion; for example, she abstained from the Anglican communion at her English coronation. Anne had been brought up a Lutheran , and had a Lutheran chaplain, Hans Sering , in her household. However, she may have secretly converted to Catholicism at some point, a politically embarrassing scenario which alarmed ministers of
18540-597: The entire household; in 1603, he finally decided to grant Beatrix Ruthven a pension of £200. In 1603, James fought with Anne over the proposed composition of her English household, sending her a message that "his Majesty took her continued perversity very heinously." In turn, Anne took exception to James's drinking: in 1604 she confided to the French ambassador Beaumont that "the King drinks so much, and conducts himself so ill in every respect, that I expect an early and evil result." A briefer confrontation occurred in 1613 when Anne shot and killed James's favourite dog during
18720-703: The establishment of civil registration in the United Kingdom, the Registrar General of Births, Marriages and Deaths set up his office in the North Wing of Somerset House, establishing a connection that lasted for over 130 years. This office held all birth , marriage and death certificates in England and Wales until 1970, when the Registry and its associated archives were moved to nearby St Catherine's House at Aldwych . From 1859 until 1998,
18900-400: The garden. Anne of Denmark built an orangery and employed a French gardener and hydraulic engineer Salomon de Caus . He built a fountain known as Mount Parnassus with a grotto carved with sea-shells and a black marble female figure representing the River Thames . The fountain was topped by a statue of Pegasus . A surviving cistern for the fountain in nearby Strand Lane was misidentified as
19080-599: The gulf between her and James. The death of their son Henry in November 1612 at the age of eighteen, probably from typhoid and the departure of their daughter Elizabeth further weakened the family ties binding Anne and James. Henry's death hit Anne particularly hard; the Venetian ambassador Foscarini was advised not to offer condolences to her "because she cannot bear to have it mentioned; nor does she ever recall it without abundant tears and sighs". At first, Anne had objected to her daughter's match with Frederick V of
19260-577: The hands of Anne and Elizabeth in marriage, including James VI of Scotland , who favoured Denmark as a kingdom reformed in religion and a profitable trading partner. James's other serious possibility, though eight years his senior, was Catherine , sister of the Huguenot King Henry III of Navarre (future Henry IV of France), who was favoured by Elizabeth I of England . Scottish ambassadors in Denmark first concentrated their suit on
19440-506: The harbours from which we sailed, thanks to contrary winds and other problems that arose at sea, which is the cause why, now Winter is hastening down on us, and fearing greater danger, all this company is forced to our regret, and to the regret and high displeasure of your men, to make no further attempt at present, but to defer the voyage until the Spring. In what Willson calls "the one romantic episode of his life", James sailed from Leith with
19620-545: The house of Christen Mule , on 23 November 1589, "with all the splendour possible at that time and place." So that both bride and groom could understand, Leith minister David Lindsay conducted the ceremony in French, describing Anne as "a Princess both godly and beautiful ... she giveth great contentment to his Majesty." A month of celebrations followed; and on 22 December, cutting his entourage to 50, James visited his new relations at Kronborg Castle in Elsinore , where
19800-472: The late 20th century the building began to be reinvigorated as a centre for the visual arts. The first institution to move in (in 1989) was the Courtauld Institute of Art , including the Courtauld Gallery , which has an important collection of old master and impressionist paintings. The Courtauld occupies the North Wing. The main courtyard, which had been used as a Civil Service car park, and
19980-585: The leadership of Alexander Seton, Lord Fyvie . Henry Wardlaw of Pitreavie was chamberlain of the Scottish lands, comprising the Lordship of Dunfermline, the Earldom of Ross, and Lordships of Ardmannoch and Etrrick Forest, and compiled accounts of the queen's revenue. On 13 February 1610, John Chamberlain wrote that Anne "hath been somewhat melancholy of late about her jointure, that was not fully to her liking" and King James had promised additional funds. In
20160-589: The learned societies were enriched with painted ceilings (by Cipriani, Benjamin West , Angelica Kauffman , J. F. Rigaud , Charles Catton and Joshua Reynolds ), ornamental plasterwork (by Thomas Collins and Thomas Clerk) and casts of classical sculptures. John Papworth did the plasterwork in the great Royal Academy Room; many of the ceiling paintings were removed by the Royal Academy when they vacated their premises. A key reason for rebuilding Somerset House
