Editing Trafalgar Square (section)

== History ==
[[File:Trafalgar Square by James Pollard.jpg|thumb|A painting by [[James Pollard]] showing the square before the erection of Nelson's Column| alt=A painting by James Pollard showing the square]]
Building work on the south side of the square in the late 1950s revealed deposits from the last [[interglacial]] period. Among the findings were the remains of [[Panthera leo spelaea|cave lions]], [[rhinoceroses]], straight-tusked [[elephants]] and [[hippopotami]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=On the track of Ice Age mammals|last=Sutcliffe|first=A.J.|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=1985|isbn=978-0674637771|pages=[https://archive.org/details/ontrackoficeagem00sutc/page/139 139]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/ontrackoficeagem00sutc/page/139}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Franks|first=J.W.|title=Interglacial deposits at Trafalgar Square, London.|journal=The New Phytologist|year=1960|volume=59|issue=2|pages=145–150|jstor=2429192|doi=10.1111/j.1469-8137.1960.tb06212.x|doi-access=free|bibcode=1960NewPh..59..145F }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Interglacial Deposits at Trafalgar Square, London|journal = New Phytologist|volume = 59|issue = 2|pages = 145–152|author=J W Franks|date=9 September 1959|doi=10.1111/j.1469-8137.1960.tb06212.x|doi-access=free| bibcode=1960NewPh..59..145F }}</ref>

The site has been significant since the 13th century. During [[Edward I of England|Edward&nbsp;I]]'s reign it hosted the [[King's Mews]], running north from the T-junction in the south, [[Charing Cross]], where the [[Strand, London|Strand]] from [[City of London|the City]] meets [[Whitehall]] coming north from [[Westminster]].{{sfn|Weinreb et al.|2008|p=934}} From the reign of [[Richard II of England|Richard II]] to that of [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]], the mews was at the western end of the Strand. The name "Royal Mews" comes from the practice of keeping [[hawk]]s here for [[moulting]]; "mew" is an old word for this. After a fire in 1534, the mews were rebuilt as stables, and remained here until George IV moved them to [[Buckingham Palace]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/visit/royalmews/about/the-history-of-the-royal-mews|title=The History of the Royal Mews|publisher=Royal Collection Trust|access-date=25 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151125160805/https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/visit/royalmews/about/the-history-of-the-royal-mews|archive-date=25 November 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Clearance and development ===
[[File:Perspective View of the Royal Stables at Charing Cross - J. Maurer, 1747 - grosvenor11544.jpg|thumb|right|Kent's Royal Stables, with the Great Mews in the foreground, in 1747. (To the right is St Martin-in-the-Fields.)]]
After 1732, the King's Mews were divided into the Great Mews and the smaller Green Mews to the north by the Crown Stables, a large block, built to the designs of [[William Kent]]. Its site is occupied by the National Gallery.{{sfn|Mace|1976|p=29}}

In 1826 the [[Commissioners of Woods, Forests and Land Revenues]] instructed [[John Nash (architect)|John Nash]] to draw up plans for clearing a large area south of Kent's stable block, and as far east as St Martin's Lane. His plans left open the whole area of what became Trafalgar Square, except for a block in the centre, which he reserved for a new building for the [[Royal Academy of Arts]].<ref name=survey /> The plans included the demolition and redevelopment of buildings between St Martin's Lane and the Strand and the construction of a road (now called Duncannon Street) across the churchyard of [[St Martin-in-the-Fields]].{{sfn|Mace|1976|p=37}} The Charing Cross Act was passed in 1826 and clearance started soon after.<ref name=survey /> Nash died soon after construction started, impeding its progress. The square was to be named after [[William IV]] commemorating his ascent to the throne in 1830.{{sfn|Moore|2003|p=176}} Around 1835, it was decided that the square would be named after the Battle of Trafalgar as suggested by architect [[George Ledwell Taylor]], commemorating Nelson's victory over the French and Spanish in 1805 during the [[Napoleonic Wars]].{{sfn|Weinreb et al.|2008|p=934}}<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9TBOcU1WXEcC&q=%22trafalgar+square&pg=PA209|title=Wanderlust: Based on the true-life journals of Sydney Taylor|first=Marc|last=Cardinal|publisher=AuthorHouse|page=209|year=2010|isbn=978-1-4490-7907-9}}</ref>

