Part 6

The first design, made by the author, was intended to embody the views of His Royal Highness Prince Albert, in regard to the arrangement of the buildings for the purpose of Science and Art then proposed to be erected on the newly purchased estate. They comprised one for the collection of Pictures, at that time occupying only half the building at Trafalgar Square; this, the New National Gallery, was to be surrounded with other structures, affording ample accommodation for the chief learned and Artistic Societies of London. A large central Hall of Arts and Sciences was to be placed in their midst; the whole to form a metropolitan institution for the promotion of scientific and artistic knowledge as connected with industrial pursuits. It is well known that the surplus funds of the Exhibition of 1851, amounting to the sum of 150,000_l._, were offered by the Royal Exhibition Commissioners at the instance of the Prince, for the purpose of carrying out this grand conception. The report of the House of Commons’ Committee on the National Gallery strongly recommended the offer to be accepted, and Parliament at first assenting, voted another sum of like amount for carrying out the entire project. The sum of 300,000_l._ was found, however, insufficient for purchasing the whole of the ground required, and a further grant of from 25,000_l._ to 27,000_l._ was voted by Parliament, and a sum of 15,000_l._ was given by the Royal Commissioners. Mr. Cubitt was engaged to obtain the ground, and the roads through the Harrington estate were planned by him in conjunction with the author, who aided him to the utmost of his power in obtaining the land requisite to complete the site required for the various buildings proposed to occupy it. The site was 2100 feet in length, by an average breadth of 1200 feet, and consisted of about 56 acres; the level of the ground on the north of Kensington being about 36 feet higher than the portion at Brompton. Another block of land, upon which the Department of Science and Art is at present placed, made a space with an average width of 700 feet--in the whole 86 acres.

In sketching the design for the general building, of which a bird’s-eye view is here given, the author only took the 56 acres--the view shows only that portion of the building facing the Prince Albert’s Road, now called Queen’s Gate. It is placed in the centre of the land, so as to have large open grounds surrounding it. These at any time could have been covered up for the purpose of national exhibitions similar to those of 1851 and 1862. By putting the level of the ground floor of the new building about ten feet above that of the Kensington Road, a sub-basement would have been obtained, over 30 feet in height, affording ample space for arranging and storing works of art, as well as for receiving articles to be exhibited, or a great portion of them, from the upper parts of the building should the latter be wanted for any special purpose, and affording room likewise for all minor business departments. The Hall of Arts and Sciences was to be placed in the centre of the mass of building: a portion of the dome is seen in the view at the upper left-hand corner. This room was to be made 300 feet in length, by 180 in width. Two galleries for paintings, each 1000 feet in length and 80 feet in breadth, were to be placed on each side of the Central Hall. The sculptures from the British Museum were to be deposited in the central smaller halls of approach. The various Societies were to occupy the side-wings,

each having its meeting and lecture room, and all necessary offices and apartments. The public were to enter at the porticoes seen in the view, and the carriages of the professors at the gateways in front. Two roads were proposed traversing the ground from north to south, and giving easy access for vehicles to every part of the building.

In the small block plan attached to the view, placed on the upper right-hand corner, _b_ is the Prince Albert’s Road, _a_ the Exhibition Road, and _c_ and _d_ the roads north and south.

The design was placed before the Prince at one of the Architects’ meetings at the Earl de Grey’s, and it was exhibited at the Royal Academy in the same year. The House of Commons, however, after granting such a large sum of money for the purchase of the land, expressed its disapproval of removing the National Gallery from the present position, said to be the finest site in Europe, and the Fellows of the Royal Academy were informed that the portion of the building they then occupied would be added to that of the gallery. A view of the gates and lodge as at present executed is here given.

It cannot be supposed that a sum of 340,000_l._ would have been expended by the nation for the purpose of giving the Horticultural Society a perpetual lease of the best portion of the estate purchased. It is already evident that the gardens are not well situated there. The smoke of the district will not permit the growth of delicate plants, and their exhibitions are supplied from the gardens at Chiswick. In much less than fifty years their grounds will probably be the centre of London, and consequently the noble conception of His Royal Highness has still a good chance of being carried into effect. The Society will be smoked out when the city bounds are extended. The present National Gallery building will be wanted either for a Bank of England or a Royal Exchange, and my Lord Mayor may follow the example of the India Directors, and leave the Mansion House, to move to Whitehall. A tunnel under the Exhibition Road takes visitors into the grounds direct from the railway, that now makes them as easy of access from the heart of the City as Charing Cross itself.

A few remarks may be made here on the great rise which takes place in the value of land in any fashionable neighbourhood of London required for the erection of buildings.

