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River Thames, Big Ben, and Palace of Westminster at Night
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River Thames, Big Ben, and Palace of Westminster at Night

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  • River Thames, Big Ben, and Palace of Westminster at Night
  • Saint Paul’s Cathedral from Millennium Bridge, London <br><br> Millennium Bridge, a footbridge across the River Thames between Southwark Bridge and Blackfriars Railway Bridge, provides a spectacular view of Saint Paul’s Cathedral nested between two modern buildings and bridge supports. The <a href="https://www.stpauls.co.uk/">church website </a> has a photo on it’s opening page, which sparked my interest in capturing the cathedral at night. <br><br> Saint Paul’s is one of the most visible and notable sights in London, dominating the skyline at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London. Noted architect Sir Christopher Wren designed the church in the English Baroque style. Wren designed more than 50 London churches after the Great Fire of 1666. The church was consecrated in 1697. <br><br> Herbert Mason’s photograph of the cathedral dome surrounded by smoke from German bombing during the Battle of Britain is an iconic image symbolizing Britain’s defiance of Nazi tyranny. The resilient church withstood the bombing; a German time-delayed bomb hit the cathedral in September 1940 and was diffused and removed by a bomb squad. According to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Paul%27s_Cathedral">Wikipedia, </a> the bomb would have destroyed the church, as it left a 100 foot crater when later detonated in a secure location. <br><br> Important services held at St Paul's have included the funerals of Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, Sir Winston Churchill, and Margaret Thatcher; Jubilee celebrations for Queen Victoria; peace services marking the end of the First and Second World Wars; the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer, and the launch of the Festival of Britain, according to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Paul%27s_Cathedral">Wikipedia. </a>
  • Saint Paul’s Cathedral from Millennium Bridge, London <br><br> Millennium Bridge, a footbridge across the River Thames between Southwark Bridge and Blackfriars Railway Bridge, provides a spectacular view of Saint Paul’s Cathedral nested between two modern buildings and bridge supports. The <a href="https://www.stpauls.co.uk/">church website </a> has a photo on it’s opening page, which sparked my interest in capturing the cathedral at night. <br><br> Saint Paul’s is one of the most visible and notable sights in London, dominating the skyline at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London. Noted architect Sir Christopher Wren designed the church in the English Baroque style. Wren designed more than 50 London churches after the Great Fire of 1666. The church was consecrated in 1697. <br><br> Herbert Mason’s photograph of the cathedral dome surrounded by smoke from German bombing during the Battle of Britain is an iconic image symbolizing Britain’s defiance of Nazi tyranny. The resilient church withstood the bombing; a German time-delayed bomb hit the cathedral in September 1940 and was diffused and removed by a bomb squad. According to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Paul%27s_Cathedral">Wikipedia, </a> the bomb would have destroyed the church, as it left a 100 foot crater when later detonated in a secure location. <br><br> Important services held at St Paul's have included the funerals of Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, Sir Winston Churchill, and Margaret Thatcher; Jubilee celebrations for Queen Victoria; peace services marking the end of the First and Second World Wars; the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer, and the launch of the Festival of Britain, according to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Paul%27s_Cathedral">Wikipedia. </a>
  • Saint Paul’s Cathedral at Dusk <br><br> Saint Paul’s is one of the most visible and notable sights in London, dominating the skyline at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London. Noted architect Sir Christopher Wren designed the church in the English Baroque style. Wren designed more than 50 London churches after the Great Fire of 1666. The church was consecrated in 1697. <br><br> Herbert Mason’s photograph of the cathedral dome surrounded by smoke from German bombing during the Battle of Britain is an iconic image symbolizing Britain’s defiance of Nazi tyranny. The resilient church withstood the bombing; a German time-delayed bomb hit the cathedral in September 1940 and was diffused and removed by a bomb squad. According to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Paul%27s_Cathedral">Wikipedia, </a> the bomb would have destroyed the church, as it left a 100 foot crater when later detonated in a secure location. <br><br> Important services held at St Paul's have included the funerals of Lord Nelson, the Duke of Wellington, Sir Winston Churchill, and Margaret Thatcher; Jubilee celebrations for Queen Victoria; peace services marking the end of the First and Second World Wars; the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer, and the launch of the Festival of Britain, according to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Paul%27s_Cathedral">Wikipedia. </a>
  • Abbey Road Studios, London <br><br> The Beatles recorded almost all of their albums and singles between 1962 and 1970 at Abbey Road Studios. The building is a nine-bedroom Georgian townhouse built in the 1830s. The building was acquired by the Gramophone Company in 1931 and converted into studios. One of the most famous early artists to was Paul Robeson who recorded at the studio from 1931 to 1939. <br><br> In addition to the Beatles, Pink Floyd recorded most of their albums at Abbey Road, from the late 1960s to the mid-1970s. John Williams and the London Symphony Orchestra used the studios to record the scores of five Star Wars films. All three of the film scores for The Lord of the Rings were mixed at the studios. See <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbey_Road_Studios">Wikipedia</a> for more detail. <br><br> Abbey Road Studios is still an active studio and draws many Beatles fans; many cross the famous zebra crossing, much to the chagrin of busy auto traffic. The studio has a <a href="http://www.abbeyroad.com/Crossing">webcam showing the crossing,</a> allowing viewers to search and download clips from the previous day. The wall and gate facing the studio are filled with graffiti and painted over periodically.
