Lost Britain

[wjfox]

Well, this happened before we had organizations like English Heritage.

[Munch]

the 1900's, world wars and a war of philosophy... the triumph of democracy, the dismantling of religion, and the unfortunate consequence of replacing a community unit with a profit unit...

We successfully dismantled the bad bits, but we seemed to have destroyed the good bits in the process. Taking things for granted, it doesnt always go on forever.

[Zenith]

Nothing lasts forever but wait hangon....the phones going...yes? hello?...who?..the victorians?...oh right....you want to offer your services and rebuild on the ground at a human scale in between our great modern buildings?....yes fine.....yes your quite welcome...yes bye....what?....yes love you too..

[johnnypd]

Originally Posted by potto

looks like a cross between Venice and Varanasi, two cities fully integrated with their water systems. i wish the same could be said of london!

[El_Greco]

Baltic Exchange.
'This is the famous building that was on the site of Norman Foster’s erotic gherkin in the City of London. As a conservation officer remarked recently, if you want consent to demolish a listed building, get a big name architect for the replacement.
Built in 1903 by Smith and Wimble, the building set out to demonstrate the wealth and solemnity, not to say solidity, of London’s maritime trade. By no means cutting edge architecture, instead it harks back to the heydey of Queen Victoria and the empire.
In 1992 its foundations were damaged by the IRA bomb that so badly damaged the City (although with miraculously small loss of life). The little St Ethelburga’s church next door has been exquisitely restored, and it was the intention to restore the Exchange, but commercial interests got in the way and in 1998 John Prescott gave permission for it to be taken down.
The Baltic Exchange now sits in pieces in a great many wooden crates in a barn near Canterbury. Dismantling, recording and moving it cost £4 million. It is for sale like a glorious Lego kit, ready to make a fine country house, magnificent company headquarters, or just a rich man’s set of building blocks. It is of red granite, coloured marble, and Portland stone. The plaster interiors are intact, complete with sea monsters, and mermaids riding dolphins, among the classical mouldings. It is no longer listed (it was Grade II*), as officially it no longer exists, so what you do with it is up to you.
For immediate viewing contact Judith Martin at the sole agents
Pavilions of Splendour, 01962 869123'







So is it good or bad that we lost the exchange?

[johnnypd]

Holland House:

Holland House, built in 1605 for Sir Walter Cope and originally known as Cope Castle, was one of the first great houses built in Kensington, England. The 500 acre (2.0 km²) estate stretched from Holland Park Avenue to the current site of Earl's Court tube station. His son-in-law, Henry Rich, 1st Earl of Holland eventually inherited the house.

The Earl was beheaded for his Royalist activities during the Civil War and the house was then used as an army headquarters and regularly visited by Oliver Cromwell. After the war, it was owned by various members of the family, renamed Holland House and passed to the Edwardes family in 1721. Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland died at Holland House in 1774 and thereafter it was inherited by his descendants until the title became extinct with the death of Henry Edward Fox, 4th Baron Holland in 1859; however, his widow continued to live there for many years, gradually selling off outlying parts of the park for development. In 1874, the estate passed to a distant Fox cousin, the Earl of Ilchester.

Under the 3rd Lord Holland the house became noted as a glittering social, literary and political centre with many celebrated visitors such as Byron, Thomas Macaulay, Benjamin Disraeli, Charles Dickens and Sir Walter Scott. Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother and King George VI attended the last great ball held at the house a few weeks before the outbreak of World War II.

In September 1940, the building was badly hit during a ten hour bombing raid and largely destroyed. It passed into the ownership, with its grounds, of the local authority. Today the remains form a backdrop for the open air Holland Park Theatre, home of Opera Holland Park.

1812


Today

[johnnypd]

Greco, I wouldn't say The Baltic Exchange was an amazing piece of architecture (it was a bit tacky really), but Swiss Re IS amazing. Saying that, it was good enough for its loss to be lamented and in an ideal world buildings like this would never be willingly demolished. Hopefully some eccentric gazillionaire will manage to reconstruct the Exchange, ideally in a City location.

[El_Greco]

Originally Posted by johnnypd

Greco, I wouldn't say The Baltic Exchange was an amazing piece of architecture (it was a bit tacky really), but Swiss Re IS amazing. Saying that, it was good enough for its loss to be lamented and in an ideal world buildings like this would never be willingly demolished.

