The Home of Geography 51° 30’05”N;0°10’30”W

• A history of Lowther Lodge by John Price Williams Presidents of 1911 1914 1917 1919 1922 1925 1927 1930 1933 1936 1938 1941 1945 1948 1951 1954 1958 1961 1963 1966 1969 1971 1974 1977 1980 1982 1984 1987 1990 1993 1997 2000 2003 2006 the Society Lord CurzonDouglas FreshfieldColonel SirThSir Francis YounghusbandLord RonaldshayDr David HogarthSir Charles CloseAdmiral SirWilliamSir Perry CoxProfessor HenrySir Philip Balfour ChetwodeSir George ClerkLord RennellSir Harry LindsayJ.M. WordieGeneral Sir JamesLord Nathan Marshall-Cornwall Sir RaymondProfessor Priestley L. DudleySir Gilbert LaithwaiteRear AdmiralLord Sir Edmun ShackletonSir Duncan CummingLord Hunt Professor MichaelSirVivian Wise FuchsSir George BishopLord ChorleySir Crispin TickellLord JellicoeLord SelborneProfessor SirSir Ron Neil CossonsProfessor Sir Gordo Since moving to Lowther Lodge omas Holdich Cooke Goodenough Stamp n Conway d Irving

“I love this building. It is truly the home of geography.” The home of geography President, 2009-2012

Lowther Lodge has been the headquarters It is the home to the largest and most of the Society for very nearly a century. active scholarly geographical society in It’s one of the finestVictorian buildings in the world, supporting research, education, , an iconic Grade II* listed building in expeditions and fieldwork, policy and a harmonious melange of three different eras promoting public engagement. – the grand1874 house looking out serenely The Society’s House, as it’s often called, over Hyde Park and the ; the welcomes some150,000 people a year to austere1930s extension on the corner of events and activities – and we are finding Gore; and the exuberant, award- new audiences all the time as we reach out winning glass pavilion of 2004 fronting to those with increasing curiosity about the , which has made the Society world and the way it works. open and accessible. The building has a fascinating history, There are a lot of things the building is – and which reflects the way the Society has some it is not. developed and changed since moving into It has huge archives of maps, artefacts and its home in1913. Cover From Exhibition Road it is possible to see all three phases of building; the1874 Lowther publications, but it is not a museum and does Lodge, the1930 extension, and the latest 2004 entrance pavilion and display space. not house an academic institution. This is its story.

1 1830 1870 1911 James Lowther 1912 1912 Royal College of Art 1 Founded Savile Row Lord Curzon £1,250 Government gran Society buys Lowther Lodge for £100,000

