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Garden of Remembrance Desecrated in Piccadilly

Written on February 15, 2012 by Peter Berthoud in Gardens, Memorials, Sculpture

Yesterday I was really saddened to see that Southwood Garden in Central London, has just been brutally redeveloped.

The tiny Second World War Memorial Garden lies to the West of St James’s Church, sandwiched between Jermyn Street and Piccadilly. Last year it was a lush, green, charming space, a little overgrown but all the more magical because of that.

Excuse the clichés but for once they are merited; this was once a genuine “hidden gem” and a real “oasis of peace”.

This is a view from last year:

Today it looks like this:

Once Alfred Hardiman’s statue of Peace was surrounded by mature shrubs, in a “chapel” of leaves:

Today, stripped of her surrounding foliage, she has lost her aura of tranquillity and her ability to inspire contemplation.

She stands before us now as a mere garden ornament.

Shrubs and bushes have been pruned down to the earth, or removed entirely, and the blandest of planting schemes has replaced them.

The magic of the space has been utterly destroyed.

There also used to be lots of unique, hand-painted, little marker signs, scattered throughout the garden, here was the grave marker of “Mackerel” the Rectory Cat for example:

Other signs marked the remains of a (long abandoned) project to grow within the garden every plant mentioned in the Bible:

There was also a sign encouraging people to add a stone to a small prayer Cairn:

Many of these signs were nestled together in one section of the garden.

All of these have been swept away and replaced with hideous picnic benches contained within vile surrounding walls:

Now I’ll happily admit that I am a pretty unsentimental, cynical, atheistic type, but even I am angry and can see that what has been done is just plain wrong and constitutes an act of horticultural, aesthetic and moral vandalism. The destruction seems even more inexplicably insensitive when one considers the purpose of the garden.

The Southwood Garden is a memorial garden, dedicated to “The bravery of ordinary Londoners shown during the Second World War“. It was created as such by Viscount Southwood (whose own ashes lie within the garden) and was opened by Queen Mary in 1946.

Was it really necessary to slash and burn such a special place? If replanting was needed, couldn’t this have been done more gradually? If hard-landscaping work was genuinely required, couldn’t the little markers have been given some consideration, some respect?

Does this look like a distinctive memorial garden to you; or more like a bland, boring lawn, stuck behind some Piccadilly office blocks?

I would be really interested to know why the normally altruistic, effective and truly decent St James’s Church authorities have done this but I could find nobody to ask at the church yesterday.

They do run a market; do they want to rent out more stalls? They do have a High Street coffee concession; do they want/”need” more outside seating for “Flat Latte” drinkers? Hauser & Wirth, the gallery, have a deal with the church to display art works in the garden; do they “need” more exhibition space? Is it all about cash, or is there another even more bizarre reason?

No doubt we will all learn “Why?” eventually.

But the damage has been done now and cannot be undone for a long time. For the next twenty years or so we will just need to wait patiently whilst the garden regenerates and matures. If I am fortunate enough to survive into my late 60′s, then I hope that I can go back to the Southwood Garden (circa 2032) and enjoy it once again.

There are a few more sad, “before” and “after”, photos of the garden on my Flickr Photostream.

The author of this blog is a qualified City of Westminster Tour Guide who runs unique walking tours throughout Westminster, see tabs for details

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The Royal Academy’s Wartime Vision for a New London

Written on February 7, 2012 by Peter Berthoud in Architecture, Curiosities, Gardens, Maps, Transport

In 1940 Sir Edwin Lutyens, President of the Royal Academy, formed a committee to prepare a report on the “ideal” possibilities that could be achieved when it came time to rebuild London after the war. In 1942 the committee produced their report, London Replanned.

This is the second of two posts featuring some of the plans from this document. To read part one which features ideas for the redevelopment of Piccadilly Circus, The British Museum and Covent Garden, amongst other places, click here.

The RA committee had grand plans for South Kensington, this is a view of the V&A. The building facing it is “A New National Theatre”.

The opportunity is taken of bringing all this neighbourhood into relation with the Victoria and Albert Museum. Thurloe Square is reformed on the axis of the main entrance to the Museum, with an ideal site for the National Theatre in the centre of the space so created. Round the Square would be hostels and other buildings for the University of London.

Here is another grand vision, this time for a magnificent “Processional Way” running from Buckingham Palace to Victoria Station.

A new processional way is created from Victoria Station to Buckingham Palace, the main point of arrival from the Continent. The forecourt of the Station is much improved and enlarged to deal with Station traffic well as through traffic. It is presumed that a new front will be designed for the Station.

Here is a map of the planned route and associated works.

From the new place formed by this avenue, opposite the South side of the Palace in Buckingham Gate, a diagonal road is aligned on Westminster Cathedral, thereby also revealing a view of the principal facade from Victoria Street. The thoroughfare is continued along the North-East side of the Cathedral as part of the Bressey route connecting South Kensington with Lambeth Bridge.

Hyde Park Corner would have been remodelled too.

