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Hotel Cecil, London: Difference between revisions

Coordinates: 51°30′36″N 0°07′18″W / 51.51008°N 0.12176°W / 51.51008; -0.12176
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Adding local short description: "Former grand hotel and RAF headquarters", overriding Wikidata description "now demolished"
 
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{{Short description|Former grand hotel and RAF headquarters}}
[[Image:Hotel-Cecil,-Dancing-.jpg|right|frame|Cecil Hotel, London 1926, dancing in the Palm Court]]
{{Distinguish|Cecil Hotel (Los Angeles)}}
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The '''Hotel Cecil''' was a grand [[hotel]] built 1890–96 between the Thames Embankment and the [[Strand, London|Strand]] in [[London]], [[England]]{{coord|51.51008|N|0.12176|W|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title|format=dms}}. It was named after [[Cecil House]] (also known as Salisbury House), a mansion belonging to the Cecil family, which occupied the site in the 17th century.
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
[[File:77-86 Strand (geograph 5389546).jpg|thumb|The Strand façade of the Hotel Cecil]]


⚫
The '''Hotel Cecil''' was a grand [[hotel]] built 1890–96 between the Thames Embankment and the [[Strand, London|Strand]] in [[London]], [[England]]{{coord|51.51008|N|0.12176|W|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title|format=dms}}. It was named after [[Cecil House]] (also known as Salisbury House), a mansion belonging to the Cecil family, which occupied the site in the 17th century. The hotel was largely demolished in 1930, and [[Shell Mex House]] now stands on its site.
⚫
Designed by architects Perry & Reed in a "[[Wrenaissance]]" style, the hotel was the largest in Europe when it opened, with more than 800 rooms. The proprietor, [[Jabez Balfour]], later went bankrupt and was sentenced to 14 years in prison.<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3613388/The-tale-of-the-half-billion-pound-sting.html Retrieved 24 April 2011</ref>


==History==
The hotel was requesitioned for the war effort in 1917, and the very first headquarters of the newly formed [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] took up part of the hotel from 1918 to 1919. A green plaque was affixed just inside the outer Strand entrance to the building in March 2008, proclaiming: The Royal Air Force was formed and had its first headquarters here in the former Hotel Cecil 1 April 1918.
[[File:Thames embankment, London, England-LCCN2002696941.jpg|thumb|left|The former river front; the hotel is on the left of the image]]
⚫
Designed by architects Perry & Reed in a "[[Wrenaissance]]" style, the hotel was the largest in Europe when it opened, with more than 800 rooms. The proprietor, [[Jabez Balfour]], later went bankrupt and was sentenced to 14 years in prison.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/3613388/The-tale-of-the-half-billion-pound-sting.html|title=The tale of the half-billion-pound sting|first=Andrew|last=Roberts|date=9 March 2004|publisher=|accessdate=25 October 2017|via=www.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref>


The hotel provided accommodation and the base for [[Mahatma Gandhi|Gandhi]]’s South African delegation campaigning for Indian rights in the [[Transvaal Colony|Transvaal]] in 1906.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Guha |first=Ramachandra |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/855200408 |title=Gandhi before India |date=2013 |isbn=978-0-670-08387-9 |location=London, England |oclc=855200408}}</ref>
Below it is a brass plate stating: This plaque was unveiled by the Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal [[Sir Glenn Torpy]] to mark the 90th anniversary of the formation of the Royal Air Force.<ref>http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/HistoryAndHonour/WestminsterGreenPlaqueMarksRafsFirstHq.htm Retrieved April 24, 2011</ref>


The hotel was requisitioned for the [[World War I]] war effort in 1917 by the [[Air Ministry#The Air Board|Air Board]], and the very first headquarters of the fledgling [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] took up part of the hotel from 1918 to 1919.<ref>{{cite web|title=London's flying past |website=The Scarf & Goggles Social Club |url=https://scarfandgoggles.wordpress.com/2016/03/09/londons-flying-past/ |date=9 March 2016 |access-date=2 September 2022}}</ref>
⚫
The hotel was the base for a Palestine Arab delegation that arrived in London in August 1921 and spent almost a year there, protesting in vain against the proposed terms of the British Mandate for [[Palestine]].<ref>Sahar Huneidi, [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=sY27UmuT6-4C A broken trust: Herbert Samuel, Zionism and the Palestinians 1920-1925], 2001</ref> The president of the delegation was [[Musa Kazim al-Husseini]]; its secretary was [[Shibli al-Jamal]]; the other delegates were [[Tawfiq Hammad]], [[Amin al-Tamimi]], [[Ibrahim Shammas]] and Mu'in al-Madi; the assistant secretary was Dr. Fu'ad Samad.
[[File:1914-08-08, La Esfera, Tipos ingleses, Del hampa, Francisco Sancha (cropped).jpg|thumb|Nightview of Hotel Cecil from [[Waterloo Bridge]] by Francisco Sancha (''La Esfera'', 1914)]]