20340-541: The main terrace overlooking the Thames were refurbished and opened to the public, these alterations being overseen by the conservation architects Donald Insall & Associates . Grants from the Heritage Lottery Fund financed the conversion of the South Wing between 1999 and 2003: a visitor centre featuring audio-visual displays on the history of the building, the gilded state barge of the Lord Mayor of
20520-612: The negotiations, known as the Somerset House Conference that culminated in the Treaty of London and concluded the nineteen-year Anglo-Spanish War . The treaty was signed on 28 August ( New Style ), at Whitehall Palace , by the Constable of Castile who was lodged at Somerset House. The conference was the subject of an oil-on-canvas painting depicting the 11 representatives of the governments of England, Spain and
20700-497: The newlyweds were greeted by Queen Sophie, 12 year-old King Christian IV , and Christian's four regents. The couple moved on to Copenhagen on 7 March and attended the wedding of Anne's older sister Elizabeth to Henry Julius, Duke of Brunswick on 19 April, sailing two days later for Scotland in a patched up "Gideon". They arrived in the Water of Leith on 1 May. After a welcoming speech in French by James Elphinstone , Anne stayed in
20880-451: The nursery his former nurse Helen Little , who installed Henry in James's own oak cradle. Most distressingly for Anne, James insisted on placing Prince Henry in the custody of John Erskine , Earl of Mar at Stirling Castle , in keeping with Scottish royal tradition. In late 1594, she began a furious campaign for custody of Henry, recruiting a faction of supporters to her cause, including
21060-530: The oldest daughter, but Frederick betrothed Elizabeth to Henry Julius, Duke of Brunswick , promising the Scots instead that "for the second [daughter] Anna, if the King did like her, he should have her." The constitutional position of Sophie, Anne's mother, became difficult after Frederick's death in 1588, when she found herself in a power struggle with the Rigsraad for control of her son King Christian IV. As
21240-473: The ongoing dissolution of the monasteries . It was a two-storey house built around a quadrangle, with a gateway rising to three storeys, and was one of the earliest examples of Renaissance architecture in England. It is not known who designed the building. Before it was finished, however, the Duke of Somerset was overthrown, attainted by Parliament and in 1552 was executed on Tower Hill . Somerset Place, as
21420-518: The passing of 1591 and 1592 with no sign of a pregnancy provoked renewed Presbyterian libels on the theme of James's fondness for male company and whispers against Anne "for that she proves not with child". When it was thought that she was pregnant, James tried to prevent her going horseriding but she refused. There was great public relief when on 19 February 1594 Anne gave birth to her first child, Henry Frederick . Anne soon learned that she would have no say in her son's care. James appointed as head of
21600-405: The port, and in July 1606 (after the sudden death of its owner) she obtained a cargo of tobacco from Venezuela . The English jointure income was to be spent on Anne's clothes and her household wages and rewards. King James would pay the other costs of her household, stable, and food. The Venetian diplomat Scaramelli heard she had received a gift of valuable jewels from James, Nonsuch Palace, and
21780-456: The present Somerset House. Thomas Telford , then a stonemason, but later an eminent civil engineer , was among those who worked on its construction. One of Chambers's most famous pupils, Thomas Hardwick Jnr, helped build parts of the building during his period of training and later wrote a short biography of Chambers. The design influenced other great buildings: Charles Bulfinch 's Massachusetts State House , begun in 1795, has been described as
21960-613: The production of Remonstrance of the Army , demanding the abolition of the monarchy and the trial of King Charles I . In the 18th century, coffee and chop houses were established on the street; Twinings was established at No. 206 in 1706 by Thomas Twining, supplier of tea to Queen Anne. The company claims to be the oldest ratepayer in Westminster. The Grecian Coffee House ran from around 1702 to 1803, while Tom's ran from 1706 to around 1775. Though these premises were well-known,
22140-420: The queen's, made by an older gentlewoman in the household, Elizabeth Gibb , the wife of the king's tutor Peter Young . Anne gave her ladies wedding gowns and trousseaux when they married, and even arranged a loan for the dowry of Jean, Lady Kennedy . When, in December 1592 the widower John Erskine , Earl of Mar married Marie Stewart, James VI and Anne of Denmark attended the celebrations at Alloa and there
22320-630: The relevant duty was abolished) every newspaper produced in the country had to be brought to Somerset House to be stamped. The Tax Office administered and collected various taxes, including income tax (first levied in 1799). Introduced as a means of raising revenue in wartime, it was collected during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars ; though repealed in 1816, it was reintroduced in peacetime (in 1842) and has been collected ever since. The Inland Revenue