  • Abbey Road Studios, London <br><br> The Beatles recorded almost all of their albums and singles between 1962 and 1970 at Abbey Road Studios. The building is a nine-bedroom Georgian townhouse built in the 1830s. The building was acquired by the Gramophone Company in 1931 and converted into studios. One of the most famous early artists to was Paul Robeson who recorded at the studio from 1931 to 1939. <br><br> In addition to the Beatles, Pink Floyd recorded most of their albums at Abbey Road, from the late 1960s to the mid-1970s. John Williams and the London Symphony Orchestra used the studios to record the scores of five Star Wars films. All three of the film scores for The Lord of the Rings were mixed at the studios. See <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbey_Road_Studios">Wikipedia</a> for more detail. <br><br> Abbey Road Studios is still an active studio and draws many Beatles fans; many cross the famous zebra crossing, much to the chagrin of busy auto traffic. The studio has a <a href="http://www.abbeyroad.com/Crossing">webcam showing the crossing,</a> allowing viewers to search and download clips from the previous day. The wall and gate facing the studio are filled with graffiti and painted over periodically.
  • Big Ben, Elizabeth Tower, Palace of Westminster <br><br> Big Ben is one of the most recognizable buildings in the world. The dials are about 23 feet in diameter and made from cast iron. Each dial contained 312 separate pieces of pot opal glass, which has an opaque finish. <br><br> A competition was held in 1846 to decide who should build the clock; however, the project was not completed until 1859. One reason for the delay was demanding standards for the clock put in place by Astronomer Royal Sir George Airy, who insisted that the first stroke of each hour must be accurate to within one second and the clock’s performance must be telegraphed twice a day to Greenwich Observatory. Edmund Beckett Denison, a barrister and a gifted amateur clockmaker was appointed to design the clock. Denison made many refinements to the clock including inventing the Double Three-legged Gravity Escapement. This was a revolutionary mechanism that enhanced the clock’s accuracy by ensuring that its pendulum was unaffected by external factors such as wind pressure on the clock’s hands. This invention has been used in many clocks worldwide. <br><br> The clock was installed in April 1859. However, the clock did not work because the cast-iron minute hands were too heavy. They were replaced by lighter copper hands and began keeping time in May 1859. <br><br> The Great Bell in the tower is known as Big Ben. Two candidates exist for the name’s origin: Sir Benjamin Hall, the First Commissioner for Works from 1855-1858 or Ben Caunt, a champion heavyweight boxer of the 1850s, with the first candidate more likely. <br><br> The first bell that was cast cracked. The second bell was lighter, but took 30 hours to winch to the top in October 1858. The bell rang for the first time in July 1859 but cracked in September 1859. In 1863 a solution was found by turning the bell a quarter turn so the hammer would hit in a different spot. Also the hammer was replaced by a lighter version and a small square was cut into the bell to prevent the crack from spreading. <br><br> See the<a href="http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/palace/">Parliament website</a> for more detail.
