Her Majesty'S Land Registry Building

TQ 3081 SE 1900-/60/10076

LINCOLN'S INN FIELDS H M Land Registry Building

II Government Office Building. Built for H.M. Land Registry in two phases: west wing and centre 1903-5; east wing 1912-13, to the designs produced by the Office of Works under Sir Henry Tanner; Richard Allison was the supervising architect. Design conceived by the Land Registrar Sir Charles Fortescue-Brickdale based on Blickling Hall, Norfolk.

Stancliffe stone, Tucker's red brick, slate roof. Floors reinforced with steel joists. Rectangular plan with internal lightwells. Neo-Jacobean style with shaped gables and French-style corner turrets with steep slate roofs and lanterns. Six storeys high, nine bays wide; seven bays to Portugal Street return. Central projecting bay has main entrance on raised ground floor and canted bay running from first to third floor surmounted by stone balustrade. This feature is repeated on outer turret bays. Mullion and transom windows throughout with six-paned metal casements. Carved modillion cornices above top storey windows. Carved cartouches between first and second storey windows and on stone turret parapets. Carved Royal Coat of Arms in central gable. String course wraps right around the building at first floor level. Vertical divisions between bays articulated by lead downpipes. Entrance porch formed by paired columns supporting entablature; frieze inscribed LAND REGISTRY.

Interior: of principal interest is the entrance hall, panelled with marbled columns and the Chief Registrar's room on first floor above the entrance, panelled with integral classical fire surround.

Listing NGR: TQ3090181308