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occupied by the tailors Gieves and Lord Curzon of Kedleston was used Lodge, probably through his political Lord Curzon Hawkes. to getting his own way, but he was more links with James Lowther, Speaker of This was the era when the Society than a politician and administrator. He the House, who had put it up forsale and the was preoccupied with colonial was a compulsive traveller, passionate after the death of his father. The auction Natural History Museum V&A Museum exploration in Africa, the Indian about geography, and had been was to be on July 30th,1912, if the ‘splendid subcontinent and central Asia. But at awarded the Society’s house were not sold earlier. home the besetting problem, which forhis exploration of the source of the The apocryphal story is that Curzon vision’... lasted fordecades, was the lack of Amu Darya (Oxus) riverin the Pamir bought Lowther Lodge in his usual high- a large enough lecture theatre to mountains of western Asia. handed manner without consulting Like many learned societies, accommodate the growing interest In the summer of 1911, he became anyone, but this is not the case. Our place in the Royal Geographical in geography. president of the Society, closed the By July 15th he was reporting to a Society began life as a There were premises at Burlington building fund, which had reached some special meeting of the Council that not Our building stands in one of the most important cultural gentlemen’s dining club and Gardens, borrowed from the Civil £6,000, and set up another. As well as only had he secured an option for a week quarters in Europe: the 86 acres of Kensington which contain Service Commission, but they were too gifts from Fellows, large companies like to buy Lowther Lodge for £100,000, but three great museums, the Royal Albert Hall, the Royal Colleges for 40 years of its life had no small. Many other venues were used, P&O and Burmah Oil were persuaded 1, Savile Row had been sold for £38,000 permanent home of its own. but none became a permanent home. to stump up. So were Indian princes, and another property in Vigo Street had of Art and Music, Imperial College and nine other world-class For the first10 years, from Various presidents urged action to whom Curzon had known in his vice- gone for £10,000. institutions. Many are on land bought with profits from the its founding in1830 as an remedy this problem and the lack of regal role; some were made Life Fellows “Council authorized me to enter into of1851. space in Savile Row and finally, in1909, for their generosity. In eight months he negotiations...before it could be snapped institution to promote the a building fund was set up to find new added £31,000 to the fund. up by another competitor”, Curzon wrote It was a hugely successful event in in1852 offering them subsidised advancement of geographical headquarters and to construct an Curzon reported his efforts to a in a letter to Fellows two weeks later. Hyde Park organised by Prince Albert, accommodation.The remoteness of science, members met in “Explorers’ Hall”. Various ineffective special general meeting of the Society He had originally insisted that the QueenVictoria’s consort, to celebrate Kensington was too much forall of the rooms of the Horticultural attempts were made to buy premises in January 1912and added drily: Society’s new home should be in British industrial progress and the them.The RGS replied that it “...would for conversion over the next few years, “We have succeeded in persuading central London; however after seeing expansion of empire. not be compatible with the well-being Society in , notably the Burlington and a His Majesty’s Government,who are,as Lowther Lodge he was“stung by this The Royal Commissioners for the of the Society.” London, then later at house in St James’. a rule, more given to taking money from splendid vision, forgot his objection to Exhibition of1851used part of the The1851 Commissioners still own 3 Waterloo Place and Then enter in 1911a force of nature: others than to giving it themselves,to the remoteness of Kensington, and profits to buy land to establish this the freehold of much the estate though, 15Whitehall Place. George Nathaniel Curzon, former raise their annual grant to us from £500 pushed affairs through straight away.” unique cultural site. uniquely, the Society is not on land Viceroy of India, Tory MP, future Foreign to £1,250.” He threw himself into the project It became known, slightly mockingly, owned by them because there was In1870, the Society finally found a more Secretary and for whom the word Curzon’s friends in high places with huge enthusiasm, buying furniture as Albertopolis because of the Prince’s a building on the site before Lowther permanent home when it moved to imperious might well have been had agreed the increase on the at Christie’s and even supervising the overwhelming interest in his project of Lodge was constructed. 1Savile Row, off , to a building coined. Among his pronouncements, understanding that it was used for a hanging of the pictures. His own portrait, ‘education for the people’. By 2012, Exhibition Road will be that was already more than100 years old. which had a great effect at the time new building and that the public should by John Singer Sargent, commissioned Prince Albert wanted all London’s transformed into a public space fitting It was cramped and, some complained, was: “Gentlemen never wear Brown have access to the map room. By the by the Society in1914, hangs above the learned societies to move to his to a great cultural quarter by huge rather squalid. Now in better shape, it is in Town.” early summer he had found Lowther marble fireplace in the Hall. new cultural quarter and wrote to them improvements in access and design.

2 3 This1882 photograph The stable block at the front of of the hall shows that it the house, where the Ondaatje is little changed today Theatre now stands, had room for six horses and three carriages, a harness room and hay loft. The coachman also lived there in some style.

