Building Review
Bush House
Who is the ginger beard loving monster?
Strandman's journey round the great divide of Strand and Fleet Street (The Aldwych) lurches toward the imposing Bush House. On a wet Monday (isn't it always?) the 'Nation shall spak unto Nation' is guarded by fluorscent clad security people seems a little sinister. A Big Brother ministry perhaps or a Soviet secret department? Built from Portland stone, Bush House was in 1929 declared the "most expensive building in the world", having cost around £2 Million. It's function is intriguing and may be regarded as sinister by some. Strandman is on the case.
Bush House is primarily home to the BBC's World Service department, which occupies 4 of the 5 wings. The fifth, south-west wing, is used by HM Revenue & Customs (The Internet booze man cometh)
Designed by Harvey Corbett, Bush House was built in 1923 with further wings added between 1928 and 1935. The building was originally constructed for an Anglo-American trading organisation headed by Irving T. Bush, after whom it is named (no relation to George).
The building's opening ceremony was performed by Lord Balfour on July 4, 1925 - America's Independence Day. It included the unveiling of two statues at the entrance made by American artist Malvina Hoffman. The statues symbolise Anglo-American friendship and the building bears the inscription ‘Dedicated to the friendship of English-speaking peoples’.
The BB's foreign language broadcasting service began in 1938 from Broadcasting House in Portland Place. After this building was bombed during the Second World War, the service was re-located to Bush House in 1941. This building in turn suffered bomb damage and the statue representing America lost its left arm. It was restored in 1977.
Over many years all the BBC's foreign language services gradually invaded Bush House, penetrating each wing in turn. However, the BBC has never owned Bush House. Its owners were variously the Church of Wales, the Post Office and now a Japanese-owned organisation, but for millions of overseas listeners it remains the building which most represents the BBC.
The BBC's lease with Kato Kagaku (the Japanese company that owns the building) expires in 2010. The BBC plans to move World Service to Broadcasting House following its ongoing expansion and renovation programme, known as the W1 Project.
In October 2005 the BBC announced that a new Arabic language television service would begin broadcasting from Bush House in 2007.
- While Strand was being excavated in 1930 to build the eastern wing, a marble head was discovered. Carved from Carrara marble, it depicted a Roman man with a rather grim expression. Despite some slight damage, the head now sits in the Centre Block stairwell.
- There was once a small 'acoustically perfect' theatre in Bush House. It could hold 100 people.
- In June 1944 a bomb landed in Aldwych outside Bush House. Three staff were severely injured, another 40 sustained minor injuries, and one of the statues had its arm destroyed. The arm was replaced 30 years later by an American businessman who saw it while he was visiting his daughter in London. He happened to work for the Indiana Limestone Company, and persuaded his employers to send a replacement, and a stonemason to attach it.
- There is a small reminder of the original plans for Bush House; a small arcade that has eight shops in it is on the ground floor. The entrance is on Strand, and is open to the us, the great British (and touristic)public.
Run along.
SM
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Where the bloody hell are you?
Australia House
King George V laid the building’s first foundation stone in 1913 but it was not until August 1918 that he officially opened the completed building. The stringencies of World War I – principally shipping difficulties and getting enough UK workers and other shortages – had delayed construction considerably.
Federation of the six Australian states formally took place on 1 January 1901 but it was not until 1906 that the Federal Government sent an Official Secretary to London to represent Australia. In the intervening years Australia was represented by State Agents-General, the first of whom was the Agent-General of Victoria.
Victoria House had been built in 1907 on the corner of an island site, bounded on the south and east by Strand, on the north-east by Aldwych and on the west by Melbourne Place. A massive demolition scheme many years before had left this vacant triangle of land, which had been empty so long that wild flowers bloomed there and the Daily Graphic called it “a garden of wild flowers in the heart of London . . . this rustic spot in urban surroundings”. In 1912 the Australian Government bought the freehold of the entire site.
The cost of the land was £379, 756 and building and other associated costs brought total expenditure to about £1 million. Well worth it for the domance of the building- and part of the spirit of Aussies in London.