The Harrington estate at Kensington Gore, containing in the whole 93a. 3r. 27p., was the joint property of the Earl of Harrington and of the Baron de Villars, through the right of his wife, the Baroness de Graffenried Villars. Previous to 1848 it had been some time in Chancery. In that year Mr. John Gaunt Lye was appointed auditor and agent to the fifth Earl of Harrington for the whole of the property. The rental of the Kensington Gore estate amounted at this time to 2779_l._ 9_s._ per annum. Through Mr. Lye’s exertions, he having received a power of attorney for the purpose, the estate was taken out of Chancery, and a division took place on the 7th May, 1850, at Mr. Lye’s office in Lancaster Place. For the purpose of division, one portion--that charged with maintaining the Cromwell Almshouses--was valued at 41,996_l._, and the other at 40,552_l._ Cards representing each portion were placed in a hat, and the one representing the 41,996_l._, was taken out by the Baron.

In 1851 the Earl’s portion was let to Mr. W. Jackson on a building agreement for 99 years, at 100_l._ per acre, or 4600_l._ per annum. In 1852 the Baron de Villars sold his moiety to the Royal Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851 for the sum of 153,793_l._ The Commissioners only wanted a small portion of the Earl’s property. The first offer made by Mr. Cubitt to the surveyor of the estate was 40,800_l._ for 17 acres, or at the rate of 2400_l._ per acre. This was declined, and after a little negotiation the sum of 54,716_l._ was obtained. The matter was settled on the 7th of March, 1853; Mr. Jackson the builder received 7964_l._ as compensation for the loss of so much of his building land.

More land was purchased by the Royal Commissioners to make up the site they required; in the very middle of the latter was a field which had only been used as a place for beating carpets. It belonged to the Smith Charity estate, and fetched a rent of about 40_l._ per annum; this field was obtained by giving in exchange an outlaying one on the Villars estate, the building value of which was estimated at 800_l._ per annum.

The Royal Commissioners, after squaring the site they required, and putting aside the portion now occupied by the Department of Science and Art, parcelled out the remaining outlying portion into three blocks, and let them on building leases. The first and most important of these was secured by the author for an employer, at a rental of 1500_l._ per annum, on condition that the fee of each house plot could be purchased within 6 years after the lease was granted; it contained about 2 acres. And these are now the only freeholds that can be obtained. This plot is now covered with buildings of the selling value, as leaseholds, of 250,000_l._, and it produces an improved ground rental. For the purchase of the whole fee, the sum to be paid was 46,500_l._, so that for a portion of this land which the author of this work, as surveyor of the property, sold in 1852 for little more than 3200_l._ per acre, the value had risen, in 1860, to no less than 23,250_l._ per acre.

It is only since Hyde Park has become almost the centre of the metropolis, instead of being in one of its rural districts, that attention has been paid to supply it with ornamental lodges and gates. The country was so long occupied with the importance of the war with France, which terminated so gloriously to the honour of our country, that the Royal Parks were left in a very neglected state; and the gates and lodges, particularly the entrance into London by Knightsbridge, were mean in character, and totally unworthy of the purpose.

Londoners of the present day have no notion of the wretched state of Hyde Park as it existed fifty years ago. The side next Park Lane, now a beautiful walk, adorned by the gardener’s utmost skill with several varieties of flowers and shrubs, was then a narrow sunken road, which for the most part continued, by the side of the boundary wall, all the way from Oxford Street to Piccadilly. This, when improvement commenced, was filled up, and laid down in grass; and a wide Mall, with two foot-paths, was formed on the higher ground, and enclosed by handsome iron posts and rails. Some extensive gravel pits existed in the middle of the park; these were filled up, one only being permitted to remain. The surface of the park was generally levelled and manured, by which the herbage has been greatly improved. Numerous seats were placed about the park, for the convenience of the public; clumps and avenues of trees were planted. The Serpentine was cleansed for the first time; it is just now recleansed. A new drive, nearly a mile in extent was made through the most distant and beautiful part of the park, to lead to Kensington Gardens; and generally, all the roads were macadamized, and enclosed with posts and rails. To connect the roads north and south of the Serpentine, a handsome bridge was erected, from the designs and under the superintendence of Messrs. Rennie. This has much conduced to the accommodation of pedestrians and horsemen.

About twenty years after these great improvements were effected, Queen Anne’s garden, at the extreme termination of Kensington Gardens, was thrown open to the public; the kitchen garden belonging to Kensington Palace was let out on building leases, and a road formed through it connecting the town of Kensington with Bayswater. This road, called the Queen’s Palace Gardens Road, is now covered from end to end with first-class mansions. The improvements continued, and are being still carried on.

