The life and works of Sir Charles Barry

by Alfred Barry

Alterations in Piccadilly and Pall Mall.—Another improvement, on which he was consulted by the Government in 1841, was the proposed widening of Piccadilly. He put the project into proper shape, and it was carried out accordingly, bringing into Piccadilly the fine row of plane-trees which extend to Hyde Park Corner, and which are the only trees standing in a great London thoroughfare. But, as usual, his desires went beyond the instructions given him. He cast a longing eye upon the Green Park, which seemed to give room for a great design. The reservoir now existing was to be transformed into an ornamental basin, flanked by appropriate fountains, and surrounded by terraces with balustrades, vases, and statues. Fine broad flights of steps were to lead down to the Park, and thence by a long walk ornamented with sculpture to Hyde Park Corner. The object was to combine in one grand design what is now a somewhat wasted and ineffective space. But here again economy stepped in to forbid its execution; and the design exists on paper only.

Another fine idea, referring to the same quarter of London, remained equally barren of result. When the Marble Arch was in want of a site, Sir Charles proposed to do away with the obstructions which now encumber the east end of Pall Mall, so as to make a wide opening to the Park, which should be occupied by the Marble Arch with Stafford House on one side, and Bridgewater House on the other.[112] It was in such positions alone, where the Arch was combined with flanking buildings or rested on solid masonry as abutments, that he thought it a grand or even a rational feature. Standing alone, or with mere iron railing on each side of it, it seemed absolutely unmeaning, and therefore unsatisfactory. In the position proposed, it would certainly have looked well, and supplied (what is much needed) a grand termination to Pall Mall, and a good entrance into the Park. The annexed woodcut will show its effect, and the amount of alteration which it would

entail. It may not be too much to hope, that hereafter some such worthy termination may be found for one of the finest streets in London.

Westminster Improvements.—While thus conceiving designs for the architectural improvement of the metropolis in general, it was only natural that he should pay special attention to the neighbourhood of Westminster, in which his own main work lay. More particularly the constant sight of the river, with its glorious capabilities, and the miserable defacements of its banks, stirred him up to many projects for its embellishment.

Westminster Bridge was, of course, his first anxiety. The old bridge (the oldest in London since the old London Bridge had disappeared) was not only ugly in itself, but by its high roadway and parapets, and the massiveness of its general structure, exaggerated the defects of the site of the New Palace. He looked upon it with a jealous eye, eager to notice the first symptoms of decay. When that decay became serious, he suggested every device for lowering it and lightening in the course of its repairs; and, when all repair failed, and its demolition was found to be inevitable, he rejoiced over it as an enemy removed from his path. He then set to work at once to design a new bridge; its width he made no less than 100 feet, its height he lowered as much as possible, in defiance of all complaints as to the navigation. The lowness of the banks, in his mind, forbade a grand massive bridge, like London or Waterloo Bridges, which must dwarf all architecture near it, and which was only fit to rest on banks of rock, or granite abutments, massive as itself. Lightness and elegance here were the first things needful. In style he would have Gothicized to suit the New Palace, and he would have carried out the work far beyond the erection of the bridge itself. In his design there was to have been a second Gothic bridge at Lambeth, a new river front was to be given to Lambeth Palace, and a fine avenue and quay formed along Bishop’s Walk to some new Gothic building at the foot of Westminster Bridge. All the eyesores on the Surrey side of the river, which marred the view from the terrace of the New Palace, were to have been swept away, and the river would have flowed on through a vast Gothic quadrangle.

But this again was one of those comprehensive schemes by which he alarmed economists, and the general design for the time was set aside. There is now a bridge at Lambeth, but it is the present paltry-looking suspension-bridge. There is to be the Surrey embankment, but it will hardly harmonize with the new bridge erected at Westminster. Yet, probably, by the time all is done, the same area will be covered, and the same expense incurred, without any general and comprehensive scheme. When it was set aside, he thought it better to keep the bridge distinct, though not inharmonious, in character. He adopted, rather in deference to authority than to his own taste, elliptical arches, at first seven in number, afterwards for convenience reduced to five; and submitted to the Board of Works a design, in which he endeavoured to preserve strictly the requisites above mentioned.

The design was never carried out, but the present bridge fulfils many of the requirements which he had in view, and does something like justice to the great building at its foot.

His views as to the improvement of the river were not indeed confined to Westminster. The Thames Embankment schemes, so long discussed, and now at last in course of execution, were not unfrequently in his mind. He made several designs[113] for carrying out a work, which he felt to be essential to the thorough usefulness and architectural beauty of the Thames, and in which his own work at the New Palace gave him a special interest.