The Thames Embankments belong to the modern features of London. The Victoria Em bankment on the north side consists of a wide roadway, with a granite retaining wall, sur mounted by a parapet broken by pedestals for lamps. There are well-contrived landing-stages and recesses, these features of the Embank ment being rendered highly ornamental by balustrades, pedestals for sculpture, etc. From the Temple to Charing Cross portions of land reclaimed from the Thames have been laid out in public gardens. The Chelsea Embankment extends from the Albert Suspension Bridge eastward past Chelsea Hospital. From the fine building of Saint Thomas' Hospital next West minster Bridge, on the south side of the river, extends the Albert Embankment, continuous with the old quay at Lambeth. A very valuable improvement in the city was the Holborn Val ley Viaduct, extending from Newgate street to the end of Hatton Garden. Broad roads also lead to the Central Meat Market, and to the lower level of Farringdon street, which is crossed by the viaduct obliquely, with three Gothic arches supported on 12 hexagonal columns of polished red granite. The estimated length of streets in London is considerably over 2,000 miles.
Public Buildings in the A number of the most important buildings are situated within the ancient city. The nucleus of the whole is formed by the Bank of England, the Royal Exchange and the Mansion House, which all face toward an open area, the centre of bustle and business, near the middle of the city, adorned with the handsome offices of several assurance companies. The Bank of England, in Threadneedle street, was built in 1732-34 and now forms a low fiat, insulated, irregular parallelogram covering four acres of ground. The Royal Exchange is an extensive and ornate building, having a portico sur mounted by a pediment enriched by sculpture. It surrounds an open interior quadrangle, in the centre of which is a marble statue of Queen Victoria. In this court, which is surrounded by covered arcades, the meetings of the merchants on Change ,are held. An equestrian statue by Chantrey of the Duke of Wellington occupies the area in front of the building. The Royal Exchange, originally founded by Sir Thomas Gresham in 1566, was burned down in 1666, rebuilt, and again burned down in 1838, the present edifice being erected on its site. The exchanges for special purposes are: The Stock Exchange in Capel court; the Coal Exchange, Lower Thames street, a sumptuous though rather incongruous building, the great hall of which is circular, 60 feet in diameter, and 74 feet to the apex of the glazed dome; the Corn Exchange, in Mark lane, opened in 1747, enlarged and partly rebuilt in 1827, and again almost entirely rebuilt. The Mansion House, the official residence of the lord-mayor, was built in 1739-53. The Guildhall, at the north end of King street, Cheapside, is where the principal business of the corporation of the city of London is conducted. The civic ban quets are given here. A splendid new council chamber was completed in 1885. The hall itself is now covered with a decorative open timber roof of the Perpendicular Gothic style; the old front has been replaced by a new Gothic front.
The hall is capable of seating 3,000 persons, and contains some monuments of ordinary sculpture; and at the west end, raised on ped estals are colossal figures of Gog and Magog. In 1872 a handsome suite of rooms was added to the Guildhall for the Corporation Library and Museum. Of late years some of the city companies have remodeled or rebuilt their halls. Of these the Clothworkers' Company have pro duced the most elaborate street facade, but its confined situation in Mincing lane does not permit it to be seen to advantage. The Gold smiths' Hall behind the post office; the Fish mongers' Hall near London Bridge; and the Ironmongers' Hall, in Fenchurch street, are the principal structures. In the city many old and familiar landmarks have beer, removed. The once famous East India House in Leadenhall street, and the Excise Office in Broad street, have been replaced by immense piles of offices; Doctors' Commons was cleared away for the new street to the Mansion House; Sir C. Wren's College of Physicians is supplanted by meaner buildings; the site of the Steel-yard, memor able in the history of old London, is absorbed by the city terminus of the South Eastern Rail way; old churches have been leveled, and old inns, hostelries and streets, replete with great historic and literary associations, have dis appeared; while outside the city a whole region full of good and bad memories was cleared way for the new Law Courts; the Statepaper Office is displaced by the Foreign Office; Tattersall's is crossed by streets; cham bers occupy the ground of the Old Thatched House; and a gymnasium has supplanted the British Institution.
The Tower.— This celebrated fortress, which formed the dominating feature of Nor man London, stands on the north bank of the Thames, immediately adjoining the boundary of the city. Besides its use as a fortress the Tower was the temporary residence of several kings and queens of England, but is now only used as a storage for armor and as headquarters for certain military matters. It occupies an area of 12 acres, enclosed within a wall surrounded by a ditch, now dry, and laid out as a garden. On the south side is an archway called the "Traitors' Gate,n through which state prisoners were brought from the river. The whole region of the Tower abounds with reminiscences of English history, conjured up by such names as Raleigh, Algernon Sidney, Anne Boleyn, Catherine Howard, etc. The most ancient part is the keep, now known as the White Tower, which was erected about 1078 for William the Conqueror by Fundolph, bishop of Rochester. It stands near the centre of the quadrangle, around which are placed several other towers, each having its distinctive name. The Tower contains the Wellington Barracks, erected on the site of the grand storehouse, burned down in 1841; the jewel room, a modern edifice, in which are preserved the regalia of Great Bri tain; the horse armory, Queen Elizabeth's armory and the church of Saint Peter-ad-Vin cula.