Plaque Wording: In the mid 16th century this site was the timber yard for the nearby Whitehall Palace. In 1560 Sir Francis Knollys, Treasurer of the Royal Household, leased the land to "buylde a convenient house", which later passed to his son, Viscount Wallingford, becoming known as Wallingford House. In 1622 George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, the Lord High Admiral, purchased Wallingford House and so began an association between the site and the direction of the Royal Navy that lasted for some 350 years. Sir Christopher Wren recommended this site for the first planned Admiralty Office, which opened in 1695. The builder, John Evans, became Navy Board Purveyor but his building soon failed to meet the Admiralty's growing needs. The present building was designed by the Master Carpenter, Thomas Ripley, and completed in 1726 (at an "Expence that hath very much exceeded the Estimate"), becoming known as Ripley Block. The screen wall facing Whitehall was designed in 1760 by the great Scottish architect, Robert Adam. In 1826 "in" and "out" side entrances were added to allow easier access for the carriage of the Duke of Clarence, later King William IV, but the screen was restored to its original condition in 1923. The building contains the room where Nelson's body lay overnight 8th/9th January 1806, before his funeral. It also contains the Admiralty Board Room, a survivor from Evans' building of 1695, with its finely carved overmantel, attributed to Grinling Gibbons' workshop, depicting ancient nautical instruments. The Board Room boasts an imposing table, with a cut out portion to accommodate the Secretary and his papers. The wind dial, controlled by a vane on the roof , and the carving have survived from the 1695 building. The room was expertly repaired after being damaged by a bomb in World War 2. From here the worldwide affairs of the Royal Navy were run for centuries by " the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty" until they were replaced, on the formation of the Ministry of Defence in 1964, by the "Admiralty Board of the Defence Council". The board still occasionally meets in the Old Admiralty Board Room.

Plaque Wording: The Trafalgar Way Destination - The Admiralty
On Monday 21st October 1805 the Royal Navy decisively defeated a combined French and Spanish fleet off Cape Trafalgar on the south west coast of Spain. This victory permanently removed the threat of invasion of England by the armies of Napoleon Bonaparte
The first official dispatches with the momentous news of the victory, and the death in action of Vice Admiral Lord Nelson, were carried to England on board H. M. Schooner PICKLE by her captain, Lieutenant John Richards Lapenotiere.
Lapenotiere landed at Falmouth on Monday 4th November 1805 and set out "express by post-chaise" for London. He took some 37 hours on the 271 mile journey, changing horses 21 times at a total cost of £46 19s 1d. Lapenotiere delivered his dispatches here to the Secretary of the Admiralty, William Marsden, at 1 a.m. on Wednesday 6th. Shortly thereafter a summary of the news was posted here and a crowd soon gathered. The news was passed to the Prime Minister and the King at once and special editions of newspapers were published later the same day to inform the nation.

Plaque Wording: St. George's Hospital was established on this site in 1733 in a country home built in 1719 by James Lane, 2nd Viscount Lanesborough. In 1826 the trustees of St George's commissioned William Wilkins to design a new hospital. Wilkins was also the architect for the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square and University College This building was completed in the early 1830s. The hospital outgrew the site and moved to new buildings in Tooting, south west London, in 1980.
This historic building has now been carefully restored during an extensive four year project (1988-1991) and transformed into a magnificent hotel which takes the name of the former Lanesborough House on this site. The main entrance to the Lanesborough is to be found on the Knighstbridge side of Hyde Park Corner facing Hyde Park.

Plaque Wording: On this site stood the residence of The Hervey Family. Their house was completed in 1676 and occupied the following year by John Hervey. Treasurer to Queen Catherine of Braganza. Wife of King Charles II. In 1700 the property passed to his nephew also John Hervey who became Earl of Bristol in 1714. His descendants retained it until 1955. The house was demolished in 1958 and has been twice replaced. The present building was completed in 2014.

Plaque Wording: St George’s Hospital was established on this site in 1733 in a country home built in 1719 by James Lane, 2nd Viscount Lanesborough. The hospital was located in the village of Knightsbridge due to the reputation for healthy country air. The three-storey red brick hospital was of simple design and wings were later added to the structure by architect Isaac Ware.St George’s Hospital quickly outgrew its original building and in 1826, the trustees commissioned William Wilkins to design a new hospital. Wilkins was also the architect for the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square and University College. Completed in the early 1830s, Wilkins' building was designed In the classical style from drawings by Nicholas Revett of the choragic monument to Thrassylus at the Acropolis, Athens.
Many of the fathers of modern medicine studied, practiced and taught at St George’s Hospital and its medical school founded in 1831. Chief among these was John Hunter, the father of scientific surgery. Other well-known medical pioneers with careers at St George’s include Edward Jenner, a pioneer of immunology, Thomas Young, professor of natural philosophy to the Royal Institution and Henry Gray renowned for his comprehensive study of anatomy.
During World War II, the entire hospital was given over to casualties of war. The hospital and those who worked there escaped injury due to the war with the exception of a thousand pound bomb that fell on the lecture theatre of the medical school, but fortunately failed to explode.
The campaign to rebuild the hospital outside the centre of London began during World War II. During the 1950s, the hospital was offered a site in Tooting for the new St George’s Hospital and building began there in the 1970s. St George’s moved to its new buildings in Tooting South West London in 1980.
This historic building has now been carefully restored during an extensive four-year project (1988-1991) and transformed into a magnificent hotel which takes the name of the former Lanesborough House on this site.