Little more than a fortnight after the founding of the newly formed RAF on 1 April 1918, the French [[agent provocateur]] [[Bolo Pasha]] was shot for treason in France on 17 April. He had been attempting in 1916 to destabilise sections of the French press with the intention of forcing an early armistice, using German [[slush fund]]s channelled via [[New York City|New York]] organised by [[Franz von Papen]] and the ambassador to Washington, Count [[Johann Heinrich von Bernstorff|von Bernstorff]].
⚫
The Cecil was largely demolished in Autumn 1930, and [[Shell Mex House]] was built on the site. The Strand facade of the hotel remains (now occupied by shops and offices, including those of [[Interbrand]]), with, at its centre, a grandiose arch leading to Shell Mex House proper.


{{quote|"Somehow his name tickled our curiously warped English sense of humour, and the office of the Air Board at the Hotel Cecil was nicknamed the Hotel Bolo, or the Bolo House. The reason given by the inventor of the name was that everybody in the Hotel Bolo was either actively interfering with the progress of the War, or was doing nothing to help its progress. So well was the nickname known that if one wanted to go to the Air Board, or later on to the [[Air Ministry]], one merely told the taxi-driver to go to the Hotel Bolo, or the Bolo House, and he went without further question."<ref>{{cite book |last=Grey |first=C. G. |author-link=C. G. Grey |title=A History Of The Air Ministry |place=London |publisher=George Allen & Unwin |date=1940 |pages=66–67 |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.278489/page/n61/mode/2up?view=theater}}</ref>}}
Now that Shell Mex has relocated, the block is known as 80 Strand and is occupied by a number of companies including Pearson subsidiaries [[Dorling Kindersley]] and [[Rough Guides]].

A green plaque was affixed just inside the outer Strand entrance to the building in March 2008, proclaiming: The Royal Air Force was formed and had its first headquarters here in the former Hotel Cecil 1 April 1918.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.londonremembers.com/memorials/raf-memorial|title=Plaque: RAF Memorial|publisher=London Remembers|access-date=1 September 2021}}</ref> Below it is a brass plate stating: This plaque was unveiled by the Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal [[Sir Glenn Torpy]] to mark the 90th anniversary of the formation of the Royal Air Force.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/HistoryAndHonour/WestminsterGreenPlaqueMarksRafsFirstHq.htm|title=Westminster Green plaque marks RAF's first HQ |last=Willmot |first=Steve |website=webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk|accessdate=2 September 2022 |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100503214528/http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/HistoryAndHonour/WestminsterGreenPlaqueMarksRafsFirstHq.htm |archive-date=3 May 2010}}</ref>

⚫
The hotel was the base for a Palestine Arab delegation that arrived in London in August 1921 and spent almost a year there, protesting in vain against the proposed terms of the British Mandate for [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]].<ref>Sahar Huneidi, [https://books.google.com/books?id=sY27UmuT6-4C A broken trust: Herbert Samuel, Zionism and the Palestinians 1920–1925], 2001</ref> The president of the delegation was [[Musa Kazim al-Husseini]]; its secretary was Shibli al-Jamal; the other delegates were Tawfiq Hammad, Amin al-Tamimi, Ibrahim Shammas and Mu'in al-Madi; the assistant secretary was Dr Fu'ad Samad.

⚫
The Cecil was largely demolished in Autumn 1930, and [[Shell Mex House]] was built on the site. The Strand range of the hotel remains (now occupied by shops and offices, including those of Interbrand), with, at its centre, a grandiose arch leading to the separate Shell Mex House behind. After Shell Mex relocated, the block became known as 80 Strand and is occupied by a number of companies including [[Aimia (company)|AIMIA]] and [[Pearson PLC]] subsidiaries [[Financial Times]], [[Penguin Books]], [[Dorling Kindersley]] and [[Rough Guides]].