The lodges and gates, at the chief entrances into the park, were put up at the expense of the nation. When any building operator required an entrance into the park, for some new outlying district, he bore the expense of the construction, working under the direction of Her Majesty’s Chief Commissioner of Works. The Government lodges at Cumberland Place cost 2151_l._ One of these has been lately removed to widen Park Lane.

The two first lodges, with gates opposite Stanhope Street, cost 5062_l._ The single lodge at the end of Grosvenor Street, with the iron gates, cost 2929_l._, and the fountain 340_l._

The grandest of all these erections, that at Hyde Park corner, adjoining the Duke of Wellington’s mansion, cost 17,069_l._

The first lodge and entrance gates put up by a private building contractor was the Albert Gate, erected by the late Thomas Cubitt; the lodge is sunk, its flat roof being on a level only eight feet above the ground, and containing two small rooms, with a little yard and scullery. The iron railing forming the carriage gates and entrances to the foot-paths is of the same height as the lodge, and extends about 60 feet; the stone piers have on them the old stags which formerly decorated the stone piers at the entrance of the Ranger’s Lodge in Piccadilly. This gate gave an entrance by Hyde Park to Belgravia, and very much raised the value of that district.

The next lodge and gate were put up by Mr. Kelk, opposite the fine mansions at Prince’s Gate. This is known as the Prince of Wales’s Gate.

There are two lodges in size and plan exactly similar to the lodge at the Queen’s Gate. The gates and railings are very plain; they are 12 feet in height, and extend to a length of 77 feet.

The Queen’s Gate lodge and gates are certainly the chief of all the erections put up by building contractors; their cost was 2800_l._, as previously mentioned. Both in ornamentation and character they vie with the best erections put up by the Government. The length of the iron-work between the stone pedestals is 140 feet; the height of the common rails, 11 feet above ground; the height of the standard and lamp, 18 feet; there are two carriage gates, each of 15 feet opening, and two entrances for foot-passengers, each of 10 feet opening. The stone pedestals at each end are 6 feet in width by 15 feet in height. The iron-work is designed to represent a group of spears; the author wished to surmount the pedestals with groups of military arms similar to those of the trophies of

Marius on the balustrading in front of the Senatorial Palace, Rome. These could have been constructed in

stone, at little expense. Sir Benjamin Hall wished for marble statues, and on Prince Albert’s suggestion models were made of two reclining figures, by Mr.

Theed, representing “Morning” and “Evening.” These would have caused great additional expense to the builders, who wished, as the entrance was a great improvement in the value of the Earl of Harrington’s property at Kensington, to place, on the piers, two

fine antique statues of Hercules then on the gates at Elvaston in Derbyshire, a country seat of the Earl’s. But as the statues belonged to the estate, and were entailed property, they could not be removed, and the Earl objected to their being taken down for the purpose of casting. The effect of the whole is much injured by the pedestals remaining unoccupied. The plate on page 143 represents the centre of the ironwork, surmounted by the Royal Arms.

The gates and railing are of very superior construction; they are the work of Mr. Turner, of Hinde Street, Manchester Square. They have been pronounced by the Government officials as requiring little attention, and that the gates open and shut better than any other gates in the park. Page 144 gives an elevation of one of the iron standards. Each is two feet in width; there are ten of them; four, those belonging to the carriage entrances, being surmounted by lamps. The small size of this volume will not allow a full illustration of the ornamentation to be given, but it admits that important part, the construction, to be clearly shown. Page 145 gives a section of one of the standards, _d_ is a layer of concrete, 1 foot 6 inches in height and four feet in width, which goes all through; _a_ is the York landing, 6 inches thick and 5 feet square; _b_ is the brickwork, this goes all through; _c c_ represent the blocks of Portland stone; and _e_ is the granite curb 8 inches by 10 inches in section, within the entrances.

Page 146 gives the plans of the standards at different heights, showing the several plates given in the section; and on page 149 is a section of the wrought-iron coupling-bar with its brass bush.

The gates move on a hardened steel socket of circular form, working within a steel box, as shown in the section.

Iron block and ball latches are provided for each of the gates. On pages 148 and 149 are cuts of the wheel block, with the plan, elevation, and section of the stopping-piece or fall-down latch. The stopping-piece is keyed into the granite curb in the centre of each gateway; _a a_ is the lower rail of gates, and by its side is a small portion of the ornament between the rails. That the effect of the whole structure was, very much injured by the unfinished state of the pedestals was the opinion of Lord Llanover, who sent the following letter to the architect, expressing his dissatisfaction:

Great Stanhope Street, _July 11, 1859_.

