1845.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



339* 



Improvement of Entrance to Ihe Pahtcc of M'cslmiiisliv. 



Is it desirable for the architectural appearance and the convenierce of 

 the new Houses of I'arliamcHt at Mestiuinster tliat tlie courts should be 

 removed, and that an addition should be made to the building upon the site 

 now occupied by them ^ — Their removal would I think promote \ery ma- 

 terially the elfect of the new Palace at Westminster, as well as its conve- 

 Dieoce. The elevations towards Old and New Palace Yards and St. Mar- 

 garet-street will be very defective, owing to the irr.-gularity in plan, the 

 dilTerence iu levels, particularly the low level of Mestminster Hall, and 

 the necessarily inharmonious character of the design, owing to the incor- 

 poration of Westminster Hall in those elevaiions. This defect would in a 

 great measure be removed by the proposed quadrangle, and by causing 

 Westminster Hall to form a part of it, as was formerly the case in the an- 

 cient palace. So that on the whole, I think the gain in the external etl'ect 

 of the building would 1)6 very considerable. There is another point also 

 that I might observe upon, which is, that at the present moment there is no 

 principal or striking entrance to the new Palace for the public. 'Ihe only 

 great entrance is the state entrance to the Hous.? of Lords, reserved exclu- 

 sively for the use of Her JIajesty. There is no situation in which a main 

 public entrance could be so convenient, or have so good an elFect as at Ihe 

 northwesi corner of the proposed quadrangle enclosing New \'alaceYard. 

 If the quadrangle were adili d to the building, it would only be necessary 

 to secure this entrance gaieway, in order to render ilie building more se- 

 cure from external atlai k in case of public commotions. The building, as 

 mw designed, could be elfectually protected towards the river, but it will 

 be very much unprotected on the other sides. It might be as well 1 should 

 slate, that in case the law courts were removed from Westminster, and Ihe 

 site of them were made available for other purposes, Ihe value of it, in my 

 opinion, cuuld nut be staled at less than t'bO,(i40. 1 ii.ean that if it weie 

 Eold for any building purpose it would be worth that money In the 

 market. 



Do you mean the committee to understand that that is an element which 

 ought to be taken into their cimsideralion, that, in immediale connection 

 wiih the New Palace at Westminster, you would allow the space at pre- 

 tcni occupied by the law courts to be applied to any other than congenial 

 jiurpiises? — Certainly not. 



I hen will you state how far it can fairly be within your calculaiion to 

 assume as Ihe marketable value of the site a sum which could not be oh- 

 laiiitd by any mode which you would recommend, or which you would 

 think consistent w th the propriety of the case?— 1 have said that ihe site 

 mii;htbe made available for a Kecord OfTice, which exierually mitiht be 

 made lo appear as part of the new palace, and the value of it so applied is, 

 in my op niun, what I have stated, bli,ii40. 



Victcria Tower. 

 Have you not staled on former occasions that the Victoria Tower was 

 tl e .spot to wliicli jou proposed to transfer the records of the kingdom, and 

 have jou not s aied thai it was eminently adapted for such purpose ; and 

 if nut for such purpose, will jou stale lo what purpose it is lo be applied ( 

 — 'Ihe or ginal purpose of the Victoria Tower was for the Parlianienlary 

 records alone ; it has since been considered that it might be made available 

 fur the public records of the kingdom. I was therefore consulted as to the 

 a'comniodation that it would atlurd for that purpose, and from the best in- 

 f.jrmalion which was afl'urded lo nie at the lime as to the accommodation 

 required for the records, I have no hesitation in reporting that the Victoria 

 '1 ower would be suflicieut lo accommodate the whole of them. Since that 

 time a very minute suney has been made by the ollicers of the Record es- 

 lablishnient of the whole of those records, and apian has been proposed 

 by them of a p iiticular UiOde in which they should be arranged, which 

 plan diU'ers altogether from the plan which I had formerly acted upon, 

 and now causes me to doubt whether the capacity of the Victoria Tower 

 ii suflicieut for the purpose. 



Ronfs of New Houses of Parliament. 



I had proposed certain accommodation in other parts of the building, 

 ■urU as in the roofs; hut that species of accommodation has been dis- 

 countenanced entirely by the INlaster of the fiolls, and I believe is now 

 cuDsidered as uiia^ailable. 



Have you made preparation, either by floors or windows in the roofs, for 

 the recepiion of the records ? — The only preparation I have made is in 

 itrengiheniog the roofs; the dormer windows in them I consider to be ne- 

 cessary for the convenience of ihe building. 



Have you not floors in Ihe roofs adapted for the purpose of the records, 

 aid windows opening in such apartments? — Ther« is a fireproof floor in 

 tlie roof, which is necessary for the warming and veutilating arrangements 

 of the building; and there are windows also. 



Space required for the Records. 



According lo Ihe arrangements proposed, it is questionable whether the 

 cubic capacity of the Vicloria Tower is suflicieut for their accommodation ; 

 but if the records were to be arranged in the Victoria Tower as closely as 

 possible, I believe the tower itself would be sufficient to hold the whole 

 of them. 



At the time when yon gave evidence of the suflicient capacity of the 

 Victoria Tower for these purposes some years a^o, a previous measure- 

 incut of the records had been made? — A subsequent measurement of a 

 Biure minute description has taken place within the last two years. 



