Bust

Statues Hither and Thither has been invaluable in identifying some of the busts and most of the statues. The statues are not labelled and we were utterly defeated. Hats off to Hither and Thither!

Built as the Home and Colonial Office, completed in 1873 to the 1861 designs of Sir George Gilbert Scott. On this page we look at just the Whitehall frontage. We have another page for the St James's side. At Speel - Philip, Speel - Armstead and elsewhere, both Philip and Armstead are credited for this sculptural work jointly.

The building has a pavilion (projecting slightly in front of the rest of the building) at each end of the Whitehall frontage and these hold a total of 16 statues, each pavilion with 4 facing Whitehall and 4 on the return, numbered: S1-8 on the first floor; S9-16 on the second floor. All numbering is left to right.

The 19 tympanums of the first floor windows each holds a bust, including those in the pavilion returns and the 3 windows in the projecting central section: numbered B1-19.

Queen Victoria is seated in the middle of a sculptural group, at the top, centre of the building, looking down on the Cenotaph.