  • Victoria Tower, Palace of Westminster <br><br> The Victoria Tower, named after Queen Victoria, is the tallest tower in the Palace of Westminster at 325 feet. The tower was originally designed as a Royal entrance. It is now home to the Parliamentary Archives. Architect Charles Barry designed the tower with rich carvings and sculpture with statues of patron saints of England,Scotland, Whales, a life-sized statue of Queen Victoria, and allegorical figures of Justice and Mercy. <br><br> The gateways of the tower were built wide enough to allow the Queen’s coach to drive through for State Openings of Parliament. The base of the tower is the Sovereign’s Entrance, which is used by the Queen whenever entering the Palace. By tradition, this route is the only one the Sovereign is allowed to take when he or she comes to the House of Lords. <br><br> The Victoria Tower is one part of the Palace of Westminster. The Palace is in perpendicular Gothic style, popular in the 15th century. The current buildings replaced Parliament buildings destroyed by the Great Fire of 1834. The fire was started when the Clerk of Works thought that burning obsolete wooden accounting tally sticks in two under floor stoves in the basement of the House of Lords would be a safe place to dispose of them; it was not. <br><br> In 1836, Charles Barry was selected in a competition to design the new Palace. Construction started in 1840. Barry estimated that it would take six years to complete his vision; instead it took more than 30 years. Barry was assisted by Augustus Welby Pugin, a young architect and draftsman. Some believe that Pugin should receive greater credit than Barry for the design of the Palace. <br><br> See the<a href="http://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/building/palace/">Parliament website</a> for more detail.
  • Statue at Victoria Tower, Palace of Westminster
  • Westminster Abbey North Entrance <br><br> Westminster Abbey is a Gothic church located west of the Palace of Westminster. A church was founded on the site in the 7th century; construction on the present church began in 1245 on the orders of Henry III, who wanted the site for his burial. Work continued between 1245 and 1517 and was finished during the reign of Richard II. Until the death of George II in 1760, most kings and queens were buried in the abbey. Geoffrey Chaucer was buried there and other poets, writers, and musicians were buried around Chaucer in what is known as Poets’ Corner. Isaac Newton and Charles Darwin are also buried there. See <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westminster_Abbey">Wikipedia</a> for more detail.
  • The London Eye and River Thames
  • Untitled photo
  • Guard at Hampton Court Palace
  • Beefeater Bill Callaghan Leads Tour at Tower of London
  • Saint Martin-in-the-Fields <br><br> Saint Martin-in-the-Fields is an Anglican church at Trafalgar Square in London. The church is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours. Martin, after a career in the Roman army, entered the Christian Church and became Bishop of Tours. He is remembered for an act of generosity by cutting his cloak in two to give to a beggar clad in rags. <br><br><a href="http://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/about/history/">According to the church website</a> there is no official reference to a church on the site of Saint Martin’s until Norman times, when in 1222 a dispute was recorded between several parties on the Bishop’s authority over the church. <br><br> In around 1542, Henry VIII, “…built a new church and extended the parish boundaries to keep plague victims from being carried through his palace. This was enlarged in 1607 at the cost of Prince Henry, the son of King James I. This church was pulled down in 1721 to be replaced by the current building.” <br><br> James Gibbs designed the present church and was completed in 1726. Gibbs drew on the work of Christopher Wren (architect of over 50 churches in London including Saint Paul’s Cathedral) but departed from Wren’s practice in his integration of the tower into the church, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Martin-in-the-Fields">according to WIkipedia.</a> The design was criticized at the time but has established itself as a landmark and copied widely in the U.S. It has become one of the most significant ecclesiastical buildings in the English-speaking world, according to the church website. <br><br> The church is one of the most famous churches in London, according to Wikipedia. The church is the parish of the Royal Family, 10 Downing Street, and the Admiralty. The church flies the White Ensign of the Royal Navy rather than the Union Flag.
