London's Victoria Embankment – Historic Views
Take a Stroll Along the River Thames From Westminster to Blackfriars
Aug 2, 2009
One fine morning in 1802 the poet William Wordsworth was so moved by the view from Westminster Bridge that he began one of his most famous poems with the words, ‘Earth has not anything to show more fair’. He was looking downstream towards the great bend of ‘Old Father Thames’ which allows a sweeping panorama of some of London’s finest buildings and bridges, including the dome of St Paul’s.
Since Wordsworth’s time, a lot has changed along this stretch of river, which was once very prone to flooding right up to The Strand – the street running parallel to the river, where carriages would get bogged down in the mud. Towards the end of the 19th century it was decided to tame the river by constructing the Victoria Embankment for health and safety reasons, and to allow for the building of the District Line, with underground stations such as Westminster, Charing Cross, Embankment, Temple and Blackfriars.
The View from WestminsterBridge – Big Ben and Boudicca
Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament dominate the skyline at the north end of the bridge. These fine Victorian buildings were constructed to match the medieval Gothic style of Westminster Abbey which is almost a thousand years older.
The great revolving wheel of the London Eye, with views more spectacular than Wordsworth could have imagined, can be seen from here. But at the start of the Victoria Embankment is a huge dark bronze statue that recalls an even older London – the one started by the Romans on the muddy banks of the Thames two thousand years ago. This is Boudicca, Britain’s iconic warrior queen, in her war chariot with its spirited horses. Never mind that she actually sacked the City of London, because it was full of Romans at the time, and that her revolt was crushed. It’s the thought that counts, and that thought was freedom.
Monuments to the Royal Air Force, and an Egyptian Pharaoh
It’s only fitting that the elegant, soaring golden eagle monument to the Royal Air Force and the Battle of Britain Memorial should be on the Victoria Embankment, because the first stately building almost hidden in the trees is the old Air Ministry, and it was the RAF that saved London from destruction by Hitler’s bombers in World War II. But visitors often wonder what a giant Egyptian obelisk that is older even than London itself is doing here.
- When it was erected in 1878 jokey Londoners immediately christened it ‘Cleopatra’s Needle’.
- Carved from pink Aswan granite around 1,475BC, it is 60 ft/20 m tall.
- Its hieroglyphs actually commemorates Pharaoh Tuthmose III and not Cleopatra at all, but the name stuck.
- A ‘time capsule’ full of all kinds of records and artifacts from late Victorian times is buried beneath it, and it is always a popular meeting place.
Embankment Gardens, Somerset House, King's College and Savoy Hotel
- Shell Mex House, the white art deco building with the clock, once the headquarters of the Shell oil company and now a cultural centre.
- The prestigious Savoy Hotel – entrance is from The Strand.
- Somerset House (1786), once the town estate of the Dukes of Somerset, it now houses art galleries, exhibitions, shops and cafés. In winter the courtyard is turned into a floodlit public skating rink with a twinkling Christmas tree, and in summer there are fountains.
- King’s College, which is part of the University of London.
To complete the day, there are piers along the Embankment for sight-seeing boat trips up or down the river, and tickets for theatres and shows are on sale at Embankment underground station.
For more information:
Embankment Map Embankment Info
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
