Admiralty Arch: The Gateway of Processions
Why is it significant?
In front of you the Mall squeezes itself through a huge curved building of white Portland stone, pierced by three tall arches. Watch the traffic: cars and bikes slip through the side arches, but the great central gate stays shut.
Key Facts
| Place | Admiralty Arch: The Gateway of Processions |
|---|---|
| Address | Admiralty Arch, The Mall, London SW1A 2WH, United Kingdom |
| Geo Coordinates | 51.50670, -0.12860 |
| Part of Walk | Crowns, Pelicans and Bearskins: Royal London from The Mall to St James's |
| Generated | Generated |
In front of you the Mall squeezes itself through a huge curved building of white Portland stone, pierced by three tall arches. Watch the traffic: cars and bikes slip through the side arches, but the great central gate stays shut. It opens only for the monarch, on days of coronations, state visits and royal funerals.
Admiralty Arch was commissioned by King Edward VII in memory of his mother, Queen Victoria, and designed by Aston Webb. Edward never saw it finished: he died in 1910 and the arch was completed in 1912. Read the Latin along the top. It says, more or less, that in the tenth year of King Edward the Seventh, the most grateful citizens dedicated it to Queen Victoria. The name comes from the Admiralty next door: the building was put up partly to house its offices.
Turn round and look down the Mall. It runs dead straight for about a kilometre to the golden figure in front of Buckingham Palace. Aston Webb designed the whole sequence as a single piece of theatre: this arch, the widened avenue, the Victoria Memorial, and even the new front of the palace. In May 2023 the coronation procession of King Charles III rolled out through these arches on its way to Westminster Abbey.
Now walk into the northern arch, the one on the Trafalgar Square side, and look at the inner wall at about the height of a rider's knee. Sticking out of the stone is a small human nose. Legend says it is Napoleon's nose, or that it was put there so mounted soldiers of the Household Cavalry could rub it for luck as they rode through. The truth is more fun: it was attached in 1997 by an artist, Rick Buckley, who secretly fixed plaster noses to buildings all over London.
So this one arch joins two Londons: behind you Trafalgar Square, the busy city of buses and Nelson on his column; ahead of you the ceremonial city of flags and guards. Walk back along the Mall a little way, and turn left onto the wide gravel square guarded by horsemen.