Life with William and Alice Lowther’s initials, surmounted by a sunflower, above the entrance in Kensington Gore. the Lowthers The sunflower was often used as a symbol by the lateVictorian arts and crafts movement of which Alice was The Lowthers were a mediaeval a fervent admirer. knightly family and landed dynasty in Cumberland and Westmorland whose sons became the Earls of Lonsdale. They enjoyed great wealth and political power. The first Earl of service in1841, serving in Italy, Russia, for the whole year. In the summer, they A few months afterWilliam’s death in Lonsdale was one of the richest Germany and finally Argentina. stayed at the family seat, Lowther Castle 1912, Lowther Lodge was put up for sale men in18th century England; After his last diplomatic posting, in the Lake District, and then moved by his eldest son James, also elected as he became Conservative MPfor on to France. Tory MPforWestmorland, and at the William Lowther, who built our Westmorland, although he lived in Then, in1883 eight years after time Speaker of the House of Commons. home, was the namesake of the style in Mount Street, Mayfair with his moving in, the Lowthers bought a It was then that the Society bought it. second earl and the younger wife Alice. country house to add to their property The house at Campsea Ashe was brother of the third. However, social ambition dictated portfolio – High House at Campsea demolished sometime in the1950s. an even grander venue to entertain – Ashe, Wickham Market, Suffolk. Lowther Castle in the Lake District, of The second earl, an avid art collector, and what more fitting than a huge house Alice died in 1908 –William four which Wordsworth wrote: died a bachelor in1872, leaving his named after oneself with a dining table years laterat the age of 90. Both are Lowther! in thy majestic Pile are seen nephew William a large bequest. which could seat 24? buried atSt John the Baptist church Cathedral pomp and grace, in apt accord It’s thought that it was this which Alice, the daughter of Lord in Campsea Ashe, as is Alice’s father is now just a shell, having been helped him to fund the purchase of Wensleydale and mother of seven, Lord Wensleydale. dismantled in 1957. the plot of more than two acres on was a society hostess passionately There are a dozen Lowthers in the It is left to LowtherLodge, the which Lowther Lodge originally stood. interested in painting and the churchyard and the building’s east Society’s House, to carry on the family Estimates at the time put the cost burgeoning arts and crafts movement. window is a memorial to the Lowther name, though the “Country House in at £36,000.The average wage of an She had a great influence in the design family; on its right-hand side are St Hilda, Town, Unique in all London” as the agricultural labourer on the family’s of Lowther Lodge – not forgetting who represents Yorkshire where estate agents put it, has been put to estates then would have been just to include a granny flat in the new Alice Lowther was born, St Edmund for a use inconceivable to its first owners. over £40 a year. building for her aged mother, Lady Suffolk, and St Oswald for Cumberland What was the preserve of one rich William Lowther was educated at Wensleydale. – the home of LowtherCastle, the family is now an institution rich in Cambridge and entered the diplomatic The Lowthers were not in residence family seat. learning and inspiration, open to all.

4 5 1-2St James St Cragside Lowther Lodge 6 Ellerdale Road Bedford Park Albert Hall MansionsSavoy Theatre New Scotland Yard Albion House Swanscombe ChurchBradford City Hall Piccadilly Hotel Narrow 2ins red bric Staffordshire roof tiles Leaded windows Marble chimn London Rothbury, NorthumberKensington Gore, LonHampstead, LondonLondon Kensington Gore, LondonLondon Embankment, LondonJames Street, LiverpooKent Piccadilly Circus,