[[File:Trafalgar Square 1890 - ten remaining frames by Wordsworth Donisthorpe.gif|thumb|alt=Animated picture using ten frames taken by Wordsworth Donisthorpe|Ten frames of Trafalgar Square shot by [[Wordsworth Donisthorpe]] in 1890]]
After the clearance, development progressed slowly. The National Gallery was built on the north side between 1832 and 1838 to a design by [[William Wilkins (architect)|William Wilkins]],<ref name=survey>{{cite journal|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=68408&strquery=wilkins%20trafalgar%20square%20national |title=Trafalgar Square and the National Gallery |author=G. H. Gater |editor=F. R. Hiorns |year=1940 |pages=15–18 |journal=Survey of London |volume=20: St Martin-in-the-Fields, pt III: Trafalgar Square & Neighbourhood |access-date=1 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140406184042/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=68408&strquery=wilkins%20trafalgar%20square%20national |archive-date=6 April 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> and in 1837 the Treasury approved Wilkins' plan for the laying out of the square, but it was not put into effect.<ref name=am>{{cite journal|journal=The Architectural Magazine and Journal|volume=4|year=1837|page=524|title=Design for a national Naval Monument}} quoting the ' 'Observer' ' of 24 September 1837</ref> In April 1840, following Wilkins' death, new plans by [[Charles Barry]] were accepted, and construction started within weeks.<ref name=survey /><ref name=report /> For Barry, as for Wilkins, a major consideration was increasing the visual impact of the National Gallery, which had been widely criticised for its lack of grandeur. He dealt with the complex sloping site by excavating the main area to the level of the footway between [[Cockspur Street]] and the Strand,<ref name=ce>{{cite journal |year= 1840|title=Public Buildings &c Trafalgar Square|journal=The Civil Engineer and Architect's Journal |volume=3 |page=255}}</ref> and constructing a {{convert|15|ft|m|adj=on}} high balustraded terrace with a roadway on the north side, and steps at each end leading to the main level.<ref name=report /> Wilkins had proposed a similar solution with a central flight of steps.<ref name=am /> All the stonework was of Aberdeen [[granite]].<ref name=report /> In 1845, four [[Bude-Light]]s with octagonal glass lanterns were installed. Two, opposite the National Gallery, are on tall bronze columns, and two, in the south-west and south-east corners of the square, on shorter bronze columns on top of wider granite columns. They were designed by Barry and manufactured by Stevens and Son, of [[Southwark]].<ref>{{cite magazine |title=The Bude Lights, Trafalgar-Square|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=etBPAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA284 |magazine=The [[Illustrated London News]] |volume=6 |date=3 May 1845 |page=284 }}</ref>

In 1841 it was decided that two fountains should be included in the layout.{{sfn|Mace|1976|p=107 }} The estimated budget, excluding paving and sculptures, was £11,000.<ref name="report" /> The earth removed was used to level [[Green Park]].<ref name="ce" /> The square was originally surfaced with [[tarmacadam]], which was replaced with stone in the 1920s.<ref name="westminster">{{cite book |last1=Bradley |first1=Simon|last2= Pevsner|first2=Nikolaus |title=London 6: Westminster |series=The Buildings of England |year= 2003 |publisher=Yale University Press }}</ref>