== References ==
== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cecil}}
[[Category:1896 establishments in England]]
[[Category:1930 disestablishments in England]]
[[Category:Hotel buildings completed in 1896]]
[[Category:Hotel buildings completed in 1896]]
[[Category:Defunct hotels in London]]
[[Category:Defunct hotels in London]]
[[Category:Demolished buildings and structures in London]]
[[Category:Demolished buildings and structures in London|Hotel Cecil]]
[[Category:Former buildings and structures of Westminster]]
[[Category:Former buildings and structures in the City of Westminster|Hotel Cecil]]
[[Category:Hotels established in 1896]]
[[Category:Hotels established in 1896]]
[[Category:Demolished hotels in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures demolished in 1930]]
[[Category:Strand, London]]

Latest revision as of 16:59, 13 January 2024

Not to be confused with Cecil Hotel (Los Angeles).

The Strand façade of the Hotel Cecil

The Hotel Cecil was a grand hotel built 1890–96 between the Thames Embankment and the Strand in London, England51°30′36″N 0°07′18″W / 51.51008°N 0.12176°W / 51.51008; -0.12176. It was named after Cecil House (also known as Salisbury House), a mansion belonging to the Cecil family, which occupied the site in the 17th century. The hotel was largely demolished in 1930, and Shell Mex House now stands on its site.

History

[edit]
The former river front; the hotel is on the left of the image

Designed by architects Perry & Reed in a "Wrenaissance" style, the hotel was the largest in Europe when it opened, with more than 800 rooms. The proprietor, Jabez Balfour, later went bankrupt and was sentenced to 14 years in prison.[1]

The hotel provided accommodation and the base for Gandhi’s South African delegation campaigning for Indian rights in the Transvaal in 1906.[2]

The hotel was requisitioned for the World War I war effort in 1917 by the Air Board, and the very first headquarters of the fledgling RAF took up part of the hotel from 1918 to 1919.[3]

Nightview of Hotel Cecil from Waterloo Bridge by Francisco Sancha (La Esfera, 1914)

Little more than a fortnight after the founding of the newly formed RAF on 1 April 1918, the French agent provocateur Bolo Pasha was shot for treason in France on 17 April. He had been attempting in 1916 to destabilise sections of the French press with the intention of forcing an early armistice, using German slush funds channelled via New York organised by Franz von Papen and the ambassador to Washington, Count von Bernstorff.

"Somehow his name tickled our curiously warped English sense of humour, and the office of the Air Board at the Hotel Cecil was nicknamed the Hotel Bolo, or the Bolo House. The reason given by the inventor of the name was that everybody in the Hotel Bolo was either actively interfering with the progress of the War, or was doing nothing to help its progress. So well was the nickname known that if one wanted to go to the Air Board, or later on to the Air Ministry, one merely told the taxi-driver to go to the Hotel Bolo, or the Bolo House, and he went without further question."[4]

A green plaque was affixed just inside the outer Strand entrance to the building in March 2008, proclaiming: The Royal Air Force was formed and had its first headquarters here in the former Hotel Cecil 1 April 1918.[5] Below it is a brass plate stating: This plaque was unveiled by the Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Sir Glenn Torpy to mark the 90th anniversary of the formation of the Royal Air Force.[6]

The hotel was the base for a Palestine Arab delegation that arrived in London in August 1921 and spent almost a year there, protesting in vain against the proposed terms of the British Mandate for Palestine.[7] The president of the delegation was Musa Kazim al-Husseini; its secretary was Shibli al-Jamal; the other delegates were Tawfiq Hammad, Amin al-Tamimi, Ibrahim Shammas and Mu'in al-Madi; the assistant secretary was Dr Fu'ad Samad.

The Cecil was largely demolished in Autumn 1930, and Shell Mex House was built on the site. The Strand range of the hotel remains (now occupied by shops and offices, including those of Interbrand), with, at its centre, a grandiose arch leading to the separate Shell Mex House behind. After Shell Mex relocated, the block became known as 80 Strand and is occupied by a number of companies including AIMIA and Pearson PLC subsidiaries Financial Times, Penguin Books, Dorling Kindersley and Rough Guides.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Roberts, Andrew (9 March 2004). "The tale of the half-billion-pound sting". Retrieved 25 October 2017 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  2. ^ Guha, Ramachandra (2013). Gandhi before India. London, England. ISBN 978-0-670-08387-9. OCLC 855200408.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. ^ "London's flying past". The Scarf & Goggles Social Club. 9 March 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  4. ^ Grey, C. G. (1940). A History Of The Air Ministry. London: George Allen & Unwin. pp. 66–67.
  5. ^ "Plaque: RAF Memorial". London Remembers. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
  6. ^ Willmot, Steve. "Westminster Green plaque marks RAF's first HQ". webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 3 May 2010. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  7. ^ Sahar Huneidi, A broken trust: Herbert Samuel, Zionism and the Palestinians 1920–1925, 2001
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