Plaque Wording: The Mountbatten Copse These flowering trees, planted 19 November 1981 by HRH The Prince of Wales KG, Commodore Royal Thames Yacht Club, commemorate Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Commodore 1946 - 1970, Admiral 1970 to 1979.

Plaque Wording: This memorial honours the commitment of Australians who served alongside Britain and her allies in defence of freedom in the First and Second World Wars. The battle sites are representative of the many places where Australians, together with their comrades, fought and died. The place names record the origins of Australian servicemen and women many of whom were born in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Each is a reminder of the impact of war on families and communities. The flow of water over these names evokes memories of service, suffering and sacrifice. Tonkin Zulaikha Greer-Architects Janet Laurence-Artist

Plaque Wording: This court is named after Sir John Cam Hobhouse, Bt. PC, GCB, 1786 -1869, created Baron Broughton 1851, who was Member of Parliament for Westminster from 1820 to 1833, for Nottingham from 1834 to 1847 & for Harwich from 1848 to 1851. He held several important offices of state, including those of Secretary of State for War and Chief Secretary for Ireland. In 1824 Sir John spoke at the first dinner of the Society of British Artists, whose galleries on Whitcomb Street have been kept and restored. He was appointed First Commissioner of Woods & Forests (the then title of the First Crown Estate Commissioner) in 1834. His close connection with the Crown Estate, with the City of Westminster & with the Society of British Artists is commemorated by the naming of this Court after him.

Plaque Wording: Metropolitan Asylum Board's Wall 1897 Boundary of Board.. Land this face of ..this wall at...

Plaque Wording: On this spot Warren Hastings stood his trial 1788-1795. He was acquitted on all the charges.

Plaque Wording: In this hall Sir Thomas More Lord Chancellor of England - Speaker of the House of Commons - Author of Utopia was condemned to death 1 July 1535

Plaque Wording: Winston Churchill lay in state here from the Twenty-sevenh of January until his burial at Bladon on the Thirtieth of January Nineteen hundred and Sixty five

Plaque Wording: here rested from May 17 until Interment at Windsor May 20 1910 Edward VII King of Great Britain and Ireland & of the British Dominions beyond the seas: Emperor of India

Plaque Wording: His Majesty King George the Fifth lay in state here from the twenty-third of January until his Burial at Windsor on the twenty-eighth of January nineteen hundred & thirty-six

Plaque Wording: Her Majesty Queen Mary lay in state here from the twenty-ninth of March until her Burial at Windsor on the thirty-first of March nineteen hundred & fifty-three

Plaque Wording: King Charles I The king Charles Stuart was tried for high treason on this spot by the High Court of Justice established by the Commons of England for that purpose. Saturday 20th, Monday 22nd, Tuesday 23rd and Saturday 27th January 1649. The King was convicted of treason and sentenced to death on Saturday 27th January and executed in front of the Banqueting House, Whitehall Place at two o'clock in the afternoon of Tuesday 30th January 1649.

Plaque Wording: Queen Elizabeth on May 4th 1977 here replied to addresses presented by both Houses of Parliament on the occasion of Her Majesty's Silver Jubilee

Plaque Wording: Near this spot, at the Kings Bench at the South end of the Hall, took place the trial of Sir William Wallace the Scottish Patriot on January 23rd August 1305

Plaque Wording: Queen Elizabeth II here replied to addresses presented by both Houses of Parliament on 22nd June 1965 commemorating the meeting of the parliament of 1265 to which Simon de Montfort Earl of Leicester caused to be summoned in the name of King Henry III not only Prelates Lay Magnates and Knights of the Shire but also representatives of cities and boroughs

Plaque Wording: In 1796 these two Coade Stone reliefs were affixed to the Danish-Norwegian Consulate in Wellclose Square Stepney. In 1968 the reliefs were re-erected on this embassy by courtesy of The Greater London Council

