Temple Bar and Lady Meux
Temple Bar is the last surviving historic gateway to the City of London — a 350‑year‑old Portland‑stone arch designed by Sir Christopher Wren and completed in 1672. It once stood on Fleet Street, marking the ceremonial boundary where monarchs paused before entering the City. Today, it stands in Paternoster Square, beside St Paul’s Cathedral, and is rarely open to the public except during Open House London (officially Open House Festival), offering free access to hundreds of buildings across all 33 London boroughs.
Temple Bar was taken down from Fleet Street in January 1878. The dismantling began on 2 January 1878, when the first stone was removed, and the entire gateway was fully taken down 11 days later, with the scaffolding cleared and the structure completely dismantled.
Sir Henry Meux purchased the dismantled stones from the Corporation of London in 1887, and the removal of four hundred tons of stonework to Theobald’s Park began on 25 November 1887. Lady Valerie Meux laid the foundation stone at Theobald’s Park on 12 January 1888 and reconstruction completed on 7 September 1888. It was now a gateway to the estate. The former City boundary into a private triumphal arch.
Lady Valerie Meux, Valerie Langdon, was a former barmaid who married Sir Henry Bruce Meux and became one of the most flamboyant women of late‑Victorian London. She was a collector of Egyptian antiquities; a friend of soldiers, adventurers and archaeologists.
Lady Meux, it is often claimed, entertained Edward VII and Winston Churchill in the chamber above Temple Bar's arch.
But following the death of Lady Meux in 1910, Temple Bar began the slow decline into wrack and ruin.
In 1976, Hugh Wontner, former Lord Mayor, founded the Temple Bar Trust to bring it back to London. In 1984, The Trust formally acquired Temple Bar.
After years of fundraising and conservation work, Temple Bar was reconstructed and restored in Paternoster Square, beside St Paul’s Cathedral, in 2004. It is now the home of the Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects.
Today, Temple Bar is used as a ceremonial gateway, a historic meeting chamber, and the headquarters of the Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects.
Inside the gateway is a restored upper chamber, now used by the livery company for meetings; lectures; architectural events; small receptions. The chamber can be booked for small dinners; talks; filming; VIP receptions.
The American author, publisher and book collector Albert Newton visited Theobald's Park specifically to see Temple Bar. He journeyed by train from London to Waltham Cross and then by antiquated fly, a light horse-drawn carriage, to the estate.
The exact date of his visit is unknown but it was before 1915 when Hedworth Meux had control of Theobalds. Already there were signs that Temple Bar was falling into disrepair. Newton wrote: 'Driving along a flat monotonous country road one comes on the old gate almost suddenly and experiences not a feeling of disappointment but of surprise. The gate does not span the road but is set back a little in a hedge on one side of it, and seems large for its setting. One is prepared for a dark, grimy portal, whereas the soot and smoke of London have been erased from it, and instead one sees an antique creamy-white structured tinted and toned with the green of the great trees which overhang it. Prowling about in the drenching rain I looked in vain for some sign of life. I shouted to King James who looked down on me from his niche, and reaching no reply addressed his Consort, inquiring how I was to secure admittance.'
Almost hidden in the trees, Newton spotted the porter’s lodge. He pulled at the bell and the door was opened by a ‘slatternly woman’ who asked him what he wanted. He told her that he wanted to see Temple Bar. This was impossible, she said, but a few coins made her a little more cooperative. Newton was directed to a Mr Harrison, who was currently overseeing extensive repairs and alterations to the main house, who gave him written permission to go inside Temple Bar. He was eager to examine the room above the central span which, when it had last stood in Fleet Street adjoined Messrs Child’s banking house, had been used to store old ledgers and cash books.
"Keys were sought and found, and I was admitted. The room was bare except for a table in the centre, on which were quill pens and an inkstand in which the ink had dried up years before. One other thing was there was a visitor’s book, which like a new diary had been started off bravely years before, but in which no signature had recently been written. I glanced over it and a noticed a few well-known names; English names, not American, such as one usually finds, for I was far off the beaten track of a tourist. The roof was leaking here and there, and little pools of water were forming on the floor. It was as cold as the tomb."
Unfortunately, Newton failed to record any of the well-known names in the visitor's book.
The room over the Bar’s central arch was used as a dining room and decorated with 'Spy' caricatures from Vanity Fair. It was reported that Valerie occasionally entertained the Prince of Wales and a young Winston Churchill there.
Sources:
Newton, A. Edward. Temple Bar Then and Now, Daylesford, Pa. 1915.
Portsmouth Evening News, Tuesday, 15 June 1937.
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