London Neighbourhoods
Westminster
Of all the districts of London, Westminster is the one that just about every visitor has on their "must visit" list, for it is here that most of the city's famous buildings can be found. The City of Westminster is most notable for being the seat of the United Kingdom Parliament and most of the UK Government. It is known for its many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster (incorporating Big Ben), Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral, Trafalgar Square and the West End shopping and entertainment district.
The name (Old English: Westmynstre) originated from the informal description of the abbey church and royal peculiar of St Peter's (Westminster Abbey), which were to the west of the City of London - at until the English Reformation there was also an Eastminster, near the Tower of London, in the East End of London. The abbey's origins date from between the 7th and 10th centuries, but it rose to national prominence when rebuilt by Edward the Confessor in the 11th century. Westminster has been the home of England's government since about 1200, and from 1707 the Government of the United Kingdom. In 1539, it became a city.
Back then, the land on which the abbey was built was in fact an island called Thorney Island, which lay between the arms of the former River Tyburn at its confluence with the Thames, while the western boundary with Chelsea was formed by the similarly lost River Westbourne. The line of the river still forms (with very slight revisions) the boundaries of the modern borough with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
The lower Westbourne formed part of the western boundary, and Oxford Street the north. Further north, away from the river mouth, Westminster included land on both sides of the Westbourne, notably Knightsbridge (including the parts of Hyde Park west of the Serpentine lake – originally formed by damming the Serpentine – and most of Kensington Gardens).
Today, Westminster includes the sub-districts of Soho, St James, Mayfair, Covent Garden, Pimlico, Victoria, Belgravia and Knightsbridge (shared with neighbouring Kensington). Westminster merged with neighbouring Paddington and Marylebone in 1965 to form a larger modern borough, these neighbouring areas (except for a small area of Paddington in part of Kensington Gardens), lie north of Oxford Street. On this website, the sub-districts have been described separately - hid article deals only with Westminster.
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Westminster Abbey
The former Thorney Island, the site of Westminster Abbey, formed the historic core of Westminster. The abbey became the traditional venue of the coronations of the kings and queens of England from that of Harold Godwinson (1066) onwards. At least 16 royal weddings have occurred at the abbey since 1100. The church got its first grand building in the 1060s under the auspices of the English king Edward the Confessor, who is still buried inside. Construction of the present church began in 1245 on the orders of Henry III. The monastery was dissolved in 1559 and the church was made a royal peculiar—a Church of England church responsible directly to the sovereign—by Elizabeth I.
Not to be confused with Westminster Cathedral or Westminster Chapel, the abbey is the burial site of more than 3,300 people, many of prominence in British history: monarchs, prime ministers, poets laureate, actors, scientists, military leaders, and the Unknown Warrior. In 1987, the abbey, together with the Palace of Westminster and St. Margaret's Church, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site due to its outstanding universal value.
Palace of Westminster
From about 1200 the Palace of Westminster, near the abbey, became the principal royal residence, a transition marked by the transfer of royal treasury and financial records to Westminster from Winchester. Later the palace housed the developing Parliament and England's law courts. Thus London developed two focal points: the City of London (financial/economic) and Westminster (political and cultural).
The monarchs moved their principal residence to the Palace of Whitehall (1530–1698), then to St James's Palace in 1698, and eventually to Buckingham Palace and other palaces after 1762. The main law courts moved to the Royal Courts of Justice in the late-19th century.
The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parliament, the Palace lies on the north bank of the River Thames in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. The first royal palace constructed on the site dated from the 11th century, and Westminster became the primary residence of the Kings of England until fire destroyed the royal apartments in 1512 (after which, the nearby Palace of Whitehall was established). The remainder of Westminster continued to serve as the home of the Parliament of England, which had met there since the 13th century, and also as the seat of the Royal Courts of Justice, based in and around Westminster Hall.
