Trafalgar Square

Home to Nelson’s Column, Landseer’s lions, Lutyens’s fountains, the National Gallery and St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square has long been defined, cartographically and emotionally, as Britain’s beating heart. This famous landmark has multiple roles: a national showcase; a political soapbox; an architectural and sculptural gallery; and a default venue for national expression. Its stories are rich and varied, from its controversial inception to its transformation in the post-war era as a focus for both celebration and dissent. Trafalgar Square belongs to the people, not to the Crown, and it is not only the nation’s heart, it is also its soul. This book explores contemporary accounts and recent research in social history, architectural history and human geography to analyse the square’s genesis, development and maturity. Including archival prints and illustrations, it shows how this space developed over the centuries to the central focus it has now become. Encompassing a critical review of the site’s structures and sculptures, and covering key architects, artists, patrons, embassies and protests, each chapter investigates the origins and achievements of the men and women who have made Trafalgar Square such a powerfully resonant symbol of art, architecture and democracy at work.