The Victorian Era

Famous Victorian Buildings and Landmarks

Article · Architecture & Design · The Victorian Era, 1837–1901

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The Victorian era produced some of the most recognisable buildings and landmarks in British history, and a remarkable number of them still stand. The Houses of Parliament, Tower Bridge, St Pancras Station, the Crystal Palace, the Royal Albert Hall, the Albert Memorial, the Natural History Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Royal Courts of Justice were all built in the period, while older landmarks such as Buckingham Palace and many of the medieval cathedrals were extended or restored by Victorian architects. The history of these buildings is examined in Victorian Architecture and Interior Design, and the principal styles of the period are examined in Victorian Architectural Styles.

The Houses of Parliament

The Houses of Parliament, also known as the Palace of Westminster, are the meeting place of the two chambers of the British Parliament, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The original medieval palace was largely destroyed by fire on 16 October 1834, and the new building was designed by Charles Barry in the Perpendicular Gothic style, with the interior designed by A. W. N. Pugin in the same style. The new building was constructed between 1840 and 1870, and it is one of the most famous buildings in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The history of the building is examined in Who designed the Houses of Parliament?.

The Tower Bridge

Tower Bridge is the most famous bridge in London, and one of the most famous bridges in the world. The bridge was designed by Horace Jones, the City Architect, in the Gothic style, and it was constructed between 1886 and 1894. The bridge is a combined bascule and suspension bridge, with two towers, two bascules, two suspension chains, and a high-level walkway, and it carries both road and pedestrian traffic across the River Thames. It was opened by the Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII, on 30 June 1894. The history of the building is examined in What is the history of the Tower Bridge?.

St Pancras Station

St Pancras Station is the most famous railway terminus in London, and one of the most famous in the world. The station was designed by William Henry Barlow, the engineer, and the station building and the Midland Grand Hotel were designed by George Gilbert Scott, the architect, in a Ruskinian Gothic style. The single-span iron roof of the train shed, completed in 1868, was the largest of its kind in the world at the time, and the Midland Grand Hotel of 1868–76, also by Scott, is one of the most famous hotels in the world. The history of the building is examined in How was St Pancras Station built?.

The Crystal Palace

The Crystal Palace was the most famous building of the Great Exhibition of 1851, and it was the largest building in the world at the time of its construction. The building was designed by Joseph Paxton, the gardener and architect, in a revolutionary cast-iron and plate-glass style, and it was constructed in Hyde Park in 1851. The building was 1,851 feet long, 456 feet wide, and 135 feet high, and it covered an area of 19 acres. The building was dismantled in 1852 and re-erected on a larger site at Sydenham Hill in south London, where it stood until it was destroyed by fire in 1936. The history of the Great Exhibition is examined in The Great Exhibition of 1851.

The Royal Albert Hall

The Royal Albert Hall is the most famous concert hall in London, and one of the most famous in the world. The building was designed by Captain Francis Fowke of the Royal Engineers, and completed after his death in 1865 by Major-General Henry Y. D. Scott, in a Rundbogenstil style inspired by the Roman amphitheatres of the south of France. It was constructed between 1867 and 1871, and it was opened by Queen Victoria on 29 March 1871. The building is a Grade I listed building, and it is a major venue for concerts, performances, and events.

The Albert Memorial

The Albert Memorial is the most famous memorial in London, and one of the most famous in the world. The memorial was designed by George Gilbert Scott, the architect, in a Gothic Revival style, and it was constructed between 1864 and 1872. The memorial consists of a podium, a statue of Prince Albert, a richly carved canopy, a frieze representing the continents, and an ornamental screen, and it is situated in Kensington Gardens, opposite the Royal Albert Hall. The memorial is a Grade I listed building, and it is one of the finest examples of Victorian Gothic Revival sculpture.

The Natural History Museum

The Natural History Museum is the most famous museum in London, and one of the most famous in the world. The museum was designed by Alfred Waterhouse, the architect, in a Romanesque Revival style, and it was constructed between 1873 and 1881. The museum consists of a main building, a central hall, a long gallery, and a number of side galleries, and it contains one of the largest natural history collections in the world. The museum is a Grade I listed building, and it is one of the finest examples of Victorian Romanesque Revival architecture. The decorated terracotta façades, with their living and extinct animals, are the work of the company of Doulton of Lambeth, and they were one of the most ambitious architectural ceramic projects of the period.

The Victoria and Albert Museum

The Victoria and Albert Museum, also known as the V&A, is the most famous museum of decorative arts in London, and one of the most famous in the world. The main building was designed by Aston Webb, the architect, in a Renaissance Revival style, and it was constructed between 1899 and 1909. The museum contains one of the largest collections of decorative arts in the world, and it is a Grade I listed building. The history of the furniture and decorative arts is examined in Victorian Furniture and Decorative Arts.

The Royal Courts of Justice

The Royal Courts of Justice are the most famous courts in London, and one of the most famous in the world. The courts were designed by G. E. Street, the architect, in a Gothic Revival style, and they were constructed between 1873 and 1882 on the site of the former legal quarter of the City. The courts house the Court of Appeal, the High Court of Justice, and the Crown Court, and they are a Grade I listed building. The wider context of the building is discussed in Victorian Architecture and Interior Design.

The Country Houses

The country houses of the Victorian period were among the most spectacular buildings of the era, and many of them still stand. The great country houses of the period included Balmoral Castle, the Highland home of Queen Victoria, rebuilt for her and Prince Albert by William Smith of Aberdeen between 1853 and 1856; Sandringham House, the Norfolk home of the Prince of Wales, rebuilt in 1870; Chatsworth House in Derbyshire, the ancestral residence of the Devonshires; Blenheim Palace, the Marlborough family’s Oxfordshire stronghold; Woburn Abbey, belonging to the Dukes of Bedford; and Castle Howard in Yorkshire, home of the Earls of Carlisle. The country house architects of the period — Anthony Salvin, Edward Blore, William Burn, David Bryce, and Philip Webb among them — made their reputations in the work of designing, extending, and restoring these great houses.