The improvements follow the design by Sir Edwin Lutyens, which was exhibited some years ago. The Triumphal Arch is moved to a new position further down Constitution Hill, and a traffic roundabout of adequate scale is thus obtained. The arrangement of statues and planting of trees follow the original design.

Here is a view of the planned improvements.

The new development is the improved entrance to Hyde Park and the closing of Hamilton Place and lower Park Lane. The drawing shows No. 145 Piccadilly remodelled to balance Apsley House, the main entrance to Hyde Park being between the two buildings, whence the existing roads to Marble Arch are continued as a double parkway. The” Ionic Screen “is shown repeated to the East.

The committee’s unqualified enthusiasm for roads makes this a plan very much of its time. Here is an ideal “Ring Road Through a Suburban Area” and an explanation of the rationale behind it.

A drawing illustrating one of the two types of arterial traffic routes recommended, segregating local traffic from through traffic by difference of levels. In one scheme, through traffic is carried by a central viaduct. In that illustrated, the local traffic uses the central strip, flanked by raised one-way arteries, here shown with shops underneath.

The arterial road is accessible only by wide-spaced ramps, visible in the drawing near the traffic circus. In the centre of this an important building is shown, the island site approachable by subways, and adjoining the traffic arteries but not communicating with them. Nor is it possible for the adjoining housing, flats and terrace houses, to have contact with through traffic, which, in both schemes, is segregated as securely as in a railway. Consequently a speed of travel is possible along the raised arteries quite sufficient to compensate for the extra mileage involved by going round, instead of through, the Metropolis, and so to attract all through motor traffic.

The committee had grand ambitions for the roads around London Bridge too, here is their plan for “Southwark Circus”.

London Bridge Station is removed to a new position, as shown on the general plan. The great fall in the level from the Bridge to Borough High Street has materially influenced this plan, in which a traffic circus is formed at the bridgehead, preserving the Church of St. Thomas, standing in a green space.

All buildings of major interest are preserved chief of these, Southwark Cathedral, which is freed from the encroaching warehouses and given a proper “Close,” approached from the Bridge by steps and from the lower level by suitable carriageways, which also open up a view of the river. The buildings on each side of the bridge are balanced in design, and the vista to the South is by a tall building, possibly an extension of Guy’s Hospital on the axis line of the Bridge.

From “Southwark Circus” a new fast motor road is obtained over the line of the old rail tracks, providing a much needed direct route to Greenwich and the coast. The low level Embankment Road is extended as far as Hays Wharf.

Here, along with a lot of new roads, the committee wanted to create a new park as well.

The Surrey bank of the River is developed with Embankment gardens and office buildings. At St. George’s Circus, the geographical centre of London, a new Park is formed to provide circulation between all the bridge roads that radiate from this spot. and to give the much-needed open space to this crowded district. It is anticipated that the older portions of the district will be entirely rebuilt.

At Tower Hill another station is removed.

The existing Tower Hill Improvement Scheme is adapted, with a view to making the historic fortress as much a centre for East London as Westminster Abbey is for West London. Tower Hill is opened up as a space or garden, from All Hallows Barking Church and the Port of London Authority building (both of which are thereby shown to better advantage), to the Mint. The removal of Fenchurch Street Station enables a big roundabout to be planned N.W. of the Mint, where the Inner Circular Road and City Loop-way connect with the City Embankment traffic and traffic over Tower Bridge. The bascules of the latter are shown raised in the drawing to emphasize the need for a continuous crossing at this point. Below the bridge a riverside garden and warehouses are shown on the site of Katharine’s Docks. The large octagonal building prominent in the drawing North of the traffic circus is a suggested office block with garden court or car park at the junction of the two circular roads already mentioned.

Perhaps by emphasising the need for “a continuous crossing” at Tower Bridge the committee had even more far-reaching plans that they were reluctant to share with the public?

The Country Life special, in which the plan was published, was supported by advertising from many construction firms, presumably hoping for contracts when the plan came to fruition. I especially liked this one from Butterly, the firm that built St Pancras.

To read about more of the RA’s London Replanned in the first part of this feature click here.

The author of this blog is a qualified City of Westminster Tour Guide who runs unique walking tours throughout Westminster, see tabs for details.

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The Royal Academy’s Plan for London (1942) Part One

Written on January 31, 2012 by Peter Berthoud in Architecture, Books, Gardens, Maps, Transport

In January 1940 Sir Edwin Lutyens, President of the Royal Academy, invited architect members of the RA, and others, to form a committee. The committee’s task was to prepare a report on the “ideal” possibilities that could be achieved when it came time to rebuild London after the war. Its work was undertaken with the approval and backing of King George VI. In 1942 the committee produced their report, London Replanned and submitted it to all the relevant authorities. Shortly after it was published by Country Life with copies selling for 2/ 6d.

On the cover we have this idealised view of Saint Paul’s cathedral.

The RA saw this as one of their “most important proposals”.