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Shaw distanced himself from Victorian The building contract was signed in1873 styles of domestic architecture and with the London firm ofW H Lascelles, developed new forms derived from with whom Shaw had worked before. 17TH century half-timbered buildings he His insistence on constructing the had sketched in the Weald of Kent and house with narrow 2ins red brick meant Sussex. He built country houses for that specialised work had to be carried businessmen and industrialists in this out to cut, rub and lay them when they rural idiom, though for a London town arrived from Ipswich; the tiles on the house, the style was thought too bucolic. huge roof came from Staffordshire. So for Lowther Lodge, one of his most The best materials were used, important buildings, he combined some both inside and out. Lynne Walker, who of these17 TH century motifs with English has written an architectural history of rubbed red brick and used modern the house, points out that the existing materials and construction methods to woodwork, glazed and leaded windows, display monumental chimneys, steep marble chimney-pieces and plaster- Themaster roofs, Dutch gables and long, leaded Only the best work ceilings and friezes are among the windows. finest surviving Queen Anne interiors. architect Curiously, after taking such care with materials Their integrity has been preserved the details of the building, a few years mainly by default, as the Society had The brilliant architect Norman later he designed in the same Queen Norman Shaw’s first designs little money over the years to carry out Shaw led a revolution in Anne style the massive adjacent block for Lowther Lodge were more major alterations. of Albert Hall Mansions (1879-86) which, Still surviving are the ceramic tiles English domestic architecture as the V&A points out on its website, baronial than the eventual in the hall fireplace painted by Alice in the late19th century. He somewhat overwhelms Lowther Lodge. Queen Anne style: an1872 Lowther and bearing the imaginative is often called the father of He also designed both large and plan shows a gate, archway coats of arms of the Lonsdale family the urban Queen Anne style, small public buildings – from Kentish and towerand a long broad and its branches.The walnut ceiling Town police station in north London above conceals iron beams. in which Lowther Lodge is to New ScotlandYard on theVictoria flight of stairs.These were The oak staircase, rising past the built – though many have Embankment, home of the Metropolitan abandoned by the following minstrels’gallery, led to the family pointed out that Queen Anne Police from1889 to1966. year as the Lowthers refined bedrooms; the nurseries for the Lowther is actually a blend of many Shaw’s last major works wereVauxhall the designs, changing the children were on the floor above. Bridge and the Piccadilly Hotel in London. Mrs Lowtherliked to fill the house different elements of17th He died at the age of 81in1912– four shape of rooms and adding with flowers during her dinner parties and18th century English and months after the Society bought one of tall window bays to bring more and the room which is now nextto the Dutch domestic architecture. his finest creations. light into the house. kitchen was her flower room.

6 7 1880 The railings in the plans (below) Garden Basement Ground floor First floor were designed personally Lawn for strolling Storage Council room, m Library, writing, sm store, exhibition and tea rooms by Lord Curzon. He seems to room, and offices have disliked the wall fronting ap Kensington Gore which was oking part of the original build (right). It was knocked down in 1913 when the Society moved in. Lowther Lodge was handed over to the Society in November1912. William Lowther had kept it in good condition, but five months of work by the London firm ofThompson and Walford at a cost of some £4,000 was needed in the interior, to transform it from a family home to the headquarters of a learned society. One of the majorchanges was the demolition of the brick wall at the front of the house facing and its replacement by iron railings. Electricity was installed and the heating improved. Inside the entrance, the porter’s box was built ofSpanish mahogany. The nearby lift, thought to be the first in a private house in London, Moving in was augmented by a book lift at the other end of the hall. The terms of the sale of The ground floor of the1874 house Savile Row meant that the accommodated the Council room, a map store, a display space, photographic Society had to move out of exhibition room and offices. central London before Lowther On the first floorwere the library, Lodge could be converted writing, smoking and tea rooms. into the new headquarters. A contributor to the Geographical Journal mused:“It would have shocked So everything was put into some of the conservative members of storage and business was past Councils if anyone had proposed run for five months from to include in the Society’s House a a large rented house at smoking room, a tea room ora lawn 5 ,South where the lady Fellows may stroll on sunny afternoons.” Kensington, now the site The new House was opened to of the Ismaili Centre. Fellows on April 14th,1913.