22500-435: The rest of the construction progressed, but it is clear that the outbreak of war with France in 1793 caused delays through lack of money. Chambers died in 1796, whereupon James Wyatt took over as architect. In the end, only the western terrace was built and by 1801 the building was deemed to be complete, at a cost of £462,323. In 1815 Sir Robert Smirke was appointed as Attached Architect to Somerset House; in 1817 he added
22680-529: The river. Chambers experimented with at least four different configurations of buildings and courtyards in drawing up his designs; his final version provided a single courtyard, 300 ft (91 m) by 200 ft (61 m), flanked by a pair of terraces, the whole presenting a unified frontage to the river, 500 feet (150 m) wide. Around the courtyard, each block consisted of six storeys: cellar, basement, ground, principal, attic and garret. The public offices and learned societies which were accommodated around
22860-445: The riverfront of the former palace. By 1780 the North Wing was finished and occupied, and Chambers reported to Parliament that the rest of the quadrangle was complete up to a height of two storeys. Construction of the riverside wing followed; it was finished in 1786. At the time of construction, the Thames was not embanked and the river lapped the South Wing, where a great arch allowed boats and barges to penetrate to landing places within
23040-431: The sculptors executing them included Joseph Wilton , Agostino Carlini , John Bacon , Joseph Nollekens , John Cheere and Giuseppe Ceracchi . Bacon oversaw production of the bronze group of statues (consisting of Neptune and George III ) in the main courtyard, facing the main entrance from the Strand. Inside, most of the offices were plain and business-like, but in the North Wing the formal rooms and public spaces of
23220-414: The second half of her husband's English reign, Robert Carr, Earl of Somerset , and George Villiers , the future Duke of Buckingham. She detested Carr, but she encouraged the rise of Villiers, whom James knighted in her bedchamber; and she developed friendly relations with him, calling him her "dog". Even so, Anne found herself increasingly ignored after Buckingham's rise and became a lonely figure towards
23400-438: The site. The official residence of the Secretary of State, next door at No. 1 the Strand, became the first numbered address in London. Apart from the rebuilt Somerset House, all of these buildings have been demolished and replaced from the 17th century onwards. A New Exchange was built on part of the gardens of Durham House, in 1608–1609, facing the Strand. This high-class shopping centre enjoyed considerable popularity but
23580-597: The skeleton was later put on display. The exchange was demolished in 1829, with the menagerie moving to the Surrey Zoological Gardens , and replaced by Exeter Hall , noted for its Evangelical meetings. This was demolished in 1907, and the site is now occupied by the Strand Palace Hotel . Other significant palaces along the Strand include Worcester House, formerly the Inn, or residence, of
23760-436: The street. The prominent bookseller Andrew Millar is an example of one of the most successful publishers who owned a shop there. In the 19th century, much of the Strand was rebuilt, and the houses to the south no longer backed onto the Thames and no longer had direct boat access, separated from the river by the Victoria Embankment constructed in 1865–1870 and reclaiming 37 acres (15 ha) of land. King's College, London
23940-469: The tenth of May." When the Earl of Mar returned with James's instructions that Anne join him in the Kingdom of England , she informed James by letter that she refused to do so unless allowed custody of Henry. This "forceful maternal action", as historian Pauline Croft describes it, obliged James to climb down at last, though he reproved Anne for " froward womanly apprehensions" and described her behaviour in
24120-439: The time this meant almost inevitably that little money could be found for its upkeep, and a slow process of decay crept in. During the 18th century, however, the building ceased its royal associations. Though the view from its terraced riverfront garden, open to the public, was painted twice on his London visit by Canaletto (looking up- and downriver), it was used for storage, as a residence for visiting overseas dignitaries and as
24300-458: The time, Anne descended on Stirling with a force of "well-supported" nobles, intent on removing the nine-year-old Henry, whom she had hardly seen for five years; but Mar's wife and his young son would allow her to bring no more than two attendants with her into the castle. The obduracy of Henry's keepers sent Anne into such a fury that she suffered another miscarriage: according to David Calderwood , she "went to bed in anger and parted with child
