Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Charles I on his horse stares down Whitehall towards the site of his ex-
ecution at the Banqueting House, while we look along the Strand with
Northumberland House on the right (1811).
The National Gallery was begun in 1833. The bases and capitals of columns from the
demolished Carlton House were used in the portico - virtually the only surviving physical
trace of the building Jane visited in 1815 to discuss the dedication of
Emma
to the Prince
Regent.
Turn towards the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields; go down the steps and around the
corner into the National Portrait Gallery on the site of the vast St Martin's Workhouse. The
Gallery has a suite of rooms (second floor, 17-20) covering the late eighteenth and early
nineteenth centuries. Here you come face to face with many of the leading lights of the
period, including Nelson and Queen Caroline, both of whom we have met on this walk.
There is also an interactive computer allowing you to search the collection so you can find
your favourite Georgian character - including, of course, Jane Austen - and buy a print of
their portrait.
Despite his best efforts, the Prince Regent was consistently depicted as
a buffoon. Even the gulls and pigeons in Trafalgar Square today show
scant regard for his dignity.
From the Gallery, cross over to St Martin-in-the-Fields, the only building in the area that
Jane would recognise today.
Walk down with Trafalgar Square on your right until you reach the corner, where we end
our walk. Jane was familiar with Charing Cross as the busy intersection of Whitehall, the
Strand and Cockspur Street. She would have recognised the equestrian statue of Charles I
in the middle of the traffic, but the rest of the scene would have baffled her. When Jane was
here, perhaps to go shopping in the Strand, Trafalgar Square had not even been thought of.
Standing beside her at the end of our walk, you would have been hemmed in by a chaotic
jumble of buildings. St Martin's Lane was a narrow street leading up to the church and to
St Martin's Workhouse and on the south side of the Strand was the vast Northumberland
House.