Trafalgar Square was opened to the public on 1 May 1844.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Cunningham|first1=Peter|title=Handbook of London Past and Present|date=1849|publisher=John Murray|location=London|page=lxv|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yKoxAQAAIAAJ&pg=PR65|chapter=London Occurrences 1837–1843|access-date=26 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160310043118/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=yKoxAQAAIAAJ&pg=PR65&dq|archive-date=10 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Nelson's Column ===
[[File:London,_Trafalgar_Square,_Nelson's_Column_--_2016_--_4851.jpg|thumb|[[Nelson's Column]]]]
[[File:TrafalgarSquareLion.JPG|thumb|The lions at [[Nelson's Column]] were not finished until nearly 30 years after the square opened.]]
[[Nelson's Column]] was planned independently of Barry's work. In 1838 a Nelson Memorial Committee had approached the government proposing that a monument to the victory of Trafalgar, funded by public subscription, should be erected in the square. A competition was held and won by the architect [[William Railton]], who proposed a {{convert|218|ft|3|in|m|adj=on}} [[Corinthian order|Corinthinan]] column topped by a statue of Nelson and guarded by four sculpted lions. The design was approved, but received widespread objections from the public. Construction went ahead beginning in 1840 but with the height reduced to {{convert|145|ft|3|in|m}}.{{sfn|Moore|2003|p=177}} The column was completed and the statue raised in November 1843.{{sfn|Mace|1976|page= 90}}

The last of the bronze reliefs on the column's pedestals was not completed until May 1854, and the four lions, although part of the original design, were only added in 1867.{{sfn|Mace|1976|pp=107–8}} Each lion weighs seven tons.<ref>{{Citation|title=Bow Bells – A Magazine of General Literature|year=1867|publisher=John Dicks|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5M0aAQAAMAAJ&q=Landseer+seven+tons&pg=PA233|access-date=31 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170402082531/https://books.google.de/books?id=5M0aAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA233&dq=Landseer+seven+tons&hl=de&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjo04T8-YPTAhWM1ywKHSVhD00Q6AEIJjAB#v=onepage&q=Landseer%20seven%20tons&f=false|archive-date=2 April 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> A hoarding remained around the base of Nelson's Column for some years and some of its upper scaffolding remained in place.<ref>{{cite news |title=Opening of Trafalgar Square |newspaper=The Times |date=31 July 1839 |page=6 }}</ref> Landseer, the sculptor, had asked for a lion that had died at the [[London Zoo]] to be brought to his studio. He took so long to complete sketches that its corpse began to [[decomposition|decompose]] and some parts had to be improvised. The statues have paws that resemble cats more than lions.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/uk/london/11268400/Londons-secret-sights-16-more-odd-attractions-you-never-knew-were-there.html?frame=3155177|title=The faulty lions of Trafalgar Square|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|access-date=16 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117111724/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/uk/london/11268400/Londons-secret-sights-16-more-odd-attractions-you-never-knew-were-there.html?frame=3155177|archive-date=17 November 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>

Barry was unhappy about Nelson's Column being placed in the square. In July 1840, when its foundations had been laid, he told a parliamentary select committee that "it would in my opinion be desirable that the area should be wholly free from all insulated objects of art".<ref name=report>{{Citation |title=Report from the Select Committee on Trafalgar Square together with the Minutes of Evidence|year=1840 |publisher=Printed by the House of Commons |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3xFcAAAAQAAJ|access-date=6 October 2011}}</ref>

In 1940 the [[Nazism|Nazi]] [[Schutzstaffel|SS]] developed secret plans to transfer Nelson's Column to [[Berlin]]{{efn|Hitler had specifically requested that all of [[Rembrandt]]'s paintings in the National Gallery be seized as part of the move, as he particularly admired the artist's work.{{sfn|Longmate|2012|p=137}}}} after an expected [[Operation Sea Lion|German invasion]], as related by [[Norman Longmate]] in ''If Britain Had Fallen'' (1972).{{sfn|Longmate|2012|p=137}}

