The building is Grade II* listed and its entry, at the
English Heritage website (visit link),
reads:
"Middlesex Guildhall G.V. II* County Guildhall. 1906-13
by J G S Gibson with Skipwith and Gordon, sculpture by H C Fehr. Portland stone
(load bearing with internal steel frame), slate roofs. Very accomplished, boldly
massed, Free Style late Gothic with Flemish- Burgundian references and more
immediately influenced by Henry Wilson and Giles Scott in the concentration of
carved ornament balanced by bare wall plane. Free standing block with
symmetrical main elevations and imposing tower of elongated section. 3 storeys,
basement and dormered attic storey with steep hipped roof behind. 9 bays wide.
Entrance in centrepiece with segmental arched deep set portal and great
segmental arched window above framed by canted bay-turrets. Behind rises the
massive tower with large segmental arched windows to sides with flamboyant
ornament, piercedwork parapet and corner turrets. Stone mullioned-transomed
windows to flanking ranges and returns. Drip string across ground floor stepped
over window heads. Sharply profiled cornice. The attic storey has blind panel
tracery linking enriched flamboyant gabled dormers. The south return has main
central portion advanced with 3 semicircular arched ground floor windows and
stone piercedwork balcony to 1st floor. Fine sculptured details with deep,
figured, relief frieze above and to the sides of the entrance extending over
canted bay-towers; statues under canopies, finials etc. Lofty stone chimney
stacks with attached"torse"shafts. Good Free Gothic area railings. In the
basement the C17 gateway to Tothill Fields Prison."
The Supreme Court website (visit
link) gives some information about the carving on the building:
"The exterior of the building is decorated with corner
turrets, a piecework parapet, and many ornamental statues by sculptor Henry
Fehr.
Stone sculptured details with deep figures encircle the
building. The most impressive of these is the relief frieze above and to the
sides of the entrance, extending over canted bay towers.
Scenes on the frieze include King John handing the Magna
Carta to the barons at Runnymede, the granting of the charter of Westminster
Abbey, and the Duke of Northumberland offering the crown of England to Lady Jane
Grey.
The main portico is dominated by intricately carved
muse-like figures which Rupert Barnes of the Historic Counties Trust identifies
as Britannia supported by the spirits of architecture, literature, government,
sculpture, music, truth, law, seafaring, wisdom and education.
On the upper part of the tower, there is a richly carved
band of old English heraldic yales, lions, unicorns, with Tudor roses, thistles,
shields and arms. The gargoyle figures are four angels of the winds and
the four angels of protection. In a niche in the parapet is a figure
representing government.
At the back of the building, the old stone gateway of
Tothill Fields Bridewell prison is preserved. This was moved in 1836 from
the site now occupied by the Roman Catholic Westminster Cathedral, and is all
that remains of this ancient house of correction."
The Victorian Web website (visit link) also
contains information with respect to the external decoration. The references to
images are those in the web page that should be viewed to appreciate all the
work:
"Frieze by Henry Charles Fehr (1867-1940). Middlesex
Guildhall, Parliament Square, London. Architect: J. S. Gibson and Partners.
Portland Stone. 1906-1913. The "new" Guildhall building of this date features
"[f]ine sculptured details with deep, figured, relief frieze above and to the
sides of the entrance extending over canted bay-towers" ("Middlesex Guildhall").
Above the arch over the main entry, Henry III, standing on the left, grants a
charter to the Abbey of Westminster, with church and abbey hierarchy and
acolytes in attendance. The Guildhall was originally built on the site of
Westminster Abbey's Sanctuary Tower and Belfry. Photographs by Robert Freidus
and Jacqueline Banerjee, text by JB, and formatting by George P. Landow, 2011.
Left: Close-up of Henry III. It is amazing to see this
much detail, for example, even in the "embroidery" of the robes. Peter Cormack
talks of the "crispness" that characterises Fehr's sculptures (108). Some of
this must be put down to his highly skilled Italian stone-carver, Carl Domenico
Magnoni (1871-c.1950). Right: King John with the Barons at Runnymede, where he
affixed his seal to the Magna Carta. The King, looking suitably flattened, is
flanked by two churchmen. Some monks are also present.
Left: Close-up of Henry III. It is amazing to see this
much detail, for example, even in the "embroidery" of the robes. Peter Cormack
talks of the "crispness" that characterises Fehr's sculptures (108). Some of
this must be put down to his highly skilled Italian stone-carver, Carl Domenico
Magnoni (1871-c.1950). Right: King John with the Barons at Runnymede, where he
affixed his seal to the Magna Carta. The King, looking suitably flattened, is
flanked by two churchmen. Some monks are also present.
Left: Closer view of some of the Barons with their
pages, looking stalwart and resolute. In the middle is one of the monks, holding
a Bible. Right: This is the scene to the right of the entrance, matching King
John and the Barons on the other side. It shows Lady Jane Grey being offered the
crown by her father-in-law, the Duke of Northumberland. Her husband stands next
to her. These three would all be considered traitors, and beheaded — a scene
chosen, perhaps, as a warning. Again, the amount of detail is
stunning.
Left: Close-up of Lady Jane Grey, her hand close to the
proffered crown. Upper right: Two of the well-endowed angels, with thickly
feathered wings, that serve as corbels to the balcony projecting on the Broad
Sanctuary side of the building. Looked at from this angle, they are rather like
ships' figureheads. One bears a shield with scales, the symbol of justice; the
other holds an orb and a sceptre, the symbols of power. These and the other
sturdy, earthy angels come as a surprise after the courtly scenes on the frieze,
but are very much in keeping with the neo-Gothic elements of the building. Note,
however, that their faces are the usual dreamy, Art Nouveau faces that we find
in other Fehr sculptures (e.g. Peace on his Leeds war memorial).
Left: Tiny keystone figures peep down over the windows,
these two apparently representing sculpture and painting. This kind of
playfulness, which is reminiscent of William Burges, is quite unusual on a civic
building, and very entertaining. Right: A craftsman with a small model of a
temple in one hand, and what looks like a window-trowel in the other. His
expression is one of stern concentration."