Kellys_1917_0515.jpg

8

k e i,ly’ s

o o id e

to

Lo n d o n — c i t y d i s t r i c t .

are prom pted b y business requirem en ts. A m o n g st the p rin cip al b u ild in g s to
w h ich a v is it sh ou ld be p a id are th e fo llo w in g ;—

THE MANSION HOUSE . — T h is b u ild in g , w h ich m ay w e ll be regarded as
the very cen tre o f the C i t y o f L o n d o n , w as b u ilt in 1739-53.
I t is the official
resid en ce o f the L o rd M a y o r d u rin g h is y ear o f office.

T h e b u ild in g its e lf is not

v ery s trik in g , in sp ite o f i its fine h exa style C o rin th ia n portico.

I t contains,

h ow ever, a lo n g su ite o f state and reception room s, w h ich are both handsom e and
w e ll proportioned.

S u ccessive L o rd M ayors h av e fo r gen erations been rem ark ­

ab le fo r h a v in g in itia te d grea t m ovem en ts fo r the ra isin g o f n ation al funds, and
m eetin gs fo r

these and

E g y p tia n H a ll.
H a ll.

sim ila r purposes are co n stan tly b ein g h e ld

in

the

T h e grand banquets h eld in th e C ity also take p lace in this

T h e y are on a scale o f sum ptuous m agn ificen ce, and th eir tradition al

splen d ou r h as been fu lly m ain tain e d in each successive M a y o ra lty up to the
present day. T h e b u ild in g can be seen o n ly b y the sp ecia l perm ission o f the
L o rd M ayor,.

THE BANK OF ENGLAND,

w h ich is alm ost im m ed iately opposite to the

M an sion H ou se, w as b u ilt m a in ly in 1788,
erected u n til abou t a century back .

though its n orthern sid e w as not

I t is an irreg u lar b u ild in g , w ith external

w a lls w ith o u t w in d o w s o f a n y k in d , b e in g indeed lig h te d from in te rio r courts as a
m atter o f secu rity.

I t g iv e s em p loym en t to over a'thousand peop le, and is said to

c o v e r n e arly .fo u r a c r e s .' V isito rs are ad m itted on an ord er from the G overn or
or on e o f the D irecto rs.

THE ROYAL EXCHANGE, w h ich is in the im m ed iate p ro x im ity o f the’
B a n k o f E n g la n d , is the th ird b u ild in g o f the k in d on the sam e site. T h e first
w as destroyed"in the great fire o f 1666, and the secon d w as burnt d ow n in 1838:
T h e fine portico o f C o rin th ia n colum ns on the w estern side is the m ost strik in g
feature of the present b u ild in g .

A co n sid erab le part o f the E x ch a n g e is occupied

b y L lo y d ’s S u b scrip tio n R oom s, w here the business o f u n d erw ritin g— that is,
m arine in su rance— o f alm ost the en tire w o rld is carried on.

THE GUILDHALL,

w h ich stands a t the north end o f K in g street, Cheap-

sid e, w as b uilt at the b e gin n in g o f the 15th century.

I t w as m uch in ju red by

the great fire o f 1666, and has co n stan tly been added to and im proved even dow n
to 1870.

T h e G rea t H a ll, in w h ich the grand ann u al banquet on L o rd M ayo r’ s

d ay is h e ld , is 15 4 ft. lon g, 50 ft. broad, and 55 ft. h igh .
m onum ents to N e lso n , W e llin g to n and L o rd C h atham .

I t con tain s som e fine
T h e G u ild h a ll contains

the F re e L ib r a ry o f th e C o rpo ration o f L o nd on , a m useum and an art ga lle ry,
w here loan e x h ib itio n s o f pictures o f th e h ighest character are h eld from tim e to
tim e.

T h e G rea t H a ll is open to v isito rs free a ll day.

THE GENERAL POST OFFICE,

fo rm e rly b etter k n o w n as S t. M artin ’ s-

le -G ra n d o w in g to its h av in g been b u ilt on the site o f a church and sanctuary
id that nam e, stands a t the ju n ctio n o f N e w g ate S treet, A ld e rsg a te S treet and
C h eap sid e.
D epartm en t.

O p p o site to it stands a m odern b u ild in g used fo r the T eleg rap h