The square has been Grade I listed on the [[Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England|Register of Historic Parks and Gardens]] since 1996.<ref name=NHLEGarden>{{NHLE|num=1001362|desc=Trafalgar Square|access-date=11 July 2017|mode=cs2}}</ref>

=== Terrorist bombings ===
{{see also|Suffragette bombing and arson campaign}}
The square was the target of two [[suffragette]] bombings in 1913 and 1914. This was as part of the [[suffragette bombing and arson campaign]] of 1912–1914, in which suffragettes carried out a series of politically-motivated bombing and arson attacks nationwide as part of their campaign for [[women's suffrage]].<ref name="BL">{{cite news |title=Suffragettes, violence and militancy |url=https://www.bl.uk/votes-for-women/articles/suffragettes-violence-and-militancy |access-date=2 October 2021 |work=British Library |archive-date=10 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210910203912/https://www.bl.uk/votes-for-women/articles/suffragettes-violence-and-militancy |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The first attack occurred on 15 May 1913. A bomb was planted in the public area outside the National Gallery, but failed to explode.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Webb|first=Simon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w2RtBQAAQBAJ|title=The Suffragette Bombers: Britain's Forgotten Terrorists|year=2014 |publisher=Pen and Sword|isbn=978-1-78340-064-5|language=en|page=136}}</ref> A second attack occurred at St Martin-in-the-Fields church at the north-east corner of the square on 4 April 1914. A bomb exploded inside the church, blowing out the windows and showering passers-by with broken glass. The bomb then started a fire.<ref name="Webb"/><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bearman|first=C. J. |year=2005 |title=An Examination of Suffragette Violence|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3490924|journal=The English Historical Review|volume=120|issue=486|page=391|doi=10.1093/ehr/cei119|jstor=3490924|issn=0013-8266}}</ref> In the aftermath, a mass of people rushed to the scene, many of whom aggressively expressed their anger towards the suffragettes.<ref name="Webb">{{Cite book|last=Webb|first=Simon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w2RtBQAAQBAJ|title=The Suffragette Bombers: Britain's Forgotten Terrorists|year=2014 |publisher=Pen and Sword|isbn=978-1-78340-064-5|language=en|page=xiii}}</ref> Churches were a particular target during the campaign, as it was believed that the [[Church of England]] was complicit in reinforcing opposition to women's suffrage.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Webb|first=Simon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w2RtBQAAQBAJ|title=The Suffragette Bombers: Britain's Forgotten Terrorists|year=2014 |publisher=Pen and Sword|isbn=978-1-78340-064-5|language=en|page=65}}</ref> Between 1913 and 1914, 32 churches were attacked nationwide.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bearman|first=C. J. |year=2005 |title=An Examination of Suffragette Violence|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3490924|journal=The English Historical Review|volume=120|issue=486|page=378|doi=10.1093/ehr/cei119|jstor=3490924|issn=0013-8266}}</ref> In the weeks after the bombing, there were also attacks on [[Westminster Abbey]] and [[St Paul's Cathedral]].<ref name="BL"/>

=== Redevelopment ===
A major 18-month redevelopment of the square led by [[Atkins (company)|W.S. Atkins]] with [[Foster and Partners]] as sub-consultants was completed in 2003. The work involved closing the eastbound road along the north side and diverting traffic around the other three sides of the square, demolishing the central section of the northern retaining wall and inserting a wide set of steps to the pedestrianised terrace in front of the National Gallery. The construction includes two lifts for disabled access, public toilets and a café. Access between the square and the gallery had been by two crossings at the northeast and northwest corners.<ref>{{cite web|title=Trafalgar Square redevelopment|publisher=Foster+Partners|url=http://www.fosterandpartners.com/projects/trafalgar-square-redevelopment/|access-date=21 December 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151115024403/http://www.fosterandpartners.com/projects/trafalgar-square-redevelopment/|archive-date=15 November 2015|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Weinreb et al.|2008|p=935}}