Pall Mall was to be continued eastwards to meet the Haymarket. From Carlton House the new street was to go at right angles with Pall Mall into Piccadilly. A circus was to be formed at Piccadilly, and just north of the circus a square, with a public building in the centre, was placed. The street then ran from the western corner of the square in a slightly oblique direction to Oxford Street (where another circus was formed), and was continued north in a straight line to meet Portland Place. Portland Place, then the widest street in London (100 feet), was taken as the model for the breadth of the street throughout its entire length, except at the lower end near Pall Mall, where it was 200 feet. In the light of recent discussions as to the form of rebuilding Regent Street, it is interesting to note that Nash designed colonnades to cover the whole of the pavements in the streets from Pall Mall to Oxford Street. One advantage urged was that the tops of the colonnades would form balconies to the lodging-rooms over the shops, from which the occupiers would survey the gay scenes and so induce single men, and others who only visit town occasionally, to give a preference to such lodgings." Criticisms as to colonnades being dark and gloomy and liable to misuse were met by Nash. It will be observed that Nash's plan did not contain the famous Quadrant. He designed the square, so as to avoid purchasing property in Golden Square. The Treasury, in April 1813, approved Nash's scheme, subject to the square north of Piccadilly Circus being altered to a curve, and to a further curve being introduced north of Oxford Circus. This latter curve was introduced partly to shorten the long vista down Portland Place, and partly to avoid some expensive property belonging to Earl St Vincent. In addition Pall Mall East was to be continued as far as St Martin's Church, and the approach from Cockspur Street improved. Nash had suggested that a square or crescent might be formed at Charing Cross, but this was not included in the scheme, Trafalgar Square coming twenty years later. The Act authorising the improvement received royal assent in July 1813, and the carrying of it out was promptly commenced. By 1816 the external drive and the roads, fences, and plantations had all been completed, the bed of the ornamental water had been excavated, and so much of the canal as passed through the estate was finished. Building operations were, however, slow, the lots remained on hand much longer than had been anticipated, and the Commissioners of Woods and Forests had to resort to farming operations to bring in revenue. In one portion of the estate potatoes were raised between the avenues of trees, but with little pecuniary return. Another venture-the sowing of 9 acres with a new root, the mangel-wurzel-was a great success, over £600 net profit being realised in 1815. By 1819 but little progress had been made, on account of the failure of the builder who had taken up certain plots; but by 1823 considerable lettings had been effected, and the buildings on the south and east side began to spring up. Within the next three years there was a great demand for sites, and most of the scheme, as contemplated by Nash, was well on its way to completion. Alterations were, however, made in the direction of lessening buildings within the Park. Thus, in the centre of the Park, on what is now known as the inner circle, it was proposed to erect inner external circuses of houses, in the centres of which the designer suggested a public building should be placed to receive the statues and monuments of distinguished men. This proposal was abandoned in 1826, when it was also decided to leave open the northern boundary of the Park. The cost of acquiring the property required, and forming sewers and pavements, proved far greater than had been anticipated, and the land revenue of the Crown was largely absorbed for some years in meeting the liabilities of the scheme. By 1819, £1,000,000 had been expended. The street was then completed from Piccadilly to Pall Mall, and there was a good demand for building plots. By 1823, sites bringing in a yearly rental of £34,500 had been let. The total cost of the work was £1,533,000, and the rentals now receivable fully justify the view taken of the method and principle of improving an urban estate. The whole story is worth being told, if only as a lesson to modern London-to the Government departments which arrange petty one-sided improvements; to the municipal authorities who are content to improve London by feet and inches instead of by outlet roads capable of meeting the traffic; and to estate owners who do not appreciate that free and open access to their property, whether residential or business, is an absolute necessity for the increasing of site values. Londoners will appreciate the story by a just understanding of the relief the scheme has given to the requirements of to-day. There is indeed no aspect of it which does not lead to the contemplation of what a great London may mean. There has been nothing quite so extensive and useful since. The great scheme of Kingsway and Aldwych is the nearest, with its bold running of a tramway from the Embankment under the Strand and connecting north and south London. But Kingsway and Aldwych stop short at Holborn and do not follow the parallel Regent Street scheme by |