walk/tour
Christchurch Gardens, Victoria Street, SW1H 0AX
Petty France is a short street with a long history. This walk will time travel from the medieval origins of Petty France through its sensational history to its present distinguished profile. We shall study Charles Holden's 1927 Grade 1 listed London Underground HQ, upstaged in 1976 by Sir Basil Spence's 1976 brutalist monument to modernism, and where the original Queen Anne house was born.
Victoria, Waterloo
11, 148, 24, 26
Starts and ends at Christchurch Gardens SW1H OAX
Meet at the Suffragette memorial in Christchurch Gardens where there is public seating.
Guided tour
10:00–11:30
Tour starts at the Suffragette Memorial, Christchurch Gardens, Victoria Street
How to book
Please create a free visitor account to book your festival tickets.
Guided tour
12:00–13:30
Tour starts at the Suffragette Memorial, Christchurch Gardens, Victoria Street
How to book
Please create a free visitor account to book your festival tickets.
Guided tour
14:00–15:30
Tour starts at the Suffragette memorial, Christchurch Gardens, Victoria Street
How to book
Please create a free visitor account to book your festival tickets.
Guided tour
16:00–17:30
Tour starts at the Suffragette memorial, Christchurch Gardens, Victoria Street
How to book
Please create a free visitor account to book your festival tickets.
We shall explore the rich history of this area which since medieval times has been at the centre of London commercial and cutural life. Among past residents are Caxton, Milton, Hazlitt, Bentham, JS Mill, Elgar and Dick Turpin. Holden's 1927 London Underground HQ introduced American skyscraper technology and style to London. We shall see how the young Henry Moore and and Jacob Epstein sculpted into its Portland stone. Basil Spence, hero of El Alamein, renowned for rebuilding Coventry Cathedral, was commissioned to create a new Home Office building to withstand the IRA. Facing which are the 1704 terraces which gave the world the Queen Anne Townhouse model.