The Manawatu Daily Times Destruction in Historic London

Manawatu Times, Volume LIV, Issue 7269, 23 September 1933, Page 6

The Manawatu Daily Times Destruction in Historic London

Off one of the busiest streets in the heart of London—the Strand—there turns a road which leads towards the Thames. It brings one suddenly from noise into comparative quiet—to a small planned area of roads and noble eighteenth-century buildings known as the Adelphi. The word, which is, of course, the Greek for “brothers,” happily commemorates the two men, Robert and James Adam, who planned the area and designed the houses. It is an oasis of peace, a rare example of architectural harmony in a region of discords; and not only has it an intimate quality of its own, but its southern terrace, high above the river Embankment, looks out upon the broadest and noblest sweep of the Thames.

The battle for the preservation of Waterloo Bridge has been fought and won, lost again, and won again. And now there has come the battle for the Adelphi. But the defenders of the beauty and antiquities of London against the assaults of exploiters seem to have grown weary of well-doing. In these days of economic stress it is not easy to get a hearing for noneconomic causes. Sites in the middle of great cities are of great financial value, and even London is learning to make the most of them by building as high as the laws allow.

Covetous eyes have been cast on the Adelphi site, and plans are under way to take it for other tall edifices, like the adjacent Shell Mex building which has already cast its shadow on the work of the brothers Adam; and the losing battle for historic beauty has been fought out half-heartedly in a committee of the House of Commons. “Progress”-such as this for the sake of elusory profit—elusory because what detracts from the charm and historic interest of a city is in the long run unprofitable—evades wherever it can the conserving force which has been organised to check it.

The latter manifests itself in townplanning movements, in societies for the preservation of ancient buildings, in the “National Trust” which seeks to purchase beautiful places for the nation, and in the civilised Press. Up till now the first has been the more powerful, and much that might have been preserved in London has been swept away. The latter, happily, is growing in strength, and one can only hope it will arrive at maturity before all that is worth saving has gone. „