NEW BUILDINGS IN THE METROPOLIS.
WE are so accustomed to the rapid changes which silently take place around us in.the buildings of this vast metropolis, that we see new ones rise up to completion before our eyes, ,c as from the stroke of an enchanter's wand," "without our special wonder." We were aroused to a more par- ticular consideration of the number and extent of the recent architectural improvements, by the astonishment of a "country cousin," who had not visited London for some years, with whom we the other day made a tour of observation round town. The New London Bridge was the grand point of attraction east- ward, on our way to visit the " Ladye Chapel," upon which we have remarked elsewhere. The union of lightness and mas- siveness in this grand and beautiful bridge—its fine proportions and its graceful line; the wide, span and elegant curve of its elliptic arches—the noble simplicity of the whole design—con- stitute this structure a work of art that does honour to the country and the architect. It is besides an ornament to the City and to the River; it is of all our bridges the grandest; and it is likely to endure for many centuries, notwithstanding the cackling to the contrary. The view of the two bridges meals to mind BURNS'S "Brigs of Ayr." But the dilapidated structure that the other day stretched across the Thames its tottering form, like a worn-out veteran beside the giant bulk of its young rival, is now broken up and rased almost to its foundations. We confess to a little senti- mental regret at the demolition of the venerable ruin,—though our tears did not make, as HOOD .has, it, high-water in the Thames. The process of demolition showed the loose way of bridge building in old times. The arches, piers, &c. were cased with stone, and all inside filled with brick rubbish, grouted, as it is technically termed, with liquid mortar to fill up the interstices. The clumsy " starlings " of timber are considered to have been an after ad- dition, in order to break the force of the current, which by rushing through the piling supporting the piers (sonic of which piles are found to have been but a few feetembedded in the soil), o the safety of the edifice, burdened as it formerly had been h the weight of the houses erected on it. The wrought iron with which the piles of the old wooden bridge were shod, is of such fine qua- lity, and so malleable, that some tons of it have been contracted for by WEISS the cutler, for converting into steel,—the action of the moist clay without exposure to the air having had such an effect upon the metal as to render it almost equal to steel. So we may one day mow our beards with a relic of old London Bridge : " To what strange uses may we not return !"
But we linger too long on the Bridge. The approaches are as yet unarranged. To pull down and clear away by act of Par- liament, is easier than to restore. The want of forethought dis- played in these respects is extraordinary ; the undulations of the road-way evince this. We shall see what will be done in the mat-, ter of the buildings in the lines of approach. New Fishmongers Hall will form a prominent feature on the London shore, as St. Saviour's Church does on the Southwark side. The space between the Bridge and the Monument is a fine site for a public building, to correspond with the Fishmongers' Hall ; and there is besides ample "room and verge enough" for the formation of a grand design. Leaving the City, and returning along Fleet Street, HOARE'S new Banking-house, the new Gothic church of St. Dunstan, and the facade of the Law Institution in Chancery Lane, with its noble portico (whose columns, however, should have been fluted), attract attention.
Proceeding along the Strand, we get a glimpse in perspective through the too narrow entrance of the new King's College ; a chaste and neat elevation, by Mr. SMIRKE, in his usual classical style. We next come to the new buildings in the widened part of the Strand, on the site of old Exeter 'Change ; amongst which the entrance to Exeter Hall presents a narrow but ornamental break in the line of houses and shops. Still further onward, we come to that entirely new range of streets forming "West Strand," and communicating through the "Lowther Arcade," and by a back street with Pall Mall East and St. Martin's Lane. The British Fire-office first meets the eye ; its too numerous and prominent details and ambitious style of decoration destroying the elegance of the general design. The new buildings forming West Strand, are not only novel but handsome ; and the two circular dome- crowned houses terminating each end of this line of street have a fine effect. The interior of the Lowther Arcade, the entrance to• which is between fluted Doric columns, is richly ornamented, and has an elegant appearance. But we do not profess to be critical in de- tails. The Charing Cross Hospital is not yet cased with cement ; but it bids fair to be an ornament to the neighbourhood. The Golden Cross rears its hospitable sign on one of the houses nearer, but consi- derably to the eastward of its old site; so that Charing Cross now abuts on Covent Garden. The Club-house at the corner of St. Mar- tin's Lane does not progress. Nor is the desirable space of ground opposite the Mews yet appropriated. A new Royal Academy has been talked of; but funds are, it seems, wanting, as well as spirit. Cannot the Royal Academy afford to build a suitable edifice out of the proceeds of sixty-three annual exhibitions ? The site is most eligible, both for the display of a splendid building and as a cen- trical situation.
Proceeding along Pall Mall East, past the Mews, the intended site of the National Gallery, we remark the improvement made by the removal of that projecting house at the angle of juncture be- tween Cockspur Street and Pall Mall. The granite pillar, intended us a monument to the Duke of York, in Carlton Gardens, does not as yet rear its head above the scaffolding. The New Club-house, in the Italian style, in Pall Mall, arrests the eye of the passenger by its chaste elegance. CROCKFORD'S Betting-rooms in St. James s Street are appropriately imposing in appearance, but not pure in style.
Crossing the Park, the new State Paper Office, adjoining the Park-front of the Treasury Chambers, rears its plain square form, unadorned by portico or columns. It is not, however, one of the least tasteful of Sir JOHN SOANE'S designs on account of its sim- plicity; and it forms a striking contrast with the showy facade of the Board of Trade—punningly termed the Board of Ballast-trade, from the profusion of balusters introduced in the elevation. Such are a few of the novel architectural features of the metro- polis, which catch the eye of the passing spectator—and in this instance we profess to be no more. Viewed in the aggregate, they may be considered as decided improvements, and tending to pro- mote that stately aspect which the town has been progressively assuming for some years past. There is a wide field for criticism, and too much room for censure ; but the general improvement far exceeds in amount the individual faults.
Previous page
