Embankment, London
Cleopatra's Needle
It was originally erected in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis on the orders of Thutmose III, around 1450 BC. In 1819, Muhammad Ali Pasha gave Britain the obelisk as a gift. However, Britain's prime minister at the time, Lord Liverpool, hesitated on having it brought to the country due to shipping expenses. It remained in Alexandria until October 1877 when its transport to London was funded by William James Erasmus Wilson.
Shell-Mex House
Shell Mex House is a grade II listed building located at number 80 Strand in London, England. The building was opened in 1932 on the site of the Hotel Cecil and stands behind the original façade of the hotel, between the Adelphi building and the Savoy Hotel. Broadly Art Deco in style, it was designed by Frances Milton Cashmore of the architectural firm of Messrs Joseph.
Standing 190 ft tall, with 537,000 sq ft of floor space, Shell Mex House has 12 floors (plus basement and sub-basement) and is immediately recognizable from the River Thames and the South Bank by the clock positioned on the south side of the building (flanked by two large, hieratic figures at the south corners in marble by the sculptor William Charles Holland King). The clock, which was known for a time as "Big Benzene", has the biggest clock face in the UK, at 7.62 metres in diameter, just 0.02 metres more than the clocks on the Liver Building in Liverpool; it was supplied by Gillett & Johnston of Croydon. The building faces the river and the Strand.
Source: Wikipedia
564A1103
Embankment, London
Cleopatra's Needle
It was originally erected in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis on the orders of Thutmose III, around 1450 BC. In 1819, Muhammad Ali Pasha gave Britain the obelisk as a gift. However, Britain's prime minister at the time, Lord Liverpool, hesitated on having it brought to the country due to shipping expenses. It remained in Alexandria until October 1877 when its transport to London was funded by William James Erasmus Wilson.
Shell-Mex House
Shell Mex House is a grade II listed building located at number 80 Strand in London, England. The building was opened in 1932 on the site of the Hotel Cecil and stands behind the original façade of the hotel, between the Adelphi building and the Savoy Hotel. Broadly Art Deco in style, it was designed by Frances Milton Cashmore of the architectural firm of Messrs Joseph.
Standing 190 ft tall, with 537,000 sq ft of floor space, Shell Mex House has 12 floors (plus basement and sub-basement) and is immediately recognizable from the River Thames and the South Bank by the clock positioned on the south side of the building (flanked by two large, hieratic figures at the south corners in marble by the sculptor William Charles Holland King). The clock, which was known for a time as "Big Benzene", has the biggest clock face in the UK, at 7.62 metres in diameter, just 0.02 metres more than the clocks on the Liver Building in Liverpool; it was supplied by Gillett & Johnston of Croydon. The building faces the river and the Strand.
Source: Wikipedia
564A1103