Whitehall, London. War Office to the left, Banqueting House centre rear and Earl Haig Memorial foreground
Image details
Contributor:
Avpics / Alamy Stock PhotoImage ID:
FX1G8KFile size:
34.9 MB (2.3 MB Compressed download)Releases:
Model - no | Property - noDo I need a release?Dimensions:
4288 x 2848 px | 36.3 x 24.1 cm | 14.3 x 9.5 inches | 300dpiDate taken:
2 April 2016Location:
Whitehall, London, UKMore information:
The Earl Haig Memorial is a bronze equestrian statue of the British Western Front commander Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig on Whitehall in Westminster. It was created by the sculptor Alfred Frank Hardiman and commissioned by Parliament in 1928. Eight years in the making, it aroused considerable controversy, the Field Marshal's riding position, his uniform, the anatomy and stance of the horse all drawing harsh criticism. The inscription on the statue base reads 'Field Marshal Earl Haig Commander-in-Chief of the British Armies in France 1915–1918'. The Banqueting House, Whitehall, is the grandest and best known survivor of the architectural genre of banqueting house and the only remaining component of the Palace of Whitehall in London. The building is important in the history of English architecture as the first structure to be completed in the neo-classical style, which was to transform English architecture. Begun in 1619 and designed by Inigo Jones in a style influenced by Andrea Palladio, the Banqueting House was completed in 1622 at a cost of £15, 618, 27 years before King Charles I of England was beheaded on a scaffold in front of it in January 1649. The building was controversially re-faced in Portland stone in the 19th century, though the details of the original façade were faithfully preserved. Today, the Banqueting House is a national monument, open to the public and preserved as a Grade I listed building. It is cared for by an independent charity—Historic Royal Palaces—which receives no funding from the British government or the Crown. The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence. The name "War Office" is also given to the former home of the department, the War Office building (left building) located at the junction of Horse Guards Avenue and Whitehall in central London.