24480-423: The true religion and worship of God and to "withstand and despise all papistical superstitions, and whatsoever ceremonies and rites contrary to the word of God". Anne brought servants and courtiers from Denmark, including the ladies-in-waiting and chamberers Katrine Skinkel, Anna Kaas , and Margaret Vinstarr , the preacher Johannes Sering , a page William Belo , and artisans such as goldsmith Jacob Kroger ,
24660-416: The use of Queen Charlotte in the event that her husband King George III predeceased her. Therefore, the 1775 act annulled this arrangement and instead provided for another property, Buckingham House, to be vested in trust for the Queen on the same terms. (Provision was made for the King, who had privately purchased Buckingham House some years earlier, to be duly compensated). In due course, the King outlived
24840-575: The vacated space in Somerset House. From the beginning of the new Somerset House there was a fiscal presence in the shape of the Stamp Office and the Tax Office , the former occupying the eastern part of the South Wing from 1789 and the latter occupying part of the East Wing. The Stamp Office had the task of applying an impressed duty stamp to various specific items to show that the required duty had been paid. For example, up until 1855 (when
25020-430: The weal of my country could have permitted, [had not] my long delay bred in the breasts of many a great jealousy of my inability, as if I were a barren stock." On 20 August 1589, Anne was married by proxy to James at Kronborg Castle , the ceremony ending with James's representative, George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal , sitting next to Anne on the bridal bed. Anne set sail for Scotland within 10 days, but her fleet under
25200-423: The western half of the wing and the Royal Society the eastern half; their main entrances faced each other across the central vestibule leading from the Strand to the courtyard, topped by busts (of Michelangelo and Isaac Newton respectively) which are still in place today. The Society of Antiquaries was also accommodated in the eastern half of the wing, though its premises were limited to a first-floor meeting room,
25380-436: The young King Edward VI came to the throne in 1547, Seymour became Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector . In about 1549 he pulled down an old Inn of Chancery and other houses that stood on the site, and began to build himself a palatial residence, making liberal use of other nearby buildings, including some of the chantry chapels and cloisters at St Paul's Cathedral , which were demolished partly at his behest as part of
25560-645: Was a masque in costume in which Anne of Denmark performed. Materials for Anne's masque costumes included lightweight silks and ribbons and "plumages" of feathers. Her court musicians in Scotland included John Norlie , an English lutenist . In 1593, Anne told the English ambassador Robert Bowes that she would like to meet Queen Elizabeth, and wanted to have a young English gentleman or maiden of "good parentage" join her household. Bowes passed this request to Cecil to consider. She made another ouverture of friendship to Elizabeth I in May 1595, asking for her portrait. There
25740-601: Was also sent to be brought up at Güstrow but two years later, in 1579, his father the King wrote to his parents-in-law, to request the return of his sons, Christian and Ulrich, (probably, at the urging of the Rigsråd, the Danish Privy Council), and Anne and Elizabeth returned with him. Anne enjoyed a close, happy family upbringing in Denmark, thanks largely to Queen Sophie, who nursed the children through their illnesses herself. Suitors from all over Europe sought
25920-527: Was appointed keeper of Denmark House, and Mary Villiers, Countess of Buckingham frequently stayed there. After the death of King James in April 1625, his body was brought from Theobalds to lie in state at Denmark House. The state rooms were hung with black cloth. At this period there was no chapel at Denmark House, and so the Great Hall was adapted, and the body moved there before the funeral at Westminster Abbey . Between 1630 and 1635 Inigo Jones built
26100-402: Was built in the 16th century by Lord Burghley as an expansion of an existing Tudor house. Exeter House was demolished in 1676 and Exeter Exchange built on the site. A menagerie was built on the upper floors in 1773, which was later run by Edward Cross , who housed lions, tigers, monkeys and hippopotami. In 1826, an elephant, Chunee , nearly broke free from its cage and had to be destroyed;
26280-524: Was converted into a two-way street. The church of St Clement Danes is believed to date from the 9th century. The name may have come from Harold Harefoot , a Danish king who ruled England around 1035–1040 and is buried in the church, or from a place of refuge for Danes after the conquest of Alfred the Great . It was transferred to the Order of the Knights Templar by Henry II in 1189. It survived
