Other

GPO architectural sculpture

Erection date: 2004

Inscription

GPO
1690 - 1951

Immediately north of this panel are 7 other similar architectural panels relating to the Bankers Clearing House which was also on this site.

Site: GPO plaque and architectural sculpture (2 memorials)

EC4, King William Street, Post Office Court

The plaque is in this passageway close to the entrance photographed.  The sculpture panel is further in, attached to the wall on the left, the boundary wall with St Mary Woolnoth.

Before the Great Fire of London Sir Robert Vyner had a large house here giving on to Abchurch Lane and Lombard Street, and it is known that, after the fire, the GPO moved here from a site in Bishopsgate Street, either rebuilding or re-purposing Vyner's house. This c.1894 map shows the “Site of old General Post Office” and also a current (1894) “Post Office” stretching between Lombard Street and King William Street. 

In 1829 the GPO departed for St-Martin's-le-Grand and left behind a branch PO which remained until the 1990s. Perhaps what happened in 1951 is that the last remaining fragment of the old GPO buildings was demolished and replaced.

Alamy have an illustration of "The old Post Office in Lombard Street about 1800" showing it tight up against St Mary Woolnoth. Drawings of this type were often created when it was known that the old building was about to be demolished.

Getty have an image "late 19th early 20th century" which looks more contemporaneous with the sculpture but it is very plain with no decorative architectural features visible. It probably shows the open space that can be seen on the map.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
GPO architectural sculpture

Subjects commemorated i

General Post Office

The first general post office in London opened in 1643, after King Charles I ...

Read More

This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
GPO architectural sculpture

Also at this site i

General Post Office plaque

General Post Office plaque

The General Post Office moved from Bishopsgate Street to a building on this s...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Peter Pan planters at GOSH

Peter Pan planters at GOSH

WC1, Great Ormond Street, Great Ormond Street Hospital, Paul O'Gorman Building

Cars, cars, grrr, impossible to take photos of the building that also show the planters, positioned on the steps. These planters caught ...

1 subject commemorated
Virtues - Delectation

Virtues - Delectation

WC2, Trafalgar Square, National Gallery - Staircase Hall - North Vestibule

In a formal garden Margot Fonteyn sits demurely listening to Edward Sackville-West playing a harpsichord. A female statue behind holds a ...

2 subjects commemorated
wherrymen seat

wherrymen seat

SE1, Bankside, Riverside House

From the middle ages on, the south bank, lying outside the area regulated by the City, tended to be the place of recreation: theatres, br...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Roman wharf - Fish Street Hill

Roman wharf - Fish Street Hill

EC3, Lower Thames Street, St Magnus the Martyr

The piling can just be seen in our picture; it's the dark object on a low stand in the corner.

1 subject commemorated
1 Poultry - Mappin & Webb clock

1 Poultry - Mappin & Webb clock

EC2, Poultry, 1

This clock is in the public atrium to the new building and is the nearest we get to a memorial for the Mappin and Webb building, on its o...

1 subject commemorated

Previously viewed

Druid Street arch WW2 bomb

Druid Street arch WW2 bomb

Railway arches were used as air raid shelters in WW2, as they were relatively secure. In the case of Druid Street however, they couldn't survive a direct hit. Depending on source, the number of dea...

Event, Tragedy

2 memorials
John Routh

John Routh

Burnt at the stake in Bow (or possibly Stratford) for his Protestant beliefs.

Person, Execution, Religion

1 memorial
Copenhagen House & Fields

Copenhagen House & Fields

Copenhagen House was a famous tavern & tea-garden which stood in what is now Copenhagen Park, N7, from early 17th century until 1855. The name either comes from the King of Denmark who stayed i...

Place, Architecture, Commerce, Food & Drink, Politics & Administration, Denmark

3 memorials
Anne Spencer, Countess of Sunderland

Anne Spencer, Countess of Sunderland

Daughter of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough. Nicknamed "Little Whig" and the subject of one of the famous Kit-Kat Club toasts.

Person, Community / Clubs

1 memorial
7 - Wine Office Court – Dickens

7 - Wine Office Court – Dickens

EC4, Fleet Street

There are 8 Courts running off the north side of this section of Fleet Street and on the ground at the entrance to each Court is a plaque...

3 subjects commemorated