TRAFALGAR SQUARE

See Also: BIRDS Pigeons; CHRISTMAS The Trafalgar Square Christmas Tree; CHURCH OF ENGLAND CHURCHES St Martin-in-the-Fields; COLUMNS Nelson's Column; EMBASSIES & HIGH COMMISSIONS South Africa House; ESTATES The Crown Estate, Regent Street; EXPLORATION The Centre of London; GALLERIES The National Gallery; THE NAVY H.M.S. Temeraine; RIOTS The National Gallery; ROYAL STATUES King Charles I, Charing Cross; SQUARES; STATUES Trafalgar Square, The Fourth Plinth; MENU

Most of what is now Trafalgar Square was once occupied by the Royal Mews, a complex of buildings and yards that made up the royal stables. The medieval buildings had been created for keeping hunting birds in. Following a fire in 1534 the facility was expressly rebuilt to accommodate horses. A new main stable block (1732) was designed by William Kent.¹

In the early 19^thC the architect John Nash drew up the Charing Cross Improvement Scheme, which created Trafalgar Square. It was part of his larger vision for the West End, which was centred upon the creation of Regent Street. In 1830 Kent's stable block was demolished along with much of the rest of the Mews. Nash died before he could see his greater plan put into effect.

Location: Trafalgar Square, WC2N 5DN (purple, yellow)

Website: www.london.gov.uk/about-us/our-building-and-squares/trafalgar-square

¹. On what was to be the site of The National Gallery.

Trafalgar Square Police Station

The former Trafalgar Square Police Station (1926) was the smallest police station in Britain. In the era before closed-circuit television, the structure's principal purpose was to enable Scotland Yard to know what was going on within the Square. There was a direct telephone line that enabled information to be reported directly.

During the years that followed the First World War, Britain was fraught by socio-political tensions. A temporary police box had been erected by one of the entrances to Charing Cross Underground Station. When the Metropolitan Police proposed to make it permanent there was a public outcry. Therefore, the force created a more discreet alternative facility on the Column-side of the road by having builders hollow out an ornamental lighting structure that had been built in the Square's south-eastern corner in 1826.

The Station is no longer used by the police.

Location: Trafalgar Square, WC2N 5DN (purple, pink)

See Also: THE POLICE

David Backhouse 2024