26460-613: Was created by a merger of the Stamp and Taxes Office and the Excise Office in 1849; in 1854 the Excise Office staff were moved from their old headquarters in the City of London into the newly built New Wing. Somerset House continued in use by the Inland Revenue throughout the 20th century. In 2005, the Inland Revenue was merged with HM Customs and Excise ; its successor HM Revenue & Customs continued to occupy much of
26640-648: Was eventually destroyed in 1737. During the 17th century, many of the grand mansions on the Strand were demolished as the aristocracy moved to the West End . The Duck and Drake tavern on Strand was famed as a venue for the conspirators involved in the Gunpowder Plot . In the time of the Civil War, the Nag's Head tavern was the venue of a meeting between Henry Ireton and some of the Levellers which resulted in
26820-479: Was finished. It was then used as an occasional residence by Catherine of Braganza , wife of King Charles II . During her time it received a certain notoriety as being, in the popular mind, a hot-bed of Catholic conspiracy. Titus Oates made full use of this prejudice in the fabricated details of the Popish Plot and it was alleged that Sir Edmund Berry Godfrey , whose murder was one of the great mysteries of
27000-459: Was founded in 1828. The historic King's Building , based next to the church of St Mary-le-Strand , was designed by Robert Smirke and constructed in 1829–1831 to complete the riverside frontage of Somerset House . King's College Hospital opened as a branch of the college in 1840, and became a constituent part of the University of London in 1908. The current campus building was constructed between 1966 and 1972 by E.D. Jefferiss Mathews. In 2015,
27180-453: Was further extended with Victorian era outer wings to the east and west in 1831 and 1856 respectively. The site of Somerset House stood directly on the River Thames until the Victoria Embankment was built in the late 1860s. The great Georgian era structure was built to be a grand public building housing various government and public-benefit society offices. Its present tenants are a mixture of various organisations, generally centred around
27360-402: Was given a green coat. Marmaduke Darrell was sent from London with money for the expenses of her journey and the group of ladies sent by the Privy Council to attend her. Anne duly travelled south with Prince Henry, their progress causing a sensation in England. Princess Elizabeth followed two days later and soon caught up, but Prince Charles was left at Dunfermline, being sickly. She
27540-415: Was given over to a newly established Government School of Design (which was much later to become the Royal College of Art ); it remained in the complex from 1837 until, in 1853, the Registry of Births, Marriages and Deaths needed to expand its office space and the School relocated to Marlborough House . In 1857, the Royal Society moved out of Somerset House, followed in 1874 by the Society of Antiquaries,
27720-437: Was in Somerset House that Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell 's body lay in state after his death in 1658. Two years later, with the Restoration , Queen Henrietta Maria returned and in 1661 began a considerable programme of rebuilding, the main feature of which was a magnificent new river front, again to the design of the late Inigo Jones , who had died at Somerset House in 1652. However she returned to France in 1665 before it
27900-515: Was interrupted by the Civil War , and in 1649 Parliament tried to sell it. They failed to find a buyer, although a sale of the contents (most notably 1,570 paintings owned by Charles I) realised the very considerable sum (for that time) of £ 118,000. Use was still found for it however. Part of it served as an army headquarters, with General Fairfax (the Parliamentarians ' commander-in-chief) being given official quarters there; lodgings were also provided for certain other Parliamentarian notables. It
28080-415: Was later used for Catholic politicians such as Daniel O'Connell to address constituents. The original premises burned down in 1854, but was rebuilt. Simpson's-in-the-Strand originally started at No. 100 in 1828 as a smoking and dining club. It later became a restaurant. The Strand was also notable in the 18th century as a centre for the British book trade, with numerous printers and publishers along
28260-494: Was little in the Queen to make him uxorious ; yet they did love as well as man and wife could do, not conversing together." Anne moved into Greenwich Palace and then Somerset House , which she renamed Denmark House. After 1607, she and James rarely lived together, by which time she had borne seven children and suffered at least three miscarriages. After narrowly surviving the birth and death of her last baby, Sophia, in 1607, Anne's decision to have no more children may have widened
28440-437: Was met at York on 11 June by Thomas Cecil, Lord Burghley . He wrote to Sir Robert Cecil , "she will prove, if I be not deceived, a magnifical prince, a kind wife and a constant mistress". Her large crowd of followers was disorderly and there were quarrels between the Earl of Argyll and the Earl of Sussex , and between Thomas Somerset and William Murray who argued about the role of Master of Horse. The Duke of Lennox and
