Main Entrance Gateway, Railings and Attached Lodges to the British Museum is a Grade II* listed building in the Camden local planning authority area, England. First listed on 14 May 1974. A Victorian Architectural gateway.
Main Entrance Gateway, Railings and Attached Lodges to the British Museum
- WRENN ID
- young-lancet-crag
- Grade
- II*
- Local Planning Authority
- Camden
- Constituency
- Holborn and St Pancras
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 14 May 1974
- Type
- Architectural gateway
- Address
- Main Entrance Gateway, Railings and Attached Lodges to the British Museum, Great Russell Street
- OS grid reference
- TQ 301 816
- Coordinates
- 51.51851, -0.12573
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The main entrance gateway, railings, and attached lodges to The British Museum were built in 1849 by Sydney Smirke. This structure features large, elaborate, cast-iron double vehicle entrance gates, which are flanked by single footgates. The design includes engaged, fluted, and foliated Corinthian columns and pilasters on the piers, which are topped with urns. The main piers are made of granite and contain small porters' lodges with plain square-headed entrances. Additionally, there are elaborate cast-iron railings set on a granite plinth, with granite interval piers. The standards of the railings are designed in the form of candelabra, standing on bases with clawed feet.
Local climate
Main Entrance Gateway, Railings and Attached Lodges to the British Museum sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 690 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 95% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 98% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 35 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 57% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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- 27, Little Russell Street
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