This morning I had the pleasure of visiting a structure that most people don’t even know exists – despite part of it being quite famous. The bit most people will have seen is the famous Albert Memorial in Hyde Park.

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What people do not know about – is what is underneath!

A teaser…

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To give you a little background then. The memorial is raised up on a large mound, and you cannot put a thousand-odd tons of marble, bronze and gold on top of a hill and leave it there. You need foundations.

The actual area was fairly flat originally, and a large concrete foundation was excavated. This is some 17 feet deep and I learnt today that the sandy spoil was used as landscaping around Hyde Park. On top of the concrete base, a large brick “undercroft” was constructed to support the memorial itself.

The brickwork comprises of a staggering 868 arches which buttress the central column supporting the memorial. The outside is lain with marble steps directly onto the brickwork, with no waterproofing. Surprisingly, little water gets into the undercroft, although it is damp and some water damage can be seen. Quite a bit of repointing was done during the huge restoration of the memorial, but the structure is still shockingly clean for something which has stood for over a hundred years.

The brickwork is very high quality, and I understand the comments in the archives which noted how the people of the time would admire the foundations almost as a “building in its own right”.

Below is a couple of line drawings that show a side image of the memorial structure:

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And this is an above view which shows the brick lines:

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OK – so to the visit 🙂

I had a “behind the railings” tour of the memorial just over a year ago, and the tour guide mentioned that underneath was hollow, but didn’t elaborate – hence my research.

Late last year, I contacted some people and amazingly, they were interested in letting me go down – which resulted in my standing at the memorial this morning. I was due to accompany some staff into the structure, however, they had to cancel and I ended up with a solo visit accompanied by the local manager.

Quite a treat!

The entrance is just a “manhole” in the ground which was lifted to show some concrete steps down to a very narrow passage into the undercroft.

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After a moment of problems with the electric fuse boxes, we concluded that the lights were not working, but I had a very powerful torch, so we decided to go in anyway. As it happened, a few of the lights were working further in the structure, but we didn’t know that at the time.

Incidentally, I was surprised they have any substantial lighting at all, and wasn’t expecting anything more elaborate than a few emergency lights. The torch was still needed though.

We took a walk around the southern half of the undercroft, which is the most spectacular part. Towards the northern end, the height of the undercroft gets a lot lower as the ground slope rises up.

A few more photos:

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We wandered around chatting about the structure and the history of the construction.

Here are a couple of Victorian photo plates taken during construction:

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The structure you see in the old photos above was actually completed about 8 months before the marble steps were laid on top. When the marble order was sent to quarries in Scotland, the workers went on strike! Most of the marble actually ended up coming from Ireland in the end. The result was that the undercroft was exposed to a full winter and summer without protection – although you could never tell that from underneath now.

In the very centre is a massive brick funnel that supports the main canopy of the memorial – and in the very centre of that is a large brick column that directly supports the bronze statue of Albert itself. The statue is quite famously covered in Gold – but the archives show that it was very nearly made of marble – as the government was proving a bit late in agreeing to provide the gunmetal needed for the casting.

There was a huge amount of politics around the construction of the memorial, and it is almost a miracle that the thing got built in the first place.

Anyhow – time for some more photos – now of the chamber directly underneath the statue:

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There are four original pipes in each corner for rainwater to run into a drain. Alas, they tended to freeze up and break, causing damage to the memorial above. During the restoration, more drainage pipes were built into the memorial, and you can see those plastic pipes attached to the central support column. The pipes are heated to prevent freezing, and as it was a tad chilly the night before our visit, the heating was still on at the time.

This is another view – the light spot is my torch!

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Looking down, this is the floor of the central area. That thin strut coming from the wall is the support for the original rainwater pipe, carrying it to the main drain.
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OK – a few more photos:

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This next photo below, is looking up – and the black steps are the underneath of the marble steps you walk on when visiting the memorial from a more conventional direction. As you can see, they are laid directly onto the brickwork, with no waterproofing at all.
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Again, another view looking up at the marble steps.

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Another view of the several long axis running around the memorial. The floor was mainly covered in rubble from the ages, and was very dry. Apparently, before the restoration, it could have been quite muddy, and there were odd patches with fungal growth showing that it had been very wet in the past.

It’s worth pointing out that the long row below (and the one at the top of this page) are the East and West wings of the structure. The Southern wing is about twice the height – alas lack of lighting made my camera fail to perform, even with powerful torches and flashes.
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After about 20 minutes, we came back out (remembering to turn the lights off) and I am deeply grateful to the people who permitted access.

Visiting:

Alas, the place is not open to the public at all – this was a very special one-off visit. I am not going to say who I contacted, as I don’t want them being annoyed by a flood of similar requests.

Sorry!

I do think it would be fantastic to open the undercroft to the public, maybe for a couple of controlled “open days” as happens at some subterranean places (Paddock etc.) – but I also appreciate that is not part of the current remit for the management of the memorial, and you would need a few staff/volunteers to manage it.