Elizabeth Tower and Big Ben
The Elizabeth Tower, at the north end of the Palace of Westminster, is often referred to by the name of Big Ben, the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster. It has become an iconic landmark of London and of the United Kingdom in general, one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city, and an emblem of parliamentary democracy. Tsar Nicholas I of Russia called the new palace "a dream in stone". The tower was designed by Augustus Pugin in a neo-Gothic style. When completed in 1859, its clock was the largest and most accurate four-faced striking and chiming clock in the world.
St Margarets Church
St. Margaret’s, known as ‘the Church on Parliament Square’, is a 12th-century church next to Westminster Abbey. It’s also sometimes called ‘the parish church of the House of Commons’. St Margaret’s Church was originally built to offer an alternative to the monastic liturgy of a Benedictine Abbey. It has a long and fascinating history and has witnessed significant change. There has been a church in the Sanctuary precincts since the twelfth century. It was rebuilt in the thirteenth century and again in the fifteenth. Adopted by Parliament in 1614, it was passed at one stage to the Diocese of London and then returned to the jurisdiction of the Abbey when it ceased to be a parish church in 1972.
Westminster Cathedral
Not to be confused with Westminster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral is the mother church of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. It is the largest Catholic church in the UK and the seat of the Archbishop of Westminster. The site on which the cathedral stands in the City of Westminster was purchased by the Diocese of Westminster in 1885, and construction completed in 1903. Designed by John Francis Bentley in neo-Byzantine style, and accordingly made almost entirely of brick, without steel reinforcements, Sir John Betjeman called it "a masterpiece in striped brick and stone" that shows "the good craftsman has no need of steel or concrete".
Location: Victoria Street, London.
Westminster Chapel
Westminster Chapel is an evangelical free church in Westminster, central London. The church is in Buckingham Gate, on the corner of Castle Lane and opposite the junction with Petty France. Buckingham Gate is just off Victoria Street and near Buckingham Palace. The chapel was founded as a Congregational church, its congregation was formed in 1840 and its original chapel building was completed in Buckingham Gate in 1841. The congregation outgrew that building, so construction of a new chapel was begun in 1864. This building is the present chapel. It opened on 6 July 1865 and has capacity to seat about 1,500 people.
Jewel Tower
The Jewel Tower is a precious survival from the medieval Palace of Westminster. It was built in the 1360s as a secure store for royal treasure within the private palace of Edward III. Later it became the records office of the House of Lords, surviving the fire which in 1834 destroyed much of the historic palace. Later still, it served as a testing facility, determining the value of weights and measures for Britain and its empire. From the 1950s demolition of nearby buildings, landscaping works and archaeological investigations have brought to light important features of the tower’s setting.
The Guards Museum
An exhibition detailing the history of Foot Guards and the Household Cavalry, with tours and talks. It tells the story of the Five Regiments of Foot Guards, who have the duty and honour of protecting the Sovereign and Royal Palaces from 1660 to the present day. The museum was originally founded as a teaching aid for new recruits to learn their Regimental heritage.
Location: The Guards Museum, Wellington Barracks, Birdcage Walk, London
Horse Guards
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Horse Guards is a historic building in the City of Westminster, London, between Whitehall and Horse Guards Parade. It was built in the mid-18th century, replacing an earlier building, as a barracks and stables for the Household Cavalry. It is home to the Household Cavalry Museum is a living Museum that celebrates the history and accomplishments of The Household Cavalry offering a unique ‘behind the scenes’ look at the work that goes into the ceremonial and armoured reconnaissance role of HM The Queen’s Mounted Bodyguard.