28620-423: Was named after the street. A BBC World Service arts and culture radio series was called The Strand . Bush House , situated on the Strand, was home to the World Service between 1941 and 2012. The standard British Monopoly board has Strand in a group with the nearby Fleet Street and Trafalgar Square . Anne of Denmark Anne of Denmark ( Danish : Anna ; 12 December 1574 – 2 March 1619)
28800-460: Was no response and Bowes had to reiterate her request. Finally, in February 1596 Elizabeth condescended to grant Anne's "earnest desire" and send her a picture. By all accounts, James was at first entranced by his bride, but his infatuation evaporated quickly and the couple often found themselves at loggerheads, though in the early years of their marriage James seems always to have treated Anne with patience and affection. James Melville of Halhill ,
28980-403: Was not the Earl of Gowrie. James placated her for the moment by paying a famous acrobat to entertain her, but she never gave up, and her stubborn support for the Ruthvens over the next three years was taken seriously enough by the government to be regarded as a security issue. In 1602, after discovering that Anne had smuggled Beatrix Ruthven into Holyrood, James carried out a cross-examination of
29160-445: Was one of the first to have gas lighting fitted. In the 19th century, The Strand became a newly fashionable address and many avant-garde writers and thinkers gathered here, among them Thomas Carlyle , Charles Dickens , John Stuart Mill , Ralph Waldo Emerson and the scientist Thomas Henry Huxley . No. 142 was the home of radical publisher and physician John Chapman , who published contemporary authors from this house during
29340-457: Was opened by the Countess of Mar for presiding minister Robert Bruce to pour "a bonny quantity of oil" on "parts of her breast and arm", so anointing her as queen. ( Kirk ministers had objected vehemently to this element of the ceremony as a pagan and Jewish ritual, but James insisted that it dated from the Old Testament .) The king handed the crown to Chancellor Maitland , who placed it on Anne's head. She then affirmed an oath to defend
29520-402: Was owned by Anne of Denmark , wife of James VI and I . The building was renamed Denmark House in commemoration of Anne's brother, Christian IV of Denmark . After James died in 1625, his body lay there intestate for a month. The building was taken over by Parliament in 1645 following the Civil War, renaming it back to Somerset House. It had an irregular series of owners and residents for much of
29700-419: Was owned by the Earldom for much of the 16th and 17th century. In 1666, it became the meeting place of the Royal Society after the Great Fire of London destroyed their previous venue. The house was demolished in 1678 and Arundel Street, adjoining the Strand, was built on the site. Somerset House was built by Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset , regent of England from 1547 to 1549, demolishing three inns and
29880-459: Was romantically linked with Anne Murray , later Lady Glamis. He addressed her in verse as "my mistress and my love". Anne of Denmark herself was also occasionally the subject of scandalous rumours. In the Basilikon Doron , written 1597–1598, James described marriage as "the greatest earthly felicitie or miserie, that can come to a man". From the first moment of the marriage, Anne was under pressure to provide James and Scotland with an heir, but
30060-405: Was said, in May 1597, that Anne was "careful of no other thing, but to dance and sport". Anne extended and rebuilt Dunfermline Palace , in 1601 preparing a lodging for her daughter Princess Elizabeth , but the princess remained at Linlithgow Palace on the king's orders. Her younger sons Charles and Robert were allowed to stay with her at Dunfermline and Dalkeith Palace . In February 1603,
30240-419: Was separated from them by a great storm : it was feared that the Queen was in danger upon the seas." Alarmed, James called for national fasting and public prayers, and kept watch on the Firth of Forth for Anne's arrival from Seton Palace , the home of his friend Lord Seton . He wrote several songs, one comparing the situation to the plight of Hero and Leander , and sent a search party out for Anne, carrying
30420-430: Was something short of what Chambers had intended, for he had planned for an additional terrace of houses to the east, as well as to the west of the quadrangle ; work had stopped short, however, cost being the inhibiting factor. Eventually King's College London was erected to the east (the government granting the land on condition that the design conformed to Chambers' original design) by subscription between 1829 and 1834;