Yeah I agree with you.Swiss Re is amazing but Exchange was beautiful too.

Hopefully some eccentric gazillionaire will manage to reconstruct the Exchange, ideally in a City location.

That would be great!

-

Mappin and Webb building at Bank.

'The Bank of Englands crossroads doth entertain an extraordinary gathering of intersecting pathways, and this has forced designers through the ages to come up with some pretty mean shapes to fit their buildings into the angled atrocity we now know as Bank Tube Station. Time for Mappin and Webb to step in.
For a long time the most shocking sensation was the Mappin & Webb showrooms at Number One: Poultry, staged upon an acute corner that demanded its makers invent something of complexity that worked. And this was achieved when in 1870, the famed suppliers to royalty of Jewellery and cute Silverware glorified that same corner with a sight to command the western approaches to the city's popular junction.

John Belcher's splendid neo-gothic construction conquored the problem with its circular edge jutting out like a frenzied fortress. This was lovingly topped out with clock and chinamans hat. Quite delightful, I trust you agree. Just the thing to announce the arrival in the City of the already 100 year old establishment.

And so it was that Poultry was lankmarked for over a century, a classical novelty amongst the cold stone monsters. It was not until 1968 however, that it caught the sights of the sicko speculators who were now bent on killing off the delicious Mappin building to make their own financial killing.



For once, the idea of a favourite landmark getting trashed for reward was too much for the people, and protest power saw decades of campaigns and public enquiries to save the M&W. No happy ending here either, seeing that the site now sites a hideous blimp of a rediculous construction, a totally unfitting replacement for such a pleasant feature of Town. The futile escapade of retaining the Mappin Clock for the new carbuncle was merely an eternal reminder of one of Londons all time architectural travesties.
Charles (of London Town).'

[Mr Bricks]

You could dress up like terrorists and occupy several buildings on the North bank, let everyone who work there out and then blow them up!

[El_Greco]

I think its better to 'capture' HMS Belfast and take some 'beauties' down

[Veinticinco]

That old st.pauls is amazing, 150m like 500 years ago??!!! NUTS. How much of london was destroyed during the war? My guess is fucking loads, such a shame, think what we could have now in the whole UK if the world wars never happened. The biggest cathedral could be in Liverpool, London would probably(maybe?) be the most powerful city on earth? If only, if only .

1 post Hi-Jacking:
Lost Liverpool:

Custom House:


Sailors Home:


The cathedral which was stopped in its tracks thanks to hitler (158m tall):

[Mr Bricks]

Originally Posted by El_Greco

I think its better to 'capture' HMS Belfast and take some 'beauties' down

lol, if the guns are still functional.

[Mr Bricks]

Originally Posted by twiz

That old st.pauls is amazing, 150m like 500 years ago??!!! NUTS. How much of london was destroyed during the war? My guess is fucking loads, such a shame, think what we could have now in the whole UK if the world wars never happened. The biggest cathedral could be in Liverpool, London would probably(maybe?) be the most powerful city on earth? If only, if only .

The Blitz didn´t do very much material destruction. Blame the concrete-loving architects who "renewed" the city after the war. Not only London has suffered from this, we have similar cases in Helsinki. Old and beatiful buildings have been torn down to make room for ugly concrete blocks.

[potto]

I know this is about London, but I love this pic of Victorian Birmingham!



and errr the 1700s:

[johnnypd]

the Gaeity Theatre:



even it's 1950s replacement has been demolished, with this building planned to replace it:



so we've gone from a wonderful old decorative theatre to a bulky yet handsome 1950s deco-ish office block to a non-entity of a building with a stairwell as it's focal point!

[El_Greco]

Title changed

[Preston_guy]

PROUD PRESTON or so it once was...
In the 50s:

And after some f*ckwits built a dual carriageway through the centre of town:


The town hall (on the right) was gutted by fire in the 40s, could have been repaired, but was eventually bulldozed and replaced with a horrific office block:


The Corn Exchange had a very grand public hall at the back which could have been a major attraction. Again, bulldozed to make way for the wholly ineffective and previously mentioned dual carriageway:

What was lost:


The list goes on but I haven't the energy!

[potto]

fucking hell that is shocking

[Accura4Matalan]

The Public Hall could have been great... better than the Guildhall

[neorion]

Sad to see all those beauties go. Britain wasn't the only place to lose architectural treasures.