Britain’s Smallest Police Station

It’s easy to get caught up in the splendor of Trafalgar Square. Most visitors look up — at Nelson’s Column, a monument built to commemorate Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson’s decisive victory at the Battle of Trafalgar. Some look around, like at the lions couchant at the column’s base or at the commanding architecture of the National Gallery. So it’s easy to miss a little historical gem sitting on the square’s southeast corner. It’s a slim, circular little building with slit windows and a glass-paned door, topped off with a lighthouse-style lantern. What is it, you ask? Why none other than Britain’s smallest police station, built in 1926 as an outpost of sorts that could house two prisoners. The lantern atop the structure would activate when the phone line was used, alerting Scotland Yard and nearby patrol units to trouble. Its official use today is as a broom closet for Westminster Council cleaners.

The Heart of Concert Life

Wigmore Hall has been at the heart of London’s concert life for over 120 years. It was built in 1901 by the Bechstein firm of piano manufacturers as a way to showcase their pianos, which were located next door in their showrooms. The venue’s program includes a large range of recitals and chamber music and is internationally renowned as much for its performances as for the learning events covering young children, teenagers with autism and adults with dementia. Wigmore Hall is situated in the heart of London’s West End at Wigmore Street.

A Spectacular Town House

Built between 1756 to 1766 for John, First Earl Spencer (an ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales), Spencer House is London’s finest surviving example of an 18th-century aristocratic residence. Located at 27 St. James’s Place in the St. James’s area of Westminster, the house is Grade I listed with State Rooms that are amongst the first neo-classical interiors in Europe. Eight of those rooms are open for tours on Sunday throughout most of the year.

View Art Like a Royal

You needn’t be a royal or a special guest of the King to appreciate their art collection at Buckingham Palace. There’s a public gallery for that, the Queen’s Gallery. First opened to the public in 1962, it exhibits works of art from the Royal Collection on a rotating basis. The Royal Collection Trust, one of the five departments of the Royal Household, administers the collection.

Hidden London

Did you know that there are disused parts of the Underground that you can tour? That’s one of the highlights of a trip to the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden. Some of their Hidden London offerings have included the subterranean shelter at Clapham South, the disused spaces of Charing Cross Underground, a walk under Trafalgar Square and a discovery of Baker Street, the world’s first underground station.

Home of the Rubens Ceiling

The only surviving building of Whitehall Palace, Banqueting House is where King Charles I was beheaded. On a lighter note, it’s also home to the Rubens ceiling, a majestic oil painting chronicling the Stuart dynasty. Commissioned by Charles I, it remains the largest surviving work by the Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens still in its original location in Europe. It adorns the ceiling of Banqueting House and is arguably the historic building’s crown jewel.

The Making of Harry Potter

The magic of the Harry Potter film series comes to life at the Warner Bros. Studio Tour. Set adjacent to the working film studios where all eight Harry Potter films were made, the tour offers visitors the unique opportunity to explore two soundstages and a backlot filled with original sets, animatronic creatures and special effects. You’ll experience highlights like The Great Hall, one of the first sets to be built which appeared in seven of the films. The studio tour’s nearest railway station is Watford Junction, just a 20-minute journey from London Euston. Oyster cards are valid between those two points.

Touring the Supreme Court

Close to a statue of Abraham Lincoln on Parliament Square, the Supreme Court is the final court of appeal in the UK for civil cases and for criminal cases from England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Housed in a neo-Gothic building (formerly Middlesex Guildhall), it’s open to guided tours each Friday and on additional days during the summer months. Highlights include the beautifully-appointed courtrooms and library. Visitors can also sit in on live hearings during the week.

The Little Green Huts

A quirky part of London’s history are the little green huts that pop up in various parts of the capital. Known as cabmen’s shelters, they were established in 1875 for London’s cabbies as a place to rest and eat during the workday. Once numbering 61, the 13 remaining shelters are all Grade II-listed (protected) buildings. You’ll find them at locales like Wellington Place, Russell Square and Kensington Park Road. Nowadays even non-cabbies can order takeaway from a service window; hours vary at each shelter.

A Neoclassical Gem

A short walk from Buckingham Palace, Lancaster House is a neoclassical gem in the center of London. Formerly a royal residence, it was commissioned in 1825 by the Duke of York. Now managed by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Government Office, the venue is primarily used for government business and for hire. Your best bet for entry is during an Open House Weekend. If you’re lucky enough to see the interior (once called the ballroom of London), you’ll be dazzled by the sweeping staircase, the portraits in the Long Gallery, the artwork and the opulence of rooms like the State Dining Room, the Green Room, the Gold Room, the Eagle Room (featuring two large gold eagles which were part of the base for an original large mirrored buffet table) and the Grand Hall.