8 Settling in 1913 -1930

After the Society moved into Lowther Lodge, its Edwardian calm was disturbed only by the possibility of an attack by militant suffragettes. A Council minute of March1914 is headed: “Precautions against damage by women”. Then, in August 1914, war broke out and the Society’s consolidation plans,including the new lecture theatre, were postponed indefinitely. During the1920s, although membership grew initially, there was growing discontent among the younger Fellows who found it difficult The year after the House was opened The Main Hall needed little change The Reading Room on the first floor The Map Room,overlooking the This is now theTea Room on the ground there was a reception in the huge when the Society moved in and it had been the sitting room of Alice garden and now the Education Centre, floor, when it was being used as the to have their papers published Garden, which extended almost down became very useful for exhibitions. Lowther’s mother Lady Wensleydale, had been the family’s drawing room. Council Room.It was originally the by the Society.This led to Prince Consort Road. “The walks The Lowthers had used it as a who had her own bedroom adjoining The map store itself was beneath the boudoir of Alice Lowther, unusual in eventually to the formation surrounding the lawn were roofed with reception area and occasionally a it.Today it is the LowtherRoom, used room in the vaulted servants’ quarters that it was not attached to her bedroom of the Institute of British canvas and illuminated; the band of the ballroom, with musicians playing in formeetings and with books from the of the basement, which were notable on the first floor, probably because of Geographers – now happily Royal Artillery played on the lawn and the gallery above. Today it is invaluable collections lining its walls. for maintaining a reasonably constant the need to accommodate her mother refreshments were served in the large for use for all manner of functions. temperature. on that floor. Alice loved to paint in reunited within the Society marquee on the terrace”. The major watercolours in the garden, to which since 1995. part of it was not sold off until 1927. the room had its own private entrance.

10 11 1914 1914 1914 1918 1939 1939 1939 1940 1940 1944 1945 Isabella Bird Kate Marsden May French Sheldon At disposal of Tactical maps Seven staff enlist Admiralty Buildings protectedFireproof record roomExtra water storage Artifacts stored Staff on nightwatch Bomb damage Bomb damage Early member of RSGS Early RGS Fellow Early RGS Fellow amy and navy intelligence di in banks repaired

vision

outrage caused by the suggestion. Tempers worsened,QCs were War and Fellows However since its inception in1884, consulted on both sides and the the Royal Scottish Geographical Society dissidents forced a special general the Society and women had allowed not only women members meeting at which Council’s decision was but women Fellows, and the issue was overturned by147 votes to105. This led On the day before the The Society made a robust forced into the open again when the to an even more absurd position, that outbreak of the first world war, start with 460 men signing RGS granted access to members of all the women Fellows – now 22 – could the whole of Lowther Lodge up in1830, but growth was British geographical societies. remain, but no more could be elected. So women like the intrepid Asiatic The Council’s next step was to was put at the disposal of slow. By the time it moved to explorer Miss Isabella Bird had rights organise a postcard referendum the geographical section of 3 Waterloo Place nine years in the RGS only because she belonged among Fellows –1,165 voted in favour the Army general staff and later, numbers had grown to the Scottish Society. The absurdity of admitting women and 465 against. a division of the Admiralty to 697. Only100 more were was overcome temporarily when the There was yet another special general war staff. added in the next15years Council voted in July1892to elect meeting; the dissidents marshalled their women Fellows and15 were admitted. forces well and again the cause was lost. They took over the library, reading room, when the Society moved to But a clique of die-hards, mainly It was to be another two decades until writing room and several rooms on the Whitehall Place. army and navy officers – including the matterwas resolved by a referendum. second floor. several explorers – refused to accept On January15th1913, a few weeks Within two or three days, the Society’s But by the time Savile Row was occupied the decision, organised protest meetings before the move into the new building, draughtsmen had produced skeleton in1871, the interest in exploration had and agitated in the press forit to be the results were published – 2,082 had maps of the western front and went pushed numbers up to 2,300. overturned. Admiral Halliday Cave voted in favour and 674 against. on to produce indexes of place names By1912, just before the Society declared:“I should be very sorry to see Although public opinion – and the forthe tactical maps of Belgium and moved to Kensington, the number had this ancient Society governed by ladies”. extra subscriptions that women could northern France to be issued to the By the time of the second world strong rooms in the west of England. doubled to nearly 5,000. Curzon (who was to perform a volte bring to the Society – had softened British expeditionary force. war, there was a direct threat to Lowther The secretary or librarian usually They were, of course, all men – face many years later), thundered in a Curzon’s opposition, he was no supporter Seven of the Society’s staff had Lodge from German bombing. stayed in the house on fire watch apart from a handful of women who letter to the Times: of women’s rights. enlisted and volunteers helped with In1939, the windows of the map store overnight with a couple of the staff and had been allowed in and who, through “We contest in toto, the general He was a founder and joint president the task. were protected by iron tanks filled with for most of the war the Society escaped no fault of their own, had caused a capability of women to contribute to of the Anti-Suffrage League, which The skeleton maps of1:500Kgave sand. More water cisterns were put in major damage, but then in1944, a heavy crisis in the Society’s affairs. scientific geographical knowledge. claimed that the vast majority of women rise to a 1:1M version which led to the the attics. A fireproof room was built in bomb badly damaged roofs, doors, The admittance of women was to Their sex and training render them in Britain were not interested in gaining draughtsmen taking on the European the basement to hold records and there windows and ceilings; the external cause explosive rows and a schism equally unfitted for exploration, and the parliamentary vote. and Near Eastern sheets of a map of the was a fireproof door between the original brickwork was deeply scarred. within the Society in the late19th the genus of professional female globe- Today, the Society has15,300 world.Towards the end of the war, a building and the 1930 extension. By1945 most of the repairs had century.The Council had discussed the trotters with which America has lately Fellows and members. A third of them large part of the first floor was taken up Eighteen boxes of the most valuable been done with a grant from theWar matter for eight months in1887, before familiarized us is one of the horrors are women, though amongYoung by the Admiralty intelligence division. books and atlases were sent to bank Damage Commission. quietly dropping the matter due to the of the latter end of the19th century.” Geographers, the balance is equal.