Birdcage Walk
Birdcage Walk sounds like a strange name for a street, until you the story behind it and then it all makes sense. The street is named after the Royal Menagerie and Aviary which were located there in the reign of King James I. King Charles II expanded the Aviary when St James's Park was laid out from 1660. Storey's Gate, named after Edward Storey, Keeper of the King's Birds, was originally the gate at the eastern end of Birdcage Walk: the name is now applied to the street leading from the eastern end to Westminster Abbey, which was formerly called Prince's Street. Only the British Royal Family and the Hereditary Grand Falconer, the Duke of St Albans, were permitted to drive along the road until 1828, when it was opened to the public. Birdcage Walk runs east–west as a continuation of Great George Street, from the crossroads with Horse Guards Road and Storey's Gate, to a junction with Buckingham Gate, at the southeast corner of Buckingham Palace.
St James's
St James's is a central district in the City of Westminster, London, forming part of the West End. It is bounded to the north by Piccadilly and Mayfair, to the west by Green Park, to the south by The Mall bounding St. James's Park, and to the east by Haymarket.
The area's name is derived from the dedication of a 12th-century leper hospital to Saint James the Less.The site is now occupied by St James's Palace. The area became known as "Clubland" because of the historic presence of gentlemen's clubs. In the 17th century the area developed as a residential location for the British aristocracy, and around the 19th century was the focus of the development of gentlemen's clubs. The 'apostrophe S' at its end is a curiousity. What happened to the second part of the district's name, and what it referred to - perhaps St James's Palace? - has been lost in the annals of time.
St James's Park
Bounded by Buckingham Palace to the west, the Mall to the north, Horse Guards to the east, and Birdcage Walk to the south, St James's Park is the most easterly of a near-continuous chain of parks that includes (moving westward) Green Park, Hyde Park, and Kensington Gardens. The park has a small lake, St James's Park Lake, with two islands, West Island and Duck Island, the latter named for the lake's collection of waterfowl. A resident colony of pelicans has been a feature of the park since a Russian ambassador donated them to Charles II in 1664.
In 1532, Henry VIII purchsed an area of marshland through which the Tyburn flowed that he reserved as parkland. On James I's accession to the throne in 1603, he ordered that the park be drained and landscaped, and exotic animals were kept in the park, including camels, crocodiles, an elephant and exotic birds, kept in aviaries. In the late 17th and early 18th centuries cows grazed on the park, and milk could be bought fresh at the "Lactarian". The park was re-modelled to its present form in 1826–27.
St James's Palace
St James's Palace is the most senior royal palace in London, the capital of the United Kingdom. The palace gives its name to the Court of St James's, which is the monarch's royal court. Although no longer the principal residence of the monarch, it is the ceremonial meeting place of the Accession Council, the office of the Marshal of the Diplomatic Corps, as well as the London residence of several members of the royal family. Built by order of Henry VIII in the 1530s on the site of a leper hospital dedicated to Saint James the Less, the palace was secondary in importance to the Palace of Whitehall for most Tudor and Stuart monarchs. Initially surrounded by gardens, it was generally used as a retreat from the formal court and occasionally a royal guest house.
The immediate palace complex includes York House, the former home of Charles III and his sons, Princes William and Harry. Lancaster House, located next door, is used by HM Government for official receptions, and the nearby Clarence House, the former home of the Queen Mother, was the residence of Charles, Prince of Wales; he continues to live there as King Charles III.
Loction: The Mall, London
Clarence House
Clarence House, which stands beside St James's Palace, was built between 1825 and 1827 to the designs of John Nash for Prince William Henry, Duke of Clarence. Today Clarence House is the official London residence of The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall. During its history, Clarence House has been altered, reflecting the changes in occupancy over nearly two centuries. It was the London home of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother from 1953 until 2002 and was also the home of The Queen, then Princess Elizabeth, and The Duke of Edinburgh following their marriage in 1947. Clarence House is open to members of the public during August each year.
Loction: The Mall, London
Spencer House
Spencer House is London’s most magnificent eighteenth-century aristocratic palace. Built between 1756-1766 for John, first Earl Spencer, an ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales (1961-1997) it is London’s finest surviving eighteenth-century town house. From its conception the House was recognised as one of the most sumptuous private residences ever built in London and a building of unique importance in the history of English architecture. Designed by John Vardy and James ‘Athenian’ Stuart, the State Rooms are amongst the first neo-classical interiors in Europe. Spencer House, is open to the public for viewing every Sunday (except during August) from 10.00 a.m. – 4.30 p.m. (last tour).