SIR,

The works at the Queen’s Gate, Hyde, Park, are very well executed, and the entrance, as completed, produces a good effect; but that effect would be materially improved if the gates and the railings, and the ornamental works were relieved by colour, and some of the parts gilt as I intended they should be. The two pedestals are also without the groups which were to form the superstructure of the square blocks. The work so far as it is executed is very well executed, and I am quite satisfied with it so far; but I shall not consider it completed until the groups are placed on the pedestals, and the best effect will not be produced so long as the iron-work remains wholly black.

I am, Sir,

Yours faithfully,

LLANOVER.

C. J. Richardson, Esq.

ON THE FOUNDATION AND BASEMENT WALLS OF BUILDINGS, DAMP PREVENTION, AND FIRE PROOF CONSTRUCTION.

The foundations of buildings require careful consideration. When a house approaches completion and shows cracks in the upper walls, they arise either from insufficient attention having been given to the solid character of the earth forming the site, or from bad construction at the basement. The building in fact settles down unequally. As a settlement of every building is certain to take place upon its completion, the greatest precaution should be taken to make it as equable as possible. No portion should settle deeper than another, and this can only be secured by care at the foundations.

It often happens that portions of a selected site are of unequal quality. In such cases it is necessary to excavate the worst portions deeper to reach a good stratum, and to take the brickwork lower, no filling up beyond the usual thickness of concrete being allowed.

There is another very serious evil, in building, to be guarded against. Owing to the moisture of the earth rising through the foundations and saturating the walls above, the health of the occupants of such houses may be seriously affected by its presence in the walls. About twenty years ago it was the universal practice in good buildings to place wide stone landings--three times the thickness of the wall above--under the foundations, for the purpose of preventing the damp from rising as well as to spread the width of the wall.

A bed of concrete is now used as a substitute for this plan; the engraving below shows the best method of constructing foundation walls. A trench, three times the width of the wall is dug, at least 2 feet 6 inches in depth. Into this is thrown a quantity of concrete, which soon dries and becomes solid. In the superior class of buildings a layer of concrete, six inches in thickness, is placed entirely over the ground, inside the foundation. Upon this concrete the walls are built, the lowest footing being twice the width of the wall above. On a few courses above the top footing a course called a “damp course” is put; this is shown at _a_, page 152.

Two courses of slate are laid in cement; but other materials are often used, as a thin sheet of lead, for the whole width of the wall. Zinc might answer, but it has not yet been tried. A thin coat of asphalte, or asphalted cloth, tar, pitch, or a plain coat of cement are also often employed, but the two courses of slate in cement are considered sufficient. The first course of bricks above the ground is often formed entirely of air bricks, originated by Mr. Aldin, the builder, of Kensington. Each brick has eight or ten perforations, ½ inch in diameter, through its whole length; a small piece of perforated zinc is placed upright between the bricks to prevent insects from entering. This is shown at _b_. The timbers and stone flooring of the basement do not enter the walls, but rest upon dwarf walls, the joists having oak sleepers to rest on. The brick fenders of the foundations are entirely filled with dry rubbish or ironfounder’s ashes, and the stone hearths bedded solid either in mortar or concrete. This is the construction shown in all the designs of this volume. To illustrate still further the attention given in constructing foundations, the engraving below is given, showing a section of a foundation executed several years ago at Westminster, where the ground was uncertain. Its scale is only half that of the previous figure, the upper wall being 3 feet in thickness

instead of 1 foot 6 inches. Above the bed of concrete, which is 9 feet in breadth, by 3 feet in thickness, are York landings, _a_, 4 inches thick and exceeding 6 feet in width. Upon these are laid two lines of wood sleepers, _b_, bedded in brick and cement, the size of each sleeper being 12 by 6 inches, and in long lengths. Above this is a course of planking, _c_, placed diagonally across the wall; each plank being 12 inches by 6 inches, and about 9 feet in length. Above this are the footings, each two courses in height: in the return walls the landings, sleepers, and planking are placed a course higher, so that they might be tied together. The brickwork goes down twelve feet, and invert arches are turned at every opening.

In order to keep the walls as solid as possible in the lower part of a building, the ground floor joisting should rest on projecting corbel bricks as here shown,--the joists going between the cross walls rest upon projecting bricks, the upper one being of peculiar strength; tall piles are put between each joist against the wall, for the skirting in cement to be formed upon it. Air bricks in open iron-work, two to each front, are placed so as to admit air within the joisting.

This mode of construction is carried throughout the ground floor.

The stone landing of the passage by the side of the servants’ stairs, is supported on the part next the wall by corbel bricks, and on the other side by an iron bar let into the wall at each end; as shown above. In the upper floor, the joisting should be reversed and go front to back, notched on wall plates let into the wall, thus tying both walls together.