Balustrade with four lamp-standards in front of Richmond Terrace
Richmond Terrace, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2NJ
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1265182
- Date first listed:
- 05-Feb-1970
- List Entry Name:
- Balustrade with four lamp-standards in front of Richmond Terrace
- Statutory Address:
- Richmond Terrace, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2NJ
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2003-04-14
- Reference:
- IOE01/10509/02
- Rights:
- © Mr Adam Watson. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1265182
- Date first listed:
- 05-Feb-1970
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 21-Dec-2015
- List Entry Name:
- Balustrade with four lamp-standards in front of Richmond Terrace
- Statutory Address 1:
- Richmond Terrace, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2NJ
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- Richmond Terrace, Whitehall, London, SW1A 2NJ
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Greater London Authority
- District:
- City of Westminster (London Borough)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- TQ3022379899
Summary
Balustrade and retaining wall with four lamp standards, part of a development designed 1819 by Thomas Chawner and built 1822-4 by George and Henry Harrison.
Reasons for Designation
The balustrade and lamp standards in front of Richmond Terrace, part of a development designed 1819 by Thomas Chawner and built 1822-4 by George and Henry Harrison, are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: the balustrade forms part of the architectural setting for Richmond Terrace, a particularly grand palace-fronted terrace of the late Georgian period;
* Planning interest: Richmond Terrace was a development of an unusual type, comprising a free-standing terrace facing its own landscaped forecourt, of which the balustrade and lamps were a key visual and functional element;
* Historic interest: part of an extremely prestigious development at the heart of London's government district, inhabited during the C19 and early C20 by various important figures in politics and finance;
* Rarity: a rare example of a group of lamp standards dating from the early C19;
* Group value: with the Terrace itself, as well as with the rich assemblage of nearby listed buildings on and around Whitehall, especially the former War Office opposite.
History
Richmond Terrace was built in 1822-4 on the site of a house formerly belonging to the Duke of Richmond. The new terrace, comprising eight large town-houses of the first class, was developed by the Commission for Woods and Forests and designed by the latter's architect Thomas Chawner. The building work was carried out by the Westminster builder George Harrison, with design input from his architect brother Henry. The terrace faced north onto its own landscaped forecourt, screened from Whitehall by iron gates and a small entrance lodge (now demolished). The present balustrade formed the retaining wall to a ramped carriage drive which gave direct vehicular access to the front doors of the houses. Having been spared from complete demolition as envisaged in Leslie Martin's 1964-6 Whitehall masterplan, the front part of Richmond Terrace was eventually incorporated into a large new government building known as Richmond House, designed by Whitfield Associates and built in 1982-6.
Details
Balustrade and retaining wall with four lamp standards, part of a development designed 1819 by Thomas Chawner and built 1822-4 by George and Henry Harrison.
MATERIALS: granite balustrade and wall with cast-iron lamp standards.
DESCRIPTION: this structure forms the northern retaining wall to a ramped carriage drive running the full length of the terrace. It comprises a long granite balustrade, curved into scrolls at the extreme ends, and formed of groups of balusters alternating with square piers. The four central piers are surmounted by cast-iron lamp standards with Neoclassical ornament, ladder bars and finialed Nico lanterns.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 425754
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Pevsner, N, Bradley, S, The Buildings of England: London 6 Westminster, (2003), 245
Sharr, Adam, Thornton, Stephen, Demolishing Whitehall, (2013)
Other
Richmond Terrace', Survey of London: volume 13: St Margaret, Westminster, part II: Whitehall I (1930), pp. 249-256.
English Heritage historians' files (Westminster 1)
English Heritage London photographic collection (boxes 909-10)
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
The listed building(s) is/are shown coloured blue on the attached map. Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’), structures attached to or within the curtilage of the listed building (save those coloured blue on the map) are not to be treated as part of the listed building for the purposes of the Act.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 24-Jun-2026 at 03:38:35.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
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