30600-407: Was subsequently demolished in 1996 and replaced by an office block. In 1998, a statue of Oscar Wilde was built at the junction of Adelaide Street and Duncannon Street, adjoining the western end of the Strand. Between January 2021 and December 2022 Westminster City Council's Strand Aldwych Scheme works took place, pedestrianising Strand between Melbourne Place and Lancaster Place whilst Aldwych
30780-420: Was substantially expanded and remodelled to provide the Inland Revenue with an entire new wing of additional office accommodation. As part of this development, its architect James Pennethorne created a monumental new façade alongside the approach road to Waterloo Bridge (which had not been in existence when Chambers was alive). 150 years later this part of the building is still known as the " New Wing". In 1891
30960-582: Was such an infinite number of lords and ladies and so great a Court as I think I shall never see the like again." Anne and James were crowned at Westminster Abbey on 25 July 1603. The coronation prayers for Anne alluded to Esther , the Wise Virgins , and other Biblical heroines. A council was appointed in 1593 by the Parliament of Scotland to look after her landed estates and income. Anne of Denmark's household expenses in Scotland were alleviated by money given to James VI by Elizabeth I . Between July 1591 and September 1594, she received £18,796 Scots . At
31140-430: Was the home of Anne Boleyn . It had become derelict by the mid-17th century and was demolished in 1660. Durham Street and the Adelphi Buildings were built on its site. York House was built as the London residence for the Bishop of Norwich not later than 1237. At the time of the Reformation it was acquired by King Henry VIII and came to be known as York House when he granted it to the Archbishop of York in 1556. In
31320-606: Was the leading proponent of the scheme for a "national building", and in 1775 Parliament passed an act, the Crown Lands Act 1775 ( 15 Geo. 3 . c. 33), for the purpose of, inter alia , "erecting and establishing Publick Offices in Somerset House, and for embanking Parts of the River Thames lying within the bounds of the Manor of Savoy ". The list of public offices mentioned in the act comprised "The Salt Office, The Stamp Office, The Tax Office, The Navy Office, The Navy Victualling Office, The Publick Lottery Office, The Hawkers and Pedlar Office, The Hackney Coach Office, The Surveyor General of
31500-403: Was the name given to Waterloo Bridge during its construction; it was renamed for its official opening on the second anniversary of the coalition victory in the Battle of Waterloo . London buses routes 23 , 139 and 176 all run along the Strand, as do numerous night bus services. During Roman Britain , what is now the Strand was part of the route to Silchester , known as "Iter VIII" on
31680-610: Was the wife of King James VI and I . She was Queen of Scotland from their marriage on 20 August 1589 and Queen of England and Ireland from the union of the Scottish and English crowns on 24 March 1603 until her death in 1619. The second daughter of King Frederick II of Denmark and Sophie of Mecklenburg-Güstrow , Anne married James at age 14. They had three children who survived infancy: Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales , who predeceased his parents; Princess Elizabeth , who became Queen of Bohemia ; and James's future successor, Charles I . Anne demonstrated an independent streak and
31860-448: Was then the principal chemist of Somerset House Laboratory until his retirement in 1894. He was replaced as principal chemist by Sir Thomas Edward Thorpe . At the same time, the laboratory was amalgamated with a similar facility that had been established within HM Customs and it was renamed the Government Laboratory . In 1897, Thorpe moved the Government Laboratory from Somerset House to a new building of his own design. In 1837, following
32040-444: Was thought permanent damage had been done to the marriage. In August 1595, John Colville wrote: "There is nothing but lurking hatred disguised with cunning dissimulation betwixt the King and the Queen, each intending by slight to overcome the other." Despite these differences, Anne and James visited the Prince at Stirling in December 1595 and returned to Holyrood Palace to celebrate her 21st birthday. They had six more children. It
32220-402: Was to provide accommodation for a diverse variety of learned societies , public offices and naval administrators. The North Wing of Somerset House was initially fitted out to house the Royal Academy , the Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries . The Royal Academy took up residence first, in 1779, followed by the other two institutions the following year. The Royal Academy occupied
32400-399: Was widened in 1900, subsuming the former Holywell Street which forked from the Strand and ran parallel with it to the north, leaving the two churches of St Mary Le Strand and St Clement Danes as islands in the centre of the road. Gaiety Theatre was demolished, to be replaced by Citibank House, while Villiers House and New South Wales House were both built in 1957–1959. New South Wales House
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