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Somerset House

For the 18th-century town house of the Duke of Somerset, see Somerset House, Park Lane.

Somerset House
The courtyard of Somerset House from the North Wing entrance (September 2007)
Courtyard of Somerset House from the North Wing entrance (September 2007)
Map
General information
Architectural styleRenaissance
LocationStrand
London, WC2
CountryUnited Kingdom
Current tenantsMultiple
Construction started1776 (1776)
Cost£462,323 (1801)[1]
LandlordSomerset House Trust
Design and construction
Architect(s)Sir William Chambers
DesignationsGrade I listed building
Other information
Public transit accessLondon Underground Temple
Website
www.somersethouse.org.uk Edit this at Wikidata

Somerset House is a large Renaissance complex situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The Georgian era quadrangle was built on the site of a Tudor palace ("Old Somerset House") originally belonging to the Duke of Somerset in 1547. The present Somerset House was designed by Sir William Chambers, begun in 1776, and was further extended with Victorian era outer wings to the east and west in 1831 and 1856 respectively.[2][3] The site of Somerset House stood directly on the River Thames until the Victoria Embankment was built in the late 1860s.[4]

The great Georgian era structure was built to be a grand public building housing various government and public-benefit society offices. Its present tenants are a mixture of various organisations, generally centred around the arts and education.

  1. ^ "Since the 18th century". Somerset House Trust. Retrieved 27 February 2013.
  2. ^ Humphreys, Rob (2003). The Rough Guide to London (5 ed.). Rough Guides Ltd. pp. 165–6. ISBN 1843530937. somerset house.
  3. ^ Somerset House Trust (2010), Annual Report (PDF), Somerset House Trust, p. 3, archived from the original (PDF) on 29 June 2012, retrieved 27 February 2013
  4. ^ Thornbury, Walter. "The Victoria Embankment". British History Online. Retrieved 15 February 2015.

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