The building was designed by Scots architects, A. Marshal Mackenzie and Son, following an architectural competition, the judges of which included Bertram Mackennal, John Longstaff, George Lambert, Fred Leist and Arthur Streeton. The judges reported “we are united in the opinion that this building will be a lasting monument to the importance of the Commonwealth and a splendid addition to the architecture of London.” The Commonwealth of Australia's chief architect, Mr J. S. Murdoch, travelled to London to work with the Mackenzie firm on the building.
The builders, Dove Brothers of Islington, began work in 1913 but were soon delayed by problems caused by World War I. However, the High Commissioner and former Australian Prime Minister, Mr Andrew Fisher, and some of his staff were able to move into temporary offices on the site in 1916, while work went on around them.
On 24 July 1913 King George V laid the foundation stone. He was accompanied by the Queen and Princess Mary. Much was made of the enthusiastic shouts of “Coo-ee” from the predominantly Australian crowd at the end of the ceremony. The Daily Express reported “it started suddenly and drew into a long-drawn, plaintive cry, which swelled and died again and again, coming to Londoner’s ears with almost startling novelty.”
King George V officially opened the building on 3 August 1918. The Australian Prime Minister, Mr W. M. Hughes; Mr Andrew Fisher, High Commissioner and former Prime Minister, and Mr Joseph Cook, Minister for the Navy and former Prime Minister and later High Commissioner, were among the official party.
Australia House is on the UK statutory list of Government buildings as a Category II building. So we can’t knock it down when we lose Mighty Freddy in the first Test.
SM
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Firestarter! Strand, Aldwych and the Tube
Strandman does Firestarter!
It is a grim wet Tuesday morning and it is time to turn on those speakers and remember. Play it loud...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyFjUP6wyMA
Strand / Aldwych tube station was the location for the Prodigy video.
So where did it all go wrong?
What might have been:
I was lucky enough (by chance, but is that luck or fate?) to be walking by the open door on Surrey Street (probably some breach of Health & Safety guidelines) to this dis-used tube station and I took the opportunity to go in and spy! I observed filming (see below) and wondered around the top section freely. Stuck in time, Strandman was bewitched and enchanted by this historical relic of a previous generation- what a gem!
Strand / Aldwych tube station is a disused (but still used, as it were) station formerly on the Piccadilly Line of the London Underground, and now part of King's College London. It was the terminus of a short branch from Holborn, and closed in 1994. I went to it many times and remember ‘coming up’ to the surface and being in wonder of the view. It has a well-preserved interior has made it a significant location for design work and filming (more later). As I was growing up I remember the design was so timeless and I love it. When it became in 1995 a photo-me-booth (which clearly had spy and secret entrance written all over) it I fell in love.
To find it:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?ll=51.512334,-0.115817&spn=0.008592,0.005932&t=k
The station was intended to be the southern terminus of the Great Northern and Strand Railway (correct use of Strand and Italics, hurrah!), running from Finsbury Park in the north, under King's Cross station, to a point near The Strand. In the event, the GN&SR was merged with two other proposed tubes to form the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (now known as the Piccadilly Line), and the section to Strand became a mere branch. Although two tunnels were constructed to Holborn they were connected to the northbound Piccadilly Line only.
November 30, 1907: Strand opens and was served only by a shuttle service to Holborn, except for a single late-night service that ran through to Finsbury Park for the benefit of theatre-goers. Those lucky people- their own tube! This was withdrawn in 1908 (shame), and by 1912 the two-train shuttle had been reduced to one train. The branch officially became single track in 1918.
The station was renamed Aldwych (and then end of Strand) in 1917 so that the name Strand could be given to what later became the Northern Line part of Charing Cross tube station. [More on this confusion in another post with Fleet line and Jubilee adding to chaos] A shuttle service continued to run to Aldwych until 1940, when the branch was closed and the station used as a public air-raid shelter. The branch tunnels were used to store the Elgin Marbles and other artifacts from the British Museum. Service was restored in 1946 and continued until September 30, 1994, when the cost of a lift replacement was considered uneconomic, and the branch was closed. It is a fantastic lift by the way!
Over the years the station has been a popular location for film and television companies wanting to film on the Underground. As the branch was entirely self-contained and closed at weekends, its facilities could be put at the disposal of film crews much more easily than those of more active parts of the underground. The station's second platform, closed since 1917, was used for many years to test mock-ups of new designs for platforms at other stations. Both these uses of the station continued after its closure.One of the platforms is now used as a rifle range by King's College London shooting club.
