Whitehall

Whitehall “used to be the usual residence of the kings of England,” and was once the largest palace in Europe before that title was given to the Palace of Versailles (De Saussure, 1902, p. 64). After a devastating fire in 1698, only the Banqueting Hall and a few other rooms in the king’s apartments remained intact (p. 65). Once the royal family stopped living in this palace, it was torn down and a complex of other palaces belonging to the Duke of Portland was built in its place (p. 65).

Westminster Abbey

Westminster Abbey, alternatively dubbed the Abbey, was a church dedicated to St. Peter that lied just west of the Palace of Westminster. The church was a Benedictine Monastery until it dissolved in 1539, and was then a cathedral for approximately sixteen years. Since 1650 it has held the status of Church of England “Royal Peculiar.”

St. James Park

In 1532 Henry VIII purchased a large area of land just west of Whitehall, intended as another deer park. The area of land ultimately became known as St. James Park, its name deriving from a leper hospital built in the 13th century named after St. James the Less. By the 18th century, when César De Saussure roamed its grounds, St. James Park had become a bustling oasis amid the city, with crowds dense with people bumping shoulders (De Saussure, 1902, p. 48).

Story Map

César-François de Saussure (1705 – 1783) was a Swiss travel writer. After the death of his father in 1724, he spent eleven years travelling around Europe. De Saussure arrived in London in May 1725 by way of Germany and Holland, and lived in the English metropolis until October 1729.

Parliament - The House of Lords

By Sarah Abeling 

The House of Lords  or Peers is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United Kingdom.  De Saussure wrote that the room was "larger and longer than broad" (54). The seats were upholstered in crimson red and embroidered gold. The hall had been hung with tapestries of Queen Mary of Scots depicting the Spanish Armada that Phillip II of Spain sent against Queen Elizabeth.

The Gate of Westminster

By Krista Walrath

The Gate of Westminster was located on the wide, squared stoned street outside the Banqueting Hall. The gate was quite ancient. De Saussure describes the gate as “remarkable for its gothic architecture and its antiquity” (p. 66). King Charles I was led down Whitehall passed this gate when he was going to the block to be executed. The Westminster Gate is now demolished and there are no signs of it ever being there.

Sources:

César de Saussure. A Foreign View of England in the Reigns of George I and George II. London: J. Murray, 1902.