Maybe someday it will be possible.

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22 comments
  1. Paul says:

    Being a building surveyor I found the pics and description fascinating. Well done for getting access and providing illumination on this unknown aspect (as well as literal illumination on the subject!)
    Paul

  2. keith says:

    Hi Ian

    Well done! Fascinating!

    Cheers. Keith

  3. Nickzeff says:

    Wow!

    We chatted about this before, but I had no idea that the foundations were so HUGE.

  4. IanVisits says:

    The undercroft is truely VAST – and it is no exageration to say that in places, you can get slightly disoriented as it is all arches, after arches – after arches.

  5. Fritz Friedmann says:

    A really interesting display of how things were done in the “old days”, when utility was not the only thing in peoples minds. Great!

  6. Chris says:

    I visited the memorial today, and thought at the time “I wonder what is inside/underneath – surely it’s not entirely solid”. Now I know. Nice article, great pictures and explanations. Thanks!

  7. A J Paling says:

    I visited the memorial twice this weekend (July 20/21 2008) and found it most interesting.
    So much so that I thought a browse on-line might expand my impression. So what a pleasure to discover this illustrated account of the construction of its foundations. Well done. ajp

  8. Laura says:

    Fascinating post – and great photos. I am quite interested in the old underground parts of cities, so this is just my kind of thing!

  9. lana says:

    Hi,
    am a student studying art and contextual studies, i am currently undertaking a project based on Albert memorial. The information here is terrific but a while ago there were images, now the images do not display anymore. It would be grateful to solve this problem as i am doing some drawings based on your photographic observations.
    Thank you.

  10. Andrew says:

    Quite brilliant description and photographs – I know what a privilege such a visit is. Thank you for sharing it with us.

  11. roy knight (Taxi) says:

    Most interesting article . Great pics & facts. Question ???? When was the latest
    restoration work carried out ? By whom ? How long did it take / and finally;What was the overall cost????

    Roy h knight (London Cabby)

  12. barry Evans says:

    I was photographing the memorial today when a policeman stopped and asked me if I was a professional photographer. I explained that it was my hobby – I think he was about to ask for my permit to photograph if my photography was for commercial purposes. He was very friendly and chatted to me for about 20 minutes, telling me that he had been up to the very top of the monument on the scaffolding when the monument was refurbished. He also told me about the undercroft (I had no idea what that was) and he explained that he had been there too and it was the foundations for the monument. So it was fascinating to get home today and Google as instructed by the policeman “Albert Memorial undercroft” and come up with your article. It is really fascinating and thanks very much for taking the time and effort to post this.

  13. Kirsten Alicia says:

    Hello Ian, thank you for this fascinating post. I’ve occasionally wondered what was under the memorial, so it’s great to see your photos.

  14. John says:

    Fascinating – another of London’s hidden treasures – thanks for flagging this up for a second look

  15. Paul says:

    Amazing what’s under there, as ever a great and thorough account, thanks for sharing it

  16. Hillary Shaw says:

    Fascinating – brilliant photos !!! I wonder why the Victorians, who seemed so clever / frugal in many ways, never designed that underground space so it could have a use, If they’d built the arches a bit wider, could have been ideal for e.g. maintenance equipment for Hyde Park across the road.

  17. Rodney Maennling says:

    A wonderful virtual tour! Obviously, it was quite emotional for you. Well done. This article came up just as I finished watching the BBC coverage of The Last Night at The Prom’s. Timely for me.
    As a youngster just after the war I visited the Memorial with my sister. I am happy that another of our British heritage is so well preserved. Fine photography!
    Rodney, Vancouver Island

  18. Margaret says:

    Thank you for sharing your extraordinary experience.

  19. John Cosgrove says:

    Dear Ian,

    Thanks for a wonderful article. I am co-authoring a book on stones and stone buildings and have written a short piece on the Albert Memorial. I would very much like to include one of your pictures and am writing to ask your permission to do so.

    Best wishes

    John Cosgrove

    Dept. of Earth Science & Engineering
    Imperial College
    London SW7 2AZ

  20. John William Cosgrove says:

    Dear Ian,
    I am contacting you again to ask permission to use one of your photographs of the undercroft in a book i an co-authoring with John A Hudson entitled

    ‘Building Stones and stone buildings’
    The title you have given this photograph is

    ‘Again, another view looking up at the marble steps.’

    I have tried previously to contact you via this link but have to date received no reply.
    Thank,you for your interesting article.

    Best wishes
    John W Cosgrove
    Dept of Earth Science & Engineering
    Imperial College
    London SW7 2AZ

    Tel; +44(0) 20 7594 6466

    e-mail j.cosgrove@imperial.ac.uk

  21. Stephen Cockayne says:

    Excellent post. I have done work in the adjacent Albert Hall and it has fantastic Victorian engineering in the walls and roof. I found the four setting out points for the curved walls. The whole building shape set out from these 4 points. Simple.

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