The closed station still has many of its original 1907 features, including tiling and signage. The surface building is hired out for events, functions and art exhibitions. It is visible from Strand opposite St Mary-le-Strand church. A restoration of the building's façade has revealed the original name of the station.
Despite being closed since 1994 the station still appears on a number of station listings along the Piccadilly line. I will try and list them with help please! The trackwork and infrastructure remains in good condition, and a train of ex-Northern Line 1972 tube stock is permanently stabled on the branch - this train drives up and down the branch a few times each week to keep the trackwork in good repair.
Films made at Aldwych tube station:
http://www.cwgcuser.org.uk/personal/subterra/lu/lufilmtv/lufandtv.htm
- Battle of Britain (1969)
- Death Line (1972) - standing in for Russell Square tube station
- Ghost Story (1974)
- Superman IV: The Quest For Peace (1986)
- The Krays (1990)
- Patriot Games (1992)
In Patriot Games, shown on Channel 4 last week, a 1992 film starring Harrison Ford, a bookseller leaves his shop in Piccadilly and – rather curiously, given their relative locations - enters Aldwych station, where an announcement is given that a train will call at Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus (the nearest station to where he started) and Oxford Circus. This would have been an impossible sequence from Aldwych and, indeed, from anywhere without changing lines (from the Piccadilly to the Bakerloo) at Piccadilly Circus.
- The Line, the Cross and the Curve (1993)
- Honest (2000)
- Creep (2004)
- V for Vendetta (2006) - the name 'Strand' is clearly visible at several points in the film.
Aldwych tube station also features as a level in the video game Tomb Raider 3.
And of course for the Prodigy, Firestarter.
http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/sites/a/aldwych-holborn-branch_line/index.shtml
Play it again, Strand
SM
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http://www.cwgcuser.org.uk/personal/subterra/lu/lufilmtv/lufandtv.htm
- Battle of Britain (1969)
- Death Line (1972) - standing in for Russell Square tube station
- Ghost Story (1974)
- Superman IV: The Quest For Peace (1986)
- The Krays (1990)
- Patriot Games (1992)
- The Line, the Cross and the Curve (1993)
- Honest (2000)
- Creep (2004)
- V for Vendetta (2006) - the name 'Strand' is clearly visible at several points in the film.
Aldwych tube station also features as a level in the video game Tomb Raider 3.
And of course for the Prodigy, Firestarter.
http://www.subbrit.org.uk/sb-sites/sites/a/aldwych-holborn-branch_line/index.shtml
Play it again, Strand
SM
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The Royal Courts of Justice
Lets do the RCJ It is a wet and miserable Thursday on Strand this morning so lets do the RCJ! The Royal Courts of Justice (please note the use of capitals and appropriate 's') are the nation's main civil courts. They preside over the most serious civil trials in the country including divorce, libel, civil liability and appeals. (Crime gets ‘done’ round the corner at the Old Bailey). The TV camera crews from Sky, BBC, ITN and a multitude of satellites set up on the island at the back end of St Clement Danes. The famous appeal stories are usually shot from here and the picture at the bottom of my blog is the one they always cut too (Bridget Jones memories?) and I enjoy popping over there for a Lunchtime snoop and atmospheric encounter. Join me? SM --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Royal Courts of Justice - the High Court
Strand, London WC1
The building is a large grey / white stone edifice in the Victorian Gothic style and was designed by George Edmund Street, a solicitor turned architect, and built in the 1870s. (It is estimated that it is made from 35 million bricks faced with Portland stone, just touching them, as I did this morning made me groan. Memories of tour guides around Paris telling me (when I was 15, etched into my memory) that the Tour d'eiffel (an outstanding engineering achievement), was designed by Gustave Eiffel (who also designed the framework for the Statue of Liberty) and had 90 million rivets. Who knows if that is true and why is still in my cerebral hemisphere?). The Royal Courts of Justice are said to contain 1,000 rooms and 3.5 miles (lots of kilometres) of corridors. The stress of building was so great that it caused Street's early death- I am still chasing if this is true or not.)
