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KRt.LV’? OUIDF. TO LONDON— STRAND AND CHARING CRCH3 DISTRICT.

STRAND AND CHARING CROSS DISTRICT.

T

A K IN G

as th e lim its o f th is d istrict th e R o y a l C ourts o f Ju stice and

C h a n cery L a n e on th e E ast, th e T h a m es E m b an km en t on the South,

H o lb o rn on the N o rth , and on the W e st a lin e draw n from the N a tio n a l G a lle ry

to the ju n ctio n o f T o tten h am C o u rt R oad , O x fo rd S treet, and N e w

O xfo rd

S tre e t, it w ill be fou n d to in clu d e, not o n ly som e o f the finest o f L o n d o n ’ s
thoroughfares (such as the Strand , N orth um b erlan d A v e n u e , e tc.), b ut also several
o f its m ost im portant b u ild in g s, such as the R o y a l C o urts o f Ju stice, Som erset
H o u se, the N a tio n a l G a lle ry , e tc .,.a n d m ost o f those sp len d id h otels w h ich in
recent years h ave so gre a tly ch an ged the ch aracter o f the M etro p o lis in this
respect.

T h e m ost m agn ificen t o f a ll these h o tels is th e H o te l C e c il, w h ich can,

in d eed , boast o f b e in g the finest in E u rope.

TRAFALQAR SQUARE,

in the centre o f w h ich rises th e N elson M on u ­

m ent, and w h ich its e lf has been so often p ro u d ly sty le d “ the finest site in
E u ro p e ,”

is p ra c tic a lly the m ost cen tral p oin t o f the M etro p o lis ju st as the

M an sio n H ou se is th at o f the C ity . T h e church o f St. M a rtin ’ s-in -th e -F ie ld s— ■
re b u ilt about 1720 and possessing in com m on w ith m any churches b u ilt in
L o n d o n about the sam e perio d, a n o b le G recia n p o rtico — occu p ies an u n riva lled
p ositio n at the N . E . ; at the S outh E ast corner and at the entrance to N orth ­
um berland A v e p u e, stands th e G ran d H o te l, b u ilt a t a r e la tiv e ly recent date on
th e site o f o ld N orth um b erlan d H ou se.

In N o rth um b erlan d A v e n u e there are

also the H o te l V ic to r ia an d the H o te l M etro p o le (tw o o f the finest and largest
hotels in Lo n d o n ) and tw o m agn ificen t p o litic a l clubhouses— the C on stitu tion al
a n d the N a tio n a l L ib e ra l.

O n the N o rth ern sid e o f T r a fa lg a r Sq uare stands

THE NATIONAL QALLERY, w h ich had its b e gin n in g in the purchase o f
the 38 pictures o f the A n g e rste in c o lle c tio n fo r ¿3 8 ,0 0 0 . T h e pictu res n ow num be
som e 1,500, o f w h ich a con sid erab le proportion are the resu lt o f sev eral v alu ab le
gifts , though n o less th an ¿5 0 0 ,0 0 0 o f the pu b lic m on ey h as been exp end ed upon
the c o lle c tio n d u rin g the last fifty y ears (in clu d in g R a p h a e l’ s M ad on n a d ei A n sid e i
from the B le n h eim c o lle ctio n , fo r w h ich ¿ 7 0 ,0 0 0 w as p a id in 1885).
w h o le it m ay n o w

O n th

be said that as a c o llectio n representative o f th e art o f

p a in tin g and a lso to som e exten t o f that o f sculpture, th e N a tio n a l G a lle ry is no
lo n ger u n w o rth y o f the M etro p o lis o f the E n g lish -sp e a k in g W o rld .

I t is, indeed

u n riv a lle d from th e p oin t o f v ie w o f a c o lle c tio n o f a ll the p rin cip a l schools o f