Plaque Wording: {top left} Sir Robert Grosvenor succeeded his father as Earl Grosvenor in 1802. Educated at Harrow and Cambridge he became a member of parliament, lord-lieutenant of the County of Flint and was a renowned and enthusiastic art collector. In 1831 he was created Marquess of Westminster and was a sword carrier at the coronation of Queen Victoria in 1837. He was made a Knight of the Garter in 1842. Sir Robert Grosvenor had a vision for a grand development of Belgravia and Pimlico and directed its progress until his death in 1845. The name Belgravia comes from a Grosvenor title of Viscount Belgrave which is taken from a village of that name on the family estate in Cheshire. The plinth on which the statue stands is made of limestone quarried at Halkyn in the County of Flint on land belonging to the family.
{top right} The Grosvenor family came to England with William the Conqueror, and have held land in Cheshire since that time. In the seventeenth century Sir Thomas Grosvenor third baronet married Mary Davies a London heiress. Her dowry was part of the manor of Ebury, the land developed by their successors as Mayfair in the eighteenth century, followed by Belgravia and Pimlico in the nineteenth century. In 1979, Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor became the sixth Duke of Westminster. He commissioned this statue in 1997. The hounds on the monument are Talbot dogs introduced to this country by the Normans as hunting dogs. Now extinct, they were the ancestral stock of the modern bloodhound. Talbot dogs were added to the Grosvenor coat of arms in the seventeenth century. The gold wheatsheaf, known in heraldry as a 'garb' appeared for the first time on the coat of arms in 1398.
{bottom left - left} Under the direction of Sir Robert Grosvenor, Thomas Cundy, the Grosvenor Estate surveyor, presented the above layout to the Grosvenor Board in 1825. From Sir Robert's vision arose the elegant buildings, grand squares and colourful gardens that are now Belgravia.
{bottom left - right} The classical terraces of Belgrave Square were designed by George Basevi architect to the Haldimand Syndicate. Most of the buildings were erected under the control of the great Victorian developer Thomas Cubitt.
{bottom right} Sir Robert Grosvenor KG, first Marquess of Westminster, 1767-1845. When we build let us think we build for ever, John Ruskin.

Plaque Wording: General Don Jose de San Martin, 1778-1850, founder of the Argentine independence, he also gave freedom to Chile and Peru.

Plaque Wording: This monument was unveiled by HRH the Duke of Edinburgh KG, KT in the presence of Senator Eduardo Menem the President of the Honourable Senate of the Argentine Republic; Councillor Angela Hooper CBE, the Lord Mayor of Westminster; The Rt. Hon. Douglas Hurd MBE, MP, the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs and H. E. Ambassador Mario Campora. November 1994.

Plaque Wording: {bottom right on right-hand photo / Right side of plinth} I am conscious of having served England as I served my own country
{left hand photo / rear of plinth}MARECHAL FERDINAND FOCH/ MARECHAL DE L'ARMEE/ BRITANNIQUE GRAND CROIX DE LA LEGION D'HONNEUR/ MEDAILLE MILITAIRE/ MEMBRE DE L'ACADEMY FRANCAISE GCB/ MARSHAL OF FRANCE/ GENERALISSIMO OF ALLIED ARMIES/ BRITISH FIELD MARSHAL

Plaque Wording: Erected by the officers and men of the Royal Marines in memory of their comrades who were killed in action or died of wounds or disease in South Africa and China, 1899-1900.

Plaque Wording: Beau Brummell 1778-1840 "To be truly elegant one should not be noticed"
George 'Beau' Brummell's connections with Court, clubs and tailoring embody the spirit of St James's past and present.
Unveiled by HRH Princess Michael of Kent 5 November 2002

Plaque Wording: The Blewcoat School Built in the year 1709

Plaque Wording: This office was officially opened by His Majesty King Mswati III on the 6th of May 1995 on the occasion of the commemoration of the victory in Europe

Plaque Wording: This memorial was unveiled by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on 26 April 2005
Architects Lord Foster of Thames Bank OM Foster and Partners
Erected for the Police Memorial Trust Chairman and founder Michael Winner MA Cantab

Plaque Wording: Captain James Cook, RN FRS, born 1728, died 1772. Circumnavigator of the globe, explorer of the pacific ocean, he laid the foundations of the British Empire in Australia and New Zealand, chartered the shores of Newfoundland and traversed the ocean gates of Canada, both east and west.
Unveiled by H. R. H. Prince Arthur of Connaught on behalf of the British Empire League, 7th July 1914.

Plaque Wording: To commemorate the Raising of the Siege of Cadiz, in consequence of the Glorious Victory obtained by the Duke of Wellington over the French at Salamanca, on the 22d July 1812: This Mortar, cast for the destruction of that Great Port, with Powers surpassing all others, and abandoned by the Besiegers on their Retreat, was presented as a token of respect and gratitude by the Spanish Nation, To his Royal Highness the Prince Regent.