Loction: 27 St James's Place, London
Admiralty Arch
Admiralty Arch is a landmark building in London providing road and pedestrian access between The Mall, which extends to the southwest, and Trafalgar Square to the northeast. Admiralty Arch, commissioned by King Edward VII in memory of his mother, Queen Victoria, and designed by Aston Webb, is now a Grade I listed building. In the past, it served as residence of the First Sea Lord and was used by the Admiralty. Until 2011, the building housed government offices. In 2012, the government sold the building on a 125-year lease for £60m for a proposed redevelopment into a Waldorf Astoria luxury hotel and four apartments.
Trafalgar Square
Built with an initial budget of £11,000 in the early 19th century and named after the Battle of Trafalgar - won by Admiral Nelson against the Napoleonic forces of the French - Trafalgar Square is a large public space in the middle of central London. The last stop on parade routes (such as the London Gay Pride Parade), a site for protest (Black Monday of 1886 and, more recently, student protests), a location for celebration (VE Day in 1945 and the yearly Christmas tree lighting), and home to the National Gallery, Trafalgar Square is a multi-functional landmark. Presided over by Nelson's Column, a stone column over 55 metres high depicting Lord Nelson himself at the top, the Square was once notable for its vast pigeon population which has been drastically reduced thanks to the introduction of harris hawks and the banning of feeding the birds! Large screens are occasionally set up in the Square to show live feed of Olympic games, Royal Opera or Royal Ballet performances. The Square is also home to the world's smallest police station (located in the south eastern most point of the Square).
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It has been a focal point for the British people at times of national rejoicing and mourning. Originally known as Buckingham House, the building at the core of today's palace was a large townhouse built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1703 on a site that had been in private ownership for at least 150 years. It was acquired by King George III in 1761 as a private residence for Queen Charlotte and became the London residence of the British monarch on the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837.
Marble Arch
The Marble Arch is a 19th-century white marble-faced triumphal arch, designed by John Nash in 1827 as the state entrance to the cour d'honneur of Buckingham Palace; it stood near the site of what is today the three-bayed, central projection of the palace containing the well-known balcony. In 1851, it was relocated to its current site. Only members of the Royal Family and the King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery are said to be permitted to pass through the arch; this happens in ceremonial processions.
10 Downing Street
10 Downing Street in London, also known colloquially in the United Kingdom as Number 10, is the official residence and executive office of the first lord of the treasury, usually, by convention, the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Situated in Downing Street in the City of Westminster, London, Number 10 is over 300 years old and contains approximately 100 rooms including a private residence for the prime minister's use, offices and conference, reception, sitting and dining rooms where the prime minister works, and where government ministers, national leaders and foreign dignitaries are met and hosted. Downing Street is closed to public access.
Whitehall
Whitehall is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Square. The street is recognised as the centre of the Government of the United Kingdom and is lined with numerous departments and ministries, including the Ministry of Defence, Horse Guards and the Cabinet Office. Consequently, the name "Whitehall" is used as a metonym for the British civil service and government, and as the geographic name for the surrounding area. The name was taken from the Palace of Whitehall that was the residence of Kings Henry VIII through to William III, before its destruction by fire in 1698. As well as government buildings, the street is known for its memorial statues and monuments, including the UK's primary war memorial, the Cenotaph. South of the Cenotaph the thoroughfare becomes Parliament Street. The Whitehall Theatre (now the Trafalgar Studios) was formerly associated with a series of farces.