A new view of St. Paul’s is opened from the river, and will appear as an avenue with grass centre, flanked at one point by the existing College of Arms. On the river front, barge houses for Royal and Civic ceremonies, or similar buildings for public purposes, are suggested, and these should flank a flight of river steps for use on ceremonial occasions and form an architectural foreground to the magnificent view. The avenue would not be a traffic thoroughfare, and would be crossed by the south arm of the City Loop-way, carrying Embankment traffic from Blackfriars to the Tower.

Here is an accompanying map showing planned “improvements” to the road system around St. Paul’s.

At no point could the committee be accused of lacking ambition or vision. This is their view of a post-war London looking from Westminster towards The City.

And here is the committee’s proposal for Piccadilly Circus.

The size of the Circus is doubled to meet the traffic requirements. This involves the removal of the London Pavilion and other buildings to a point in line with the Haymarket, from the centre of which a new terminal building is seen, and closing the South end of Shaftesbury Avenue and adjacent streets. A new main Street continues Piccadilly Eastwards from the Circus, passing approximately along the line of Lisle Street to a new circus North-East of Covent Garden.

North of the Circus an open space (or piazza) for pedestrians is formed, in front of a public building or possibly a theatre. The architecture reproduces that of Regent Street for the purpose of this drawing, but the whole question requires careful consideration at the appropriate time.

The committee seemed very keen on circuses, whatever their shape, and indeed roundabouts of all types. There is another one to be seen here in their plan for Charing Cross and Trafalgar Square.

Here the committee certainly start boldly.

Charing Cross Station is removed and a road bridge provided, with suitable access to adjoining streets. In the Strand a large roundabout is formed between King William Street and the present Station, to distribute the traffic and as an architectural feature, with underground garages entered through archways. Charing Cross Road is re-aligned in its lower length to bring the traffic to the roundabout and to overcome the congestion between St. Martin’s Church and the National Gallery. The Westminster City Hall is rebuilt
approximately on its old site with improved road facilities.

Trafalgar Square is enlarged on the South side, thus bringing the Nelson Column into the centre of the Square. Obstructions to the Admiralty Arch and Northumberland Avenue are removed, and the building brought into proper architectural relation to the Square. To the North, the new Eastward extension of Piccadilly is seen carried over Charing Cross Road by a viaduct.

So a new road bridge instead of Charing Cross station and its rail bridge and a new viaduct too. Here is the RA’s proposal for another bridge, Waterloo, and the surrounding area on the North bank of the Thames.

A large roundabout is formed on the Lyceum site connecting the Bridge on the South with the Strand, Aldwych and the new northern approach.

A suitable building is designed to close the vista from the bridge ; Savoy Chapel and churchyard are opened up so that they can be seen from the Strand.

Some of the RA’s ambitions for Covent Garden, depicted below, were actually realised, albeit decades later.

COVENT GARDEN – A GARDEN AGAIN
The Market is removed to a position on the Ring Road, where ft will have better rail and road facilities, and will no longer add to the congestion in Central London. The site of the Market becomes a garden, as originally was the case. The old colonnades and pavilions are preserved as an historic feature, making a pleasant theatre promenade.

Here is a map of the area from the plan.

A new Opera House is shown on the North side (1). and a new Concert Hall on the South (2). These buildings, together with Drury Lane Theatre (3) Would form a centre for the musical and dramatic arts, as distinct from Shaftesbury Avenue. devoted, as heretofore, to general theatrical enterprise.

North of Covent Garden the new extension of Piccadilly from Piccadilly Circus is seen dividing at a roundabout just North of the existing Opera House, whence a new thoroughfare connects with the British Museum and London University.

And here are those plans for the British Museum and University of London.

The development of the University of London adds immeasurably to the importance of Bloomsbury, where the British Museum has hitherto been tucked away without any adequate approach. The old mean streets In front of the Museum are cleared away, and a broad vista, or forecourt, to the facade is opened from Holborn, where a traffic circus is created. The forecourt is flanked with new hostels for University students, and contains St. George’s Church, freed from obscuring buildings and forming a fine contrast to the Museum beyond. From the Holborn traffic circus a new road connects Bloomsbury with Covent Garden.

And, after the demolition of all those “mean streets”, this is the view we might have enjoyed.

In the second half of this post, I feature the committee’s plans for: South Kensington, Buckingham Palace, Victoria, Hyde Park Corner, a model Ring Road, Southwark & London Bridge, a new Park for South London, a garden on Tower Hill and a rather nice advert from the people who brought us Saint Pancras.

If you feel the need to immerse yourself in still more unrealised grand plans for London there is an excellent series of features on Unbuilt London on the Londonist site and last year I also wrote about Mr Cawston’s 19th Century vision for the city.

The author of this blog is a qualified City of Westminster Tour Guide who runs unique walking tours throughout Westminster, see tabs for details.

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Spencer House gets Hammered

Written on June 10, 2011 by Peter Berthoud in Sculpture

Spencer House in St James’s Place has a new temporary sculpture on the terrace.

It is Hammer (Blue) by Michael Craig-Martin. You can see it from the western end of St James’s Place or from The Green Park. The work has been displayed here by the New Art Centre, more about them here.

Michael Craig-Martin has also curated the sculpture galleries for this year’s Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. More on him from his website here.