  • Untitled photo
  • Buckingham Palace Guards
  • Southwark Cathedral Nave <br><br> Southwark Cathedral in Southwark, London, is on the south bank of the River Thames near the London Bridge. It is the mother church of the Anglican Diocese of Southwark and has been a place of Christian worship for more than 1,000 years, according to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwark_Cathedral">Wikipedia.</a> <br><br> Prior to the church, the site was a Roman villa, according to the <a href="http://www.southwark.anglican.org/cathedral/tour/history1.htm">Southwark website.</a> In 1977, a pagan statue from the fourth century was discovered beneath the church. <br><br> “The present building retains the basic form of the Gothic structure built between 1220 and 1420, although the nave is a late 19th-century reconstruction. <br><br> The Great Fire of 1212 badly damaged the church. Only a few traces of the Norman church remain today, including a doorway in the north side of the nave. “Rebuilding took place during the thirteenth century, although the exact dates are unknown. In its reconstructed state - the basic layout of which survives today - the church was cruciform in plan, with an aisled nave of six bays, a crossing tower, transepts, and a five bay choir,” according to Wikipedia. <br><br> “In the 1390s, the church was again damaged by fire, and in around 1420 the Bishop of Winchester Henry Beaufort, assisted with the rebuilding of the south transept and the completion of the tower. During the 15th century the parochial chapel was rebuilt, and the nave and north transept were given wooden vaults following the collapse of the stone ceiling in 1469. Some of the carved bosses from the vault (destroyed in the 19th century) are preserved in the cathedral.” <br><br> William Shakespeare and Geoffrey Chaucer worshipped at Southwark Cathedral. Shakespeare is believed to have been present when John Harvard, founder of the American university, was baptized here in 1607 according to <a href="http://www.sacred-destinations.com/england/london-southwark-cathedral">Sacred Destinations</a>
  • Temple Church Chancel <br><br> I obtained information on Temple Church from <a href="http://www.sacred-destinations.com/england/london-temple-church">Sacred Destinations</a> which has a nice summary of the history of the church. <br><br> The Temple Church is located off Fleet Street near the Temple tube stop in London. The church is one of three existing Norman round churches remaining in England. <br><br> The Knights Templar constructed the church, which was consecrated in 1185 in a ceremony that may have included King Henry II. The church is in a large monastic compound that included residences, military training facilities, and recreational grounds, according to Sacred Destinations. The Knights Templar held worship services and secret initiation rights. <br><br> “The order of the Knights Templar was very powerful in England in this early period. The Master of the Temple sat in parliament as primus baro (the first baron of the realm). The Temple compound was regularly used as a residence by kings and by legates of the Pope.” it is believed that the round shape of the church was patterned after the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, where the Knights Templar were responsible for guarding during the Crusades. <br><br> The Temple was the scene of negotiations leading to the signing of the Magna Carta in 1215. <br><br> The church’s choir was greatly enlarged in the early 1200s when King Henry III expressed a desire to be buried there and a new chancel was consecrated in 1240 in Gothic style. However, Henry changed his mind and was buried in Westminster Abbey. <br><br> The power of the Knights Templar waned in the 14th century. Leaders were charged with various crimes and imprisoned in the Tower of London. The Knights of Malta gained control of the property. <br><br> Although the Great Fire of London did not touch Temple Church in 1666, it was renovated in a Victorian Gothic style by architectural great Sir Christopher Wren (architect of many churches including Saint Paul’s). Most prominent is a large wooden altar in the chancel designed by Wren including the Ten Commandments written in gold letters with detailed wood carvings. <br><br> The church was severely damaged by German incendiary bombs in May 1941 in the Battle of Britain. The roof of the Round Church caught fire and burned wooden parts of the church. Fortunately, the wooden altar was stored in a museum at the time. The church was restored and rededicated in 1958. <br><br> The Temple Church was in several literary works. In Part I of Shakespeare’s Henry VI, the church is the scene of the start of the 15th century Wars of the Roses. The war started by the plucking of two roses in the Temple garden. The church appeared in the Da Vinci Code; the lead characters arrive at the church in pursuit of a riddle: After a careful examination of the ten knights, the group learn from the altar boy that there are no tombs in the church, only effigies. In the end, the riddle refers to the tomb of Sir Isaac Newton in Westminster Abbey.
  • Churchill War Rooms Museum-War Cabinet Room <br><br> This is the War Cabinet Room, where Churchill and his inner circle plotted the war. <br><br> The Churchill War Rooms is a fascinating museum in London, consisting of the Cabinet War Rooms and the Churchill Museum. The war rooms are an underground complex that housed the British government during World War II. During the war, the rooms were in constant use by officers responsible for producing daily information for the King, Prime Minister, and the military Chiefs of Staff. <br><br> The Cabinet War Rooms are located in the Treasury Building in the Whitehall area of Westminster not far from the Parliament Buildings. They became operational in August 1939, days before the German invasion of Poland, and remained in operation until August 1945. <br><br> The War Rooms were fortified on several occasions during the German bombing of London. However, a recurring theme of the museum was that it was not all that secure. A sign on the wall of the museum reads: <br><br> This was the Global Hub of Information on the War <br><br> The Government’s Secret Bomb Shelter <br><br> An East Target that was Never Hit <br><br> The rooms were preserved after the war. A limited number of people could tour the rooms until they were opened to the public in 1984. The museum was reopened in 2005 following a redevelopment as the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms, now simply called the Churchill War Rooms. <br><br> See the<a href="http://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/churchill-war-rooms">Churchill War Rooms website</a> for more detail.
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