A HOUSE FOR THE QUEEN, AND A USE FOR BUCKINGHAM
PALACE.
IT has been proposed in Parliament to improve Buckingham Palace—to improve Buckingham Palace ! Nay, Ministers intend to lay out 150,0001. in the experiment, and have actually taken 20,0001. on account. The very idea has provoked contemptuous surprise, and has induced people to look a little into the value of the public property which it is proposed to "improve." The sum asked is a large one, unless the outlay is to be quite effective. The country would not grudge it—nor ten times as much—to provide the head of the British empire with a suitable residence; but there is not a soul in the country that would not hesitate to do what has been proposed—to send the bricklayers and plasterers into her Majesty's house at Pimlico on the hopeless enterprise of tor- turing it into a decent abode. Buckingham Palace was built by orderof George the Fourth, who lived in circumstances unsuited to develop a taste for the fine arts, and he certainly did not lead his age in that respect. His taste was of so low an order, that while Wedgwood banished from our table crockery the ridiculous and vicious forms which we had imported from China, George adopted the cast-off style for the princely architecture : hence the teapot at Brighton, which is now officially condemned to the marine-store- dealer. The same Monarch wanted a new town-house : he em- ployed Mr. Nash, a very pretty fancy-gardener, but a very bad architect; and the result was that absurd pile called Buckingham Palace. It is a libel on the public taste even of England—low in the scale even of common builder's architecture. Within, it . irre- deemably incommodious—a most confused jumble. The site is ore- deemably bad. Really it is but common sense and decency to enable the Queen to remove ; and it is to be hoped that the un- mistakeable expression of public opinion will have weaned Minis- ters from the mad project of wasting money in the attempt to "improve" Buckingham Palace. The sole difficulty in the way of abandoning it altogether, and giving the Queen a new house, seems to be the immediate outlay that would be required. An esteemed correspondent, in the fol- lowing letter, suggests an economical arrangement, by which three public structures, all of them urgently wanted, might be obtained at the cost of one.
TO TILE EDITOR OF THE SPECTATOR.
Atheneum Club, 27th August 1846.
Sm—The fact that most of the public prints have devoted a portion of their columns to the question whether it would be wise to expend a large and indefinite i
sum upon the improvements required in Buckingham Palace, must be my apology for calling your renewed attention to the subject. In its present state, according to Mr. Blom, the Palace possesses every possible internal defect as a royal rem- de,nce. Its external architecture is discreditable to the national taste. Its local position renders it a most .inconvenient obstacle to an easy communication between Cueing Crapes. the-II:Meat stream of Metropolitan life, and the important part of the town now called Itelgravia together with Pimlico, Chelsea, and Ful- ham. The propositions before FiAlitiLtokare, to endeavour to cure some of the defects of this palace by an extensive remorteniil: of 3.14tae.Portion.--dikustiralt"' arrangements; to enlarge its accommodation, and hide the " huge heap of liAle- ness " it now displays by the addition of an entirely new façade; and to commence these operations by an immediate expenditure of 20,0001. preparatory to an estimated outlay of 150,000I. Now, Sir, allow me to state some counter-propositions; premising that the uni- versal voice of the public proclaims that an extensive National Gallery or Palace of the Fine Arts, and a Public Record Office for the preservation of our unequalled collection of national and historical muniments, are indispensable necessities, which cannot much longer remain unsatisfied.
1. To erect a Royal Palace, worthy of the Queen and the nation, in Kensington Gardens.
2. To dedicate Buckingham Palace to the Fine Arts. Its long wings might easily be formed into galleries; and as the national collection increases by purchases or donations, a new and extensive facade might be hereafter added, in simple and suitable taste. 3. To appropriate the present National Gallery for a National Record Office. For such a purpose it is conveniently placed, being nearly equidistant from Par- liament and the Inns of Court. That its appearance and accommodations may be improved, the genius of Mr. Barry, as displayed in the recent alterations at the Council Office, leaves no room to doubt. 4. To enclose a portion of Kensington Gardens for the private garden of the Queen's residence. 5. By way of equivalent to the public, to annex Buckingham Gardens to the Green Park, throw down the wall fronting Grosvenor Place, and substitute an- • iron rail.
6. To retain St. James's Palace for the purpose of Royal Levees-and Drawing- 1001114. 7. To open a public road from Trafalgar Square through Cockspur Street into the Mall and to Pimlico; with a lodge at each end of the Mall, for the purpose • , of closing it on days of state receptions. Such are my propositions. I firmly believe that their realization would pro- duce very great public convenience, with very considerable economy; that a splen- did Royal Palace, a Palace of the Fine Arts, and a Public Record Office, might all be obtained in the manner, above mentioned, at a cost not larger than will be ' encountered by the proposition of my friend Mr. Blore to expend a large sum of money in patching up her Majesty's present residence. Believe me, Sir, yours most truly, J. R. Gowen.
Kensington, indeed, has been the quarter to which all eyes have been directed. It is healthy both as to soil and air ; convenient in point of distance; associated with the Queen's earliest recol- lections. Sir Frederick Trench has recorded a proposal in Par- liament, to take for the site, we believe, ground to the West- ward of Kensington Palace, which is yet higher, and might probably be obtained. This would extend rather than change Mr. Gowen's plan. The land on Camden Hill is still open ; chiefly occupied by gardens attached to Holland House, the Duke of Bedford's lodge, and other private residences. Conveni- ent roads are already in progress of formation ; and by extend-. ing a private carriage-way through the South side of Kensington Gardens, a private road for the Queen would be provided, along a route as pleasant and almost as expeditious as that through St. James's Park ; while the public, instead of losing anything, would gain at all points. For to cap Camden Hill with a Royal Palace would crown the budding glories of Kensington and Bayswater ; and the Queen would have her home set on the highest land within the Park-ground of the Metropolis.
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