Admiralty Arch - a photo on Flickriver

Admiralty Arch

            Looking at Admiralty Arch from the lower end of Trafalgar Square across the new roundabout in the early morning.  Leading from the south-west corner of Trafalgar Square into The Mall, this arched ceremonial gateway is one of London's most famous landmarks.

The Arch takes its name from the Old Admiralty Buildings to the left, although the Arch itself has no naval association. It was designed in 1910 by Sir Aston Webb (who also worked on Buckingham Palace and the Victoria and Albert Museum) to provide an elegant ceremonial passage from Trafalgar Square towards Buckingham Palace. Note that traffic does not pass through the massive central arch - that is only opened for state occasions. The small outer arches are for pedestrian traffic, and the remaining central arches for vehicles.

As part of the same development scheme that saw the Admiralty Arch built, Sir Aston Webb also widened The Mall (the old Mall, which dates from the time of Charles II, still exists beside the current thoroughfare), and provided the gilt statue of Victoria in front of Buckingham Palace, that provides such a striking counterpoint to the Admiralty Arch at the other end of The Mall. The Arch was originally commissioned by King Edward VII in memory of his mother, Queen Victoria, though he did not live to see the work completed. A Latin inscription along the top reads:

 : ANNO : DECIMO : EDWARDI : SEPTIMI : REGIS :
 : VICTORIÆ : REGINÆ : CIVES : GRATISSIMI : MDCCCCX :

(In the tenth year of King Edward VII, to Queen Victoria, from most grateful citizens, 1910)

It  is a Grade I listed building. An interesting feature of the Arch is its "nose". On the inside wall of the northernmost arch there is a small protrusion the size and shape of a human nose. The nose is just over 2m above the ground, and would sit waist high for anyone riding through the arch on a horse. Tradition holds that it represents Napoleon's nose. It was to be rubbed by anyone riding through the arch - but it's an urban myth about a piece of modern art...

Astride his horse in the middle of the island in the foreground is King Charles I, looking down Whitehall towards the place of his execution, outside Banqueting House.  His statue is positioned on the site of the original Charing Cross, one of 12 erected by King Edward I during the transport of his wife Eleanor's body from Nottingham, where she had died, to Westminster Abbey.  Each cross was erected at the point where her body had lain overnight during the move south. The modern Charing Cross outside of the eponymous railway station is a Victorian confection, not the original.

Taken in: United Kingdom / England / London / Charing Cross (show map)

Taken on: July 24, 2004

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Trafalgar Square

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building

architecture

The Mall

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Old Admiralty Building

OAB

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Sir Aston Webb

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City of Westminster

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SW1A

2004 « less

Sets appears in: • Architecture, Central London • London 1983-2008

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Camera: Canon DIGITAL IXUS 500, f/4.0, 1/640 sec, 15.4mm (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon DIGITAL IXUS 500
Aperture:	f/4.0
Exposure Time:	0.002 sec (1/640)
Focal Length:	15.4mm
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Mode:	Auto
Metering Mode:	Center-weighted average
White Balance:	Manual
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Photoshop CS2 Windows
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