I'pon lliat re examination, the quantity of records, and consequently the 

 space required to deposit them in, was found to be much greater than was 

 anticipated at that time?— Taking the quantity of records and the arranj;e- 

 lueiils considered necessary for their location together. 



Has the aclual bulk of the records been found greater than it had before 

 been estimated lo be ?— No, it is found to be less ; but much larger allow- 

 aiuesare now proposed for the arrangement of them and for the annual in- 

 crease of them ; and those allowances make the entire cubic space to be 

 provided much greater. 



Of course it wiiulJ be desirable to provide not merely room for the 

 exisling records, but for their gradual increase, and also room for the nse 

 of the readers who may desire to consult them?— Yes; taking the ullow- 

 aiicc that is now proposed for that purpos<',aud Ihe proposed increase of 

 facilities for searching the records, the cubic qimulity of space required is 

 very considerably greater ihan it was in the first estimate. 



1 propose that a uiucli larger site should be obtained than is absolutely 

 required fur the new law courts, in order that there niisht be a very con- 

 siderable return ill the shape of ground-rents for chambers, in diminution 

 of the expense of purchasing the site in question. I have gone over the 

 whole of the property which I consider it would be advisable to purchase, 

 Willi a genlleuian whose local knowledge of the property is unquestion- 

 able (Mr. Cadogau, who has his oflice in Pickett-place), and I have every 

 reason to believe that the estimate which that genlleman has formed, and 

 which 1 ha\e had an opportunity of checking by going over the same 

 ground, may be relied upon. The amount that would be required to pur- 

 chase the » hole site considered necessary to carry into effect the altera- 

 tions, would amount to £075,074. 



It will be bounded on the north by Carey-street, on the east by Chancery- 

 Inne, on the south by the Strand and Fleet-street, and on the west by 

 Clement's lane and Plough-court. 



The length will be from east to west, about 700 feet ; and from north to 

 south about 480 feet. 



About 7^ acres. I should propose to place Ihe law courts in the centre 

 of the site, or nearly so, and the proposed chambers east and west of it. 

 Law Chambers —Deductions from Costs. 



Is there any residue out of the space which you propose to take, and 

 which you have estimated in the calculation of £07.5,074?— A very con- 

 siderable residue, which 1 should propose to appropriate to the purpose of 

 building chambers, as shown upon Plan (B), which exhibits two quadran- 

 gles on ench side of the law courts, and a row of houses towards Plough- 

 court. The value of the grouudrents that might be obtained for the pifo- 

 posed chambers alone is, in my opinion, worth the sum of £310,500. 



Leaving the expense of the actual site for the law courts £S38,574. 



I have made a calculation lo the best of my judgment of such ground- 

 rents as would be obtained for buildings in that locality of the description 

 mentioned, supposing the law courts lo be in the ceulre of them. 

 0(/ier Deduction. 



I should slate, as amongst the items of deduction from the expense of 

 the site, that a certain number of public ofiices attached to the courts of 

 equity would become available for other purposes if the law courts are 

 removed to it, and that the value of those offices, if let for other purposes, 

 would be about £100,350. Those oflices are the Accountant (leneral's 

 Office, in Chancery-lane ; the Affidavit-office in Syniund's Inn, Chancery- 

 hme ;' the Public office in Soulhampton Buildings ; the Enrolment office 

 iu Chancery lane ; the Clerk of Custody of Lunatics' Ofiice in Mitre- 

 court Buildings ; the Great Seal Patent offii e in Qualitycourl, Chancery- 

 Line ; the Lunacy-office, 45, Lincoln's Inn Fields; the Masters in Chaucery- 

 Oflices, 1 1 sets of Chambers, &c. in Soulhanipton-buiidings ; the Patent- 

 oflice, 13, Searle-street,Lincoln's-lnn ;the Presentation office, 4, Old-square, 

 Lincoln's-lnn ; the Record and Writ Clerks' Office in Chancery-lane ; the 

 Registrars' office in Chancery-lane; the Report-office, Chancery-lane; the 

 Secretary of the Lord Chancellor's Office iu Quality-court, and the Taxing 

 Masters' Office in Staples lun, in addition to the site of the present law 

 courts at AVestminster, which I have valued at £86,000. There are also 

 olher offices attached to the courts of law which might be let for other 

 purposes, but of which I have no valualiou. If the Corporation of the 

 City of London were disposed to enter into the arrangement of central 

 courts upon the site proposed, the present courts in the Guildhall-yard 

 might be let for other purposes. 



I believe it lo be probable that the proposed building might allord ac- 

 commodation for all those oflices. 



In your proposed plan for the courts of law have you included judges 

 chambers?— Yes ; I propose that the judges should be accommodated in 

 Ihe new building. I have not gone so much into detail with the plan of 

 the new building as to say with certainty that such would be the case ; 

 but 1 imagine from the immense size of ii, anil the number of stories that 

 would be available for oflices, that all the offices, and other accommodation 

 which I have nienlioned, might be obtained. 



Deducing these set-ofls from the expense of purchasing the ground, 

 youwould make out, the purchase of the ground would uot cost above 

 iE 172,224, exclusive of the value of the offices attached to the courts of 

 law. ' 



If you were to make no deduction for the value of the present site it 

 would be £258,224. 



And this includes the formation of new streets immediately contiguous 

 to the site ? 