Churchill War Rooms
The Churchill War Rooms is a museum comprised of the Cabinet War Rooms, a historic underground complex that housed a British government command centre throughout the Second World War, and the Churchill Museum, a biographical museum exploring the life of British statesman Winston Churchill. Construction of the Cabinet War Rooms, located beneath the Treasury building in the Whitehall area of Westminster, began in 1938. They became fully operational on 27 August 1939, a week before Britain declared war on Germany. The War Rooms remained in operation throughout the Second World War, before being abandoned in August 1945 after the surrender of Japan.
Location: Horse Guards Road, Whitehall, London.
Westminster Bridge
Opened on Queen Victoria’s 43rd birthday – 24 May 1862 – with a 25-gun salute to honour her 25 years on the throne, Westminster Bridge
links Westminster on the west side and Lambeth on the east side. At 827 feet long with seven elliptical cast-iron arches and abutments of grey granite, Westminster Bridge has the most arches of all the Thames bridges. The Gothic revival detailing on the cast-iron parapets and spandrels was made to Barry’s designs. The bridge is painted verdant green in homage to the leather seats in the House of Commons, the closest part of the Palace of Westminster to the bridge. A portcullis, the cross of St George, a thistle, a shield and a rose – symbols of parliament and the United Kingdom – appear in the decorative ironwork. The bridge is lit by octagonal lanterns, grouped in threes.
MI5
Thames House is an office building in Millbank adjacent to Lambeth Bridge. Originally used as offices by Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), it has served as the headquarters of the United Kingdom's internal Security Service (commonly known as MI5) since December 1994. It also served as the London headquarters of the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) until March 2013.
The building was constructed in 1929–30 on riverside land cleared after the disastrous 1928 Thames flood severely damaged run-down residential properties. It was built to designs by Sir Frank Baines, of the Government's Office of Works. It is of design uniform with but not identical to Imperial Chemical House which is opposite it on the north side of Horseferry Road.
Tate Britain
Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in England, with Tate Modern, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. Tate Britain was known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery.
Location: Millbank, Westminster, London.
The former Royal Army Medical College, situated at Millbank, is the site where the vaccine for typhoid was first developed, and in the late 19th century, was where the world's first modern prison (Millbank Prison) was established. The listed site has since been renovated as a purpose-built arts college for the Chelsea College of Art and Design in 2005. The Tate Britain art gallery (former Tate Gallery) is directly opposite near the end of Vauxhall Bridge, providing a distinct arts presence in the area.
Site of Millbank Prison
Tate Britain occupies the site of Millbank Prison, originally constructed as the National Penitentiary. For part of its history it served as a holding facility for convicted prisoners before they were transported to Australia. It was opened in 1816 and closed in 1890.
The first prisoners, all women, were admitted on 26 June 1816. The first men arrived in January 1817. The prison held 103 men and 109 women by the end of 1817, and 452 men and 326 women by late 1822. Sentences of five to ten years in the National Penitentiary were offered as an alternative to transportation to those thought most likely to reform.
A large circular bollard (above) stands by the river with the inscription: "Near this site stood Millbank Prison which was opened in 1816 and closed in 1890. This buttress stood at the head of the river steps from which, until 1867, prisoners sentenced to transportation embarked on their journey to Australia."
Part of the perimeter ditch of the prison survives running between Cureton Street and John Islip Street. It is now used as a clothes-drying area for residents of Wilkie House. The granite gate piers at the entrance of Purbeck House, High Street, Swanage in Dorset, and a granite bollard next to the gate, are thought by Historic England to be possibly from Millbank Prison.
Vauxhall Bridge
Vauxhall Bridge crosses the River Thames in a southeast–northwest direction between Vauxhall on the south bank and Pimlico on the north bank. Opened in 1906, this granite deck arch bridge replaced an earlier bridge, originally known as Regent Bridge but later renamed Vauxhall Bridge, built between 1809 and 1816 as part of a scheme for redeveloping the south bank of the Thames. The new bridge soon became a major transport artery and today carries the A202 and Cycle Superhighway 5 across the Thames. Originally built with tram tracks, New Vauxhall Bridge was the first in central London to carry trams.
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