Plaque Wording: IN MEMORY OF THE OFFICERS AND OTHER RANKS OF THE ROYAL NAVAL DIVISION WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THEIR COUNTRY

Plaque Wording: {translated from the Latin}At the public expense. By the authority of the British Government, in favour of King George II. The tower erected and repaired higher, with proud honour raises the head, Saint Margaret's hall, sacred to God, in the year of the Lord 1888 Most Honoured gentlemen, and for the benefices bestowed on the parishioners Often not without being named without praise, ARTHUR ONSLOW British Government, by his greatest merit, once again SPeaker, the Most Noble ROBERT WALPOLE of the Order of the Garter, First Lord of the Treasury and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, a man most unwearied of all in counsels and public works, yet equal to many. CHARLES WAGER The Golden Knight head of the seven man of the superior officers of the Royal Navy; And to William Baron Sundon of Ardagh in Ireland, in charge of the five men commission of the public treasury.

Plaque Wording: Frederic William Farrar D.D. F.R.S. 1831-1905 Headmaster Marlborough 1871 Rector of S Margaret's 1876 Dean of Canterbury 1895. Love gave him light to know his Lord. To reach & serve his fellow man. Erected by his assistant curates.

Plaque Wording: This tablet is erected by the Cromwell Association to the memory of the undermentioned whose remains were disinterred from Westminster Abbey at the time of the restoration of King Charles II and were in September 1661 buried in this churchyard of St Margaret's....

Plaque Wording: Dispuut House of Lords IIe Lustrum Rotterdam 06.11.1982 Londen 29.04.1993

Plaque Wording: The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom was opened by HM Queen Elizabeth II 16 October 2009

Plaque Wording: {left plaque}County of Middlesex The Guildhall Westminster His grace the Duke of Bedford K.G. Lord Lieutenant of the County.....
{right plaque}County of Middlesex The Guildhall Westminster This foundation stone was laid by his grace the Duke of Bedford K.G. Lord Lieutenant of the county on the second day of May MDCCCCXII......

Plaque Wording: This stone commemorates the operations effected in this building by The County Council of Middlesex was here placed by......

Plaque Wording: This tablet was erected by the members of the 1914 Guildhall Staff in memory of their comrades who laid down their lives in the Great War

Plaque Wording: This tablet is placed in this Middlesex Guildhall in memory of those members of the county staff who lost their lives in the World War 1939-1945

Plaque Wording: A debt of honour - The Memorial Gates This memorial was inaugurated by Her Majesty the Queen during the Golden Jubilee year, 2002. It commemorates the service and sacrifices of five million men and women from the Indian Sub-continent, Africa and the Caribbean, who volunteered to fight with the British in the two World Wars, 1914-18 and 1939-45. This is the first time that their magnificent contribution has received fitting recognition. With so many descendants of these volunteers now living in the United Kingdom, the Memorial Gates serve to remind us all of our shared sacrifices in times of greatest need.

First World War, 1914-18
Indian Sub-continent and the Kingdom of Nepal - 1,440,500 men and women, including 100,000 Gurkhas, volunteered for military service in the Indian Army. They fought on the Western Front, in Gallipoli, Persia, Egypt, Palestine and Mesopotamia.
Africa - the old British African colonies provided 62,000 troops and transport auxiliaries who fought in Africa.
Caribbean - over 15,000 men served in the British West Indies Regiment and saw action in France, Palestine, Egypt and Italy.

Second World War, 1939-45
Indian Sub-Continent and the Kingdom of Nepal - over 2,500,000 including 132,000 Gurkhas, served in Burma, Malaya, Hong Kong, North and East Africa, France, Italy, Greece and throughout the Middle East.
Africa - over 372,000, mostly from East and West Africa, served in the Middle East, East Africa, Italy and Burma.
Caribbean - over 7,000 men and women volunteered to aid the war effort, many of whom saw action in the Middle East, Far East, East Africa and Italy.

The Memorial Gates have been funded by a National Lottery grant from the Millennium Commission and the generous support of trusts, foundations and members of the public.
This panel was donated by the Friends of War Memorials and the West Indian Ex-Services Association UK.
Memorial Gates Trust

Plaque Wording: London County Council Near this site stood Millbank Prison, which was opened in 1816 and closed in 1890. This buttress stood at the head of the river steps from which until 1867 prisoners sentenced to transportation embarked on their journey to Australia.

Plaque Wording: OPERATION TORCH FOR THE LIBERATION OF NORTH AFRICA and later 16 January 1944 - 6 June 1944 as supreme allied commander allied expeditionary force in conjunction with the commanders of the fighting services of the allied nations and the authorities in Washington and London he planned and launched OPERATION OVERLORD FOR THE LIBERATION OF NORTH WEST EUROPE