Somerset House

About Somerset House

Building on the Strand, London

Somerset House is a large neoclassical building complex on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames just east of Waterloo Bridge. The great Georgian quadrangle was built on the site of a Tudor palace, Old Somerset House, originally belonging to Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset; the present building was designed by Sir William Chambers and begun in 1776, and was extended with Victorian outer wings to the east and west in 1831 and 1856. The site stood directly on the river until the Victoria Embankment was built in the late 1860s, and its old river arches are still visible. The Georgian structure was built as a grand public building housing government and public-benefit society offices, and for decades it was home to the Navy Board, the General Register Office of births, marriages and deaths and the Inland Revenue. Since the early 21st century it has been redeveloped as a cultural centre, home to a community of arts organisations, creative businesses and artist studios, with a year-round programme of exhibitions, performances, music, film and public events; its north wing houses the Courtauld Gallery with its exceptional collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art, including works by Manet, Cézanne and Van Gogh, alongside Degas, Matisse and Kandinsky, and in the past it also hosted the Gilbert Collection of decorative art and the Hermitage Rooms. Its great central courtyard is one of the finest squares in London: in summer it is filled with 55 dancing fountains among which children play and it hosts concerts and open-air cinema, while in winter a famous ice rink is installed, and its river terrace with cafes stretches above the Thames.

Where:

London, United Kingdom