The Royal Courts of Justice was opened by Queen Victoria in December 1882 and became the permanent home of the Supreme Court. Strandman proudly declares it to be on the Strand, in the City of Westminster, near the border with the City of London and the London Borough of Camden. It is surrounded by the four Inns of Court.
If you find yourself there on business not pleasure- don’t panic: Those who do not have legal representation may receive some assistance within the court building. The Citizens Advice Bureau has a small office in the main entrance hall where lawyers provide free advice. There is usually a queue for this service. There is also a Personal Support Unit where litigants in person can get emotional support and practical information about what happens in court.
The interior of the building is as magnificent as the façade and a real gothic delight. I spent a good 5 minutes staring upwards, the noises from the miles of corridors and great rooms echoing. It gives a tremendously uplifting feeling.
The public are admitted to all 88 court rooms and can come and go as they please, although Judges will not suffer interruptions when they are passing judgement or witnesses are taking oaths. Incidentally fancy hiring a court for a party? Well, err….. you can. At £175 per hour. Nice.
Prominent lists in the central hall indicate which case is being held in which court and how far the proceedings have gone.
The Royal Courts of Justice also contains a small exhibition of legal dress and other slightly dated and cold stuff. But don’t go for that go for the amazing soul of the place, the history (of which loads to come in weeks, months and years of this blog- a kind of Hello Magazine for the RCJ.)
Admission free don’t be put off by the Metal detectors! Or if you feel really cheap, try this panoramic view which is ace. Open: Mon-Fri: 09:30-16:30, Closed Public Holidays
St. Clement Danes, Strand
St Clement Danes is a church (just) within the City of Westminster, London. It is situated outside the Royal Courts of Justice (RCJ) on (the) Strand. The current building was completed in 1682 by Sir Christopher Wren, famous for so much of London’s architecture. As I walk by St Clement Danes every day, examining it’s pitted battle scared walls, it’s statues (Outside the church stand statues of two of the RAF's wartime leaders, Arthur ‘Bomber’ Harris and Hugh Dowding) and it perilous position in the middle of Strand I am impressed by it's history and location. St Clements is sometimes claimed to be the one featured in the nursery rhyme 'Oranges and Lemons' and the bells do indeed play that tune. However, St Clement Eastcheap, in the City of London, also claims to be the church from the rhyme and my research has revealed that this is correct. SM ---------------------------------------------------------
The first church on the site is supposed to have been built by Danes living nearby in the 9th century. The location, on the river between the City of London and the future site of Westminster, was home to many Danes at a time when half of England was Danish; being a seafaring race, the Danes named the church they built after St Clement, patron saint of mariners.
The church was first rebuilt by William the Conqueror, and then again in the Middle Ages. It was in such a bad state by the end of the 17th century that it was demolished and again rebuilt, this time by Wren. The steeple was added to the tower in the 18th century by James Gibbs.
Nazi bombs almost destroyed the church on 10 May 1941. The outer walls, the tower and Gibbs's steeple, survived the bombing. Worth a look on the north side and place your hand to feel the damage.
Following an appeal for funds by the Royal Air Force, the church was completely restored and was re-consecrated on 19 October 1958 to become the Central Church of the Royal Air Force.
Services are regularly held to commemorate prominent occasions of the RAF and its associated organisations. There are also features throughout and outside the building commemorating people and units of the RAF.
As part of the rebuilding, a Latin inscription was added over the main door of the church, translating as:
"Built by Christopher Wren 1682. Destroyed by the thunderbolts of air warfare 1941. Restored by the Royal Air Force 1958"
The floor of the church, of Welsh slate, is inscribed with the badges of over 800 RAF commands, groups, stations, squadrons and other formations. Near the entrance door is a ring of the badges of Commonwealth air forces, surrounding the badge of the RAF.
A memorial to the Polish airmen and squadrons who fought in the defence of the UK and the liberation of Europe in World War II is positioned on the floor of the north aisle.
Books of Remembrance listing the names of all the RAF personnel who have died in service, as well as those American airman based in the UK who died during World War Two.Near the altar are plaques listing the names of RAF and RFC personnel awarded the Victoria Cross and the George Cross.
It’s beauty and sense of purpose are clear, if lost to many who just walk on by. It is not a St Pauls, the scale and location prevent that, but it is a hidden gem on Strand which has a sense of place and stilness.
