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The great architect John Nash first imagined Trafalgar Square as we know it today. In 1812 the King�s architect hoped that the area would be cleared of the Royal Mews and �filthy and disreputable abodes�. By the 1820s Nash had refined his plan to connect the square by a straight road to the British Museum as well as Regent Street, he died before his proposals were realised to a design by Sir Charles Barry. Later Nash�s imaginative proposal to house the Royal Academy in the middle of the site also failed to materialise.
Other alternative schemes for the site include Colonel Trench�s pyramid designed by Philip and Matthew Cotes Wyatt (1815), John Goldicutt�s design for a Roman Coliseum (1832), and the design to improve Charing Cross and the Strand by linking them with a circular space dedicated to King William (1832).
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Design for Roman Coliseum, John Goldicutt, 1832 © RIBA Drawings Collection
Proposal to house Royal Academy by John Nash, 1828 © Guildhall Library
Plan of Charing Cross and Strand Improvements, 1832 © Westminster City Archive |
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