PREFACE
This volume of the Survey of London is the second of those dealing with the parish
of St. Margaret, Westminster, and is devoted to that part of the ancient Palace
of Whitehall (and the buildings erected on the site) which lay in the parish of
St. Margaret, between the road and the river. It does not deal, therefore, with
that portion of the Palace which lay to the north of the present Horse Guards Avenue,
which was in the parish of St. Martin-in-the-Fields. The loss is not considerable, as that
part of the Palace consisted of offices and other relatively unimportant buildings. The
portion of the Palace which lay in the parish of St. Margaret, but on the other (western)
side of the road will, together with Downing Street, form the subject of the next
volume.
Although the scope of the survey is generally limited to buildings erected before
1800, it has been considered advisable in the present volume, for the sake of completeness,
and in view of the possibility of the demolition of some of the houses in the near future,
to include such buildings as Montagu House, Nos. 1–6 Whitehall Gardens, and Richmond
Terrace, which would otherwise have been omitted.
For similar reasons it has been thought desirable in the present volume to carry the
lists of occupants down to the present period or to the time when private occupation gave
way to official use.
I gladly take this opportunity of placing on record the valuable assistance which
the Council has received in the preparation of this volume.
His Majesty the King graciously allowed the Council to reproduce the picture in
the Royal Collection, now at Buckingham Palace, showing the Lord Mayor's Procession
in 1683 passing the riverfront of Whitehall Palace. The reproduction forms the frontispiece of the volume.
His Grace the Duke of Richmond and Gordon very kindly granted permission for
the reproduction of two paintings by Canaletto representing different portions of Whitehall
in 1746. These views add very greatly to the interest and value of the volume. The
Westminster City Council placed its very complete and excellently arranged series of
rate-books and other sources of information at the Council's service. The Dean and
Chapter of Westminster allowed the fullest use to be made of their fine collection of early
monastic deeds. Thanks are also due to the Royal Institute of British Architects for
permission to reproduce several of the records in their possession, to the Pepysian
Librarian for allowing the reproduction of Hollar's original drawing of the Banqueting
House and the Holbein Gate, and to the Librarian of All Souls' College, Oxford, for the
facilities afforded to the Council's officers for inspecting, and selecting for reproduction,
drawings in the Wren Collection.
The records of H.M. Office of Works and of H.M. Commissioners of Crown Lands
have been unreservedly placed at the Council's service. The assistance freely rendered
by the officials in the Public Record Office, the British Museum, and the Middlesex Registry
is also much appreciated. The Architect to the Council desires to record his appreciation
of the work done in connection with the preparation of the volume by Mr. C. J. T. Dadd,
F.S.I., and other assistants in his department.
The kindness of the Rev. E. E. Dorling M.A., F.S.A., in advising on the heraldic
descriptions and the drawings for the marginal shields is gratefully acknowledged.
The historical information contained in the volume has been prepared by Mr. W. W.
Braines, B.A. (Lond.), a principal assistant in my department.
MONTAGU H. COX,
Clerk of the London County Council.
The County Hall,
Westminster Bridge, S.E.,
28th May, 1930.