Millbank is an area of

central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning the City of London and several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local gove ...

in the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a London borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Greater London, England. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It contains a large par ...

. Millbank is located by the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, s ...

, east of

Pimlico Pimlico () is a district in Central London, in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by Lon ...

and south of

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

. Millbank is known as the location of major government offices, Burberry headquarters, the

Millbank Tower Millbank Tower is a skyscraper in the City of Westminster at Millbank, by the River Thames in London, England. The tower was constructed in 1963, and has been home to many high-profile political organisations, including the Labour Party (UK), L ...

and prominent art institutions such as Tate Britain and the

Chelsea College of Art and Design Chelsea College of Arts is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art and design university in London, England. It offers further and higher education courses in fine art, graphic design, interior design, prod ...

History

The area derives its name from a

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as mill (grinding), milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in ...

owned by

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

that once stood at a site close to present day College Green. Norden's survey, taken during the reign of

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

in 1573, records the existence of such a mill although much of the area that comprises Millbank today, was referred to by

Samuel Pepys Samuel Pepys ( ; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English writer and Tories (British political party), Tory politician. He served as an official in the Navy Board and Member of Parliament (England), Member of Parliament, but is most r ...

and others as Tothill Fields. Described as a place of

plague pit A plague pit is the informal term used to refer to mass graves in which victims of the Black Death were buried. The term is most often used to describe pits located in Great Britain, but can be applied to any place where bubonic plague victims wer ...

s and a "low, marshy locality" suitable for shooting snipe in the nearby "bogs and quagmires". After Cromwell's victory at the

Battle of Worcester The Battle of Worcester took place on 3 September 1651 in and around the city of Worcester, England and was the last major battle of the 1642 to 1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms. A Parliamentarian army of around 28,000 under Oliver Cromwell def ...

in September 1651, some 4,000 defeated Royalists were imprisoned at Tothill Fields prior to being sold as slaves to merchants trading with Africa and the West Indies. Facilities at the prison camp on the marshy ground were so poor that 1,200 prisoners were recorded as having died in the primitive conditions. OS Millbank Tate etc 2

Prior to the development of

Millbank Prison Millbank Prison or Millbank Penitentiary was a prison in Millbank, Westminster, London, originally constructed as the National Penitentiary, and which for part of its history served as a holding facility for convicted prisoners before they were p ...

in 1816, the area was sparsely covered with residential houses, but did feature a distillery by the river owned by a Mr. Hodge and numerous small

almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) is charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the Middle Ages. They were often built for the poor of a locality, for those who had held ce ...

s, bridewells and pest houses for the poor, criminally inclined and sick. Baltic Wharf, a site just to the north of

Vauxhall Bridge Vauxhall Bridge is a Grade II* listed steel and granite deck arch bridge in central London. It crosses the River Thames in a southeast–northwest direction between Vauxhall on the south bank and Pimlico on the north bank. Opened in 1906, it r ...

, was for much of the 19th century the location of a Henry Castle & Son, a

ship breaking Ship breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship scrapping, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships either as a source of Interchangeable parts, parts, which can be sol ...

and timber merchant. Numerous wooden ships of the line of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

were dismantled at this location, their ornate figureheads often displayed on the gates and perimeter of the yard walls. Millbank's general appearance today dates from the 1930s, when the area was extensively rebuilt to repair damage caused by the 1928 Thames flood disaster, following the collapse of a 25-metre-long section of the

Thames Embankment The Thames Embankment was built as part of the London Main Drainage (1859-1875) by the Metropolitan Board of Works, a pioneering Victorian civil engineering project which housed intercept sewers, roads and underground railways and embanked the ...

. Millbank shares the name of the main road ( A3212) along the north bank of the

, extending northwards from

to Abingdon Street, just south from Parliament Square. There are parliamentary offices situated across this road, notably No.7, built as the headquarters of

British American Tobacco British American Tobacco p.l.c. (BAT) is a British multinational company that manufactures and sells cigarettes, tobacco and other nicotine products including electronic cigarettes. The company, established in 1902, is headquartered in London, E ...

. The road was created as part of the Thames Embankment in the mid 19th century and lies above a large interceptor sewer. The former Royal Army Medical College, situated at Millbank, is the site where the vaccine for

typhoid Typhoid fever, also known simply as typhoid, is a disease caused by ''Salmonella enterica'' serotype Typhi bacteria, also called ''Salmonella'' Typhi. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often ther ...

was first developed, and in the late 19th century, was where the world's first modern prison (

) was established. The listed site has since been renovated as a purpose-built arts college for the

in 2005. The Tate Britain art gallery (former Tate Gallery) is directly opposite near the end of

, providing a distinct arts presence in the area. The headquarters of the British chemicals giant ICI was originally located at Imperial Chemical House on Millbank (The Smith Square entrance of which was called Nobel House) before it relocated to Manchester Square, also situated in London. The headquarters for the

Northern Ireland Office The Northern Ireland Office (NIO; , Ulster-Scots: ''Norlin Airlann Oaffis'') is a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for handling Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of S ...

MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...

and

Thames House Thames House is an office building in Millbank, London, on the north bank of the River Thames adjacent to Lambeth Bridge. Originally used as offices by Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), it has served as the headquarters of the United Kingdom's ...

are also nearby. On 18 December 1973, the

Provisional Irish Republican Army The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Provisional IRA), officially known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA; ) and informally known as the Provos, was an Irish republican paramilitary force that sought to end British rule in Northern Ireland ...

(IRA) exploded a bomb on Thorney Street at 8:50am. The bomb resulted in over 50 people injured, including two seriously (see 1973 Westminster bombing). Millbank Studios reside in the area as an independent broadcast company, owned by ITV. The studio is situated opposite the

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...

. The

BBC Parliament BBC Parliament is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel from the BBC that showcases parliamentary content from across the United Kingdom. It broadcasts live and recorded coverage of the British Parliament (House of Commons o ...

broadcasting channel is also situated nearby (intended to broadcast parliamentary and general political coverage on behalf of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

). No.4 is the location commonly used by broadcasters for producing coverage of the

area, including the

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of ...

and ITV. Neighbouring College Green is used as a setting for interviewing politicians outdoors. Foreign countries' broadcasters also have bureaus in the Millbank studio compound. Australian broadcasters ABC, Seven and Nine all have bureaus in the building. Channel Ten (of Australia) used to have an office as well, but it was scrapped due to financial difficulties. Japan's broadcaster NHK has an office in the compound as well.

RTÉ News and Current Affairs (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

also have their London bureau at the same location.

Notable buildings

Millbank Estate is a large but highly regarded Grade II-listed red-brick housing estate that gives the area behind Tate Britain a distinct character. The estate was built between 1897 and 1902, the bricks being recycled from

, which had closed in 1890. The 17 buildings, comprising one of London's earliest social housing schemes, are named after distinguished painters such as Turner, Gainsborough, Millais, etc. The estate has 562 flats, all managed on behalf of Westminster City Council by MEMO, the largest

tenant management organisation A tenant management organisations (TMO) is an organisation set up under the UK Government's Housing (Right to Manage) Regulations 1994, which allow residents of council housing or housing association homes in the UK to take over responsibility for ...

in Westminster. The estate's management board is elected annually from the resident population. Half of the estate's flats are private leaseholds, the other half are rented from Westminster City Council. The estate's buildings are maintained by a regular works program. In 1914–1916, architects John W. Simpson and

Maxwell Ayrton Ormrod Maxwell Ayrton Royal Institute of British Architects, FRIBA (1874 – 18 February 1960), known as Maxwell Ayrton, was an England, English architect. He spent most of his adult life working in London and designed houses, public buildings, ...

designed and built 4 Millbank, a six-story Neoclassical office building for the Offices of the Crown Agents for the Colonies. This structure has since been converted into multi-let office building with a central, glass-roofed atrium. Hide Tower is a 20-storey building (with an additional walk-up penthouse level) of 162 flats with a garden and a community hall. When built in 1962 it was the tallest all residential building in Europe. Approximately a quarter of the accommodation is privately rented; half is rented from Westminster City Council and the remainder is owner-occupied. The name was derived from the " hide", an old English land measure (used in the Domesday Survey of 1086).

is a large, modernistic office complex between the River Thames, Millbank Estate and Tate Britain Gallery. It has several restaurants and a public garden. Before the 1997 General Election, the Labour Party acquired two floors of the building as its headquarters. The £1 million annual rent, however, forced the party to vacate the tower in 2001 for 16 Old Queen Street, Westminster. In British politics, the term "Millbank Machine" or "Millbank tendency" (a play on "

Militant tendency The Militant tendency, or Militant, was a Trotskyist group in the British Labour Party, organised around the ''Militant'' newspaper, which launched in 1964. In 1975, there was widespread press coverage of a Labour Party report on the infiltrat ...

") has been linked with the activities of

spin doctors Spin Doctors are an American alternative rock band from New York City, best known for their early 1990s hits "Two Princes" and "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong", which peaked on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart at No. 7 and N ...

. The Conservative Party also formerly had its headquarters,

CCHQ The Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ), formerly known as Conservative Central Office (CCO), is the headquarters of the United Kingdom, British Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party, housing its central staff and committee members, ...

, based in the tower.

Public transport

Millbank Millennium Pier is a modern River Thames pier structure. A regular service by a

Damien Hirst Damien Steven Hirst (; né Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist and art collector. He was one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United Kingdom's richest ...

-designed riverboat connects Tate Britain with

Tate Modern Tate Modern is an art gallery in London, housing the United Kingdom's national collection of international Modern art, modern and contemporary art (created from or after 1900). It forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Live ...

. The nearest London Underground stations are

and Victoria.

London Victoria station Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Victoria, in the City of Westminster, managed by Network Rail. Named after the nearby Victoria Street, the mai ...

is also a National Rail mainline terminus with an adjacent national coach station. Waterloo and

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Since the early 19th century, Charing Cross has been the notional "centre of London" and became the point from which distances from London are measured. ...

stations are also nearby. Millbank is well connected by buses.

References

External links

Millbank Conservation Area – Westminster City Council, January 2005, accessed 6 August 2012
{{University of the Arts London Areas of London Streets in the City of Westminster Districts of the City of Westminster Districts of London on the River Thames Art gallery districts

History

Notable buildings

Public transport

See also

References

External links