12 13 1902 RGS lecture, 1927 The land was 1893 1914 1920-30 1920-30 1928 Imperial College? Private hospital? Ice rink? French Quarter? Institute o Princes Gate Mansio Burlington House 50,000 books Call for1,200 seat theatre 6,000 Fellows 184,000 maps £20,000 raised sold off in two stages f the Horse?

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Lectures moved to the Aeolian Hall interested in geography and his words Lord Curzon had declared before WWI Continental style’. A mysterious Mr Foss in New Bond Street, owned by the seem to have been borne out. that the rest of the well-wooded private proposed to incorporate an Institute of

Orchestrelle Company of NewYork, There had been a fall in the number 2nd sale garden would not be difficult to sell:“We the Horse into a block of flats; after much inventors of the pianola, which had a of Fellows during and after the1914-18 should thus be in a position to secure temporising he and his International large concert hall that had formerly war to below 5,000, but the decade from ourown hall fornothing and solve the Equitation Company galloped away and been an art gallery. 1920 saw a sharp rise, with1,000 being problem which has baffled us forhalf were not heard of again. This was even less satisfactory than added in six years. a century”. It proved to be much more Finally, in1927 the piece of garden Burlington Gardens, whose iron-backed Then there was the library. In1893 difficult that he would have imagined. was sold for £30,000. The block of flats benches had been a source of there had been 50,000 books; by the 1st sale The obvious purchasers of what was which now stands there was designed complaint for some years. end of the1920s there were 70,000. left of the two-acre garden – now said by architectsTPBennett & Son and built Growing The Aeolian Hall, noted a Other collections had grown to resemble a jungle – were Imperial by F G Minter. Along with the building memorandum to the Council, gave“no considerably; there were for instance: College, already overflowing on their fund, it paid for the new premises which membership, opportunity for modest refreshment, the 184,000 maps,1,700 atlases,75,000 adjacent site further down Exhibition were so badly needed. pleasant discussion of the exhibition of images and 26,000 lantern slides. Road and in sore need of more college One of the contributors to the fund photographs and drawings that made In addition, there was an obligation buildings. was one ofWilliam Lowther’s many sons, growing the old meetings at Burlington Gardens to maintain the map room for public as A‘drop in Negotiations began in1919 and now Major-General Sir Cecil Lowther, into a social function”. well as private use. dragged on until the end of1921 who was brought up in the house. He collections Even before the war, in February1914, This was as a result of a Government the bucket’ with interminable discussions about wrote from his home in Queen Street, Lord Curzon had said there was a need grant to provide facilities for the public to covenants and rights until Imperial cited Mayfair in November 1928: The war had brought a halt for a1,200 seat lecture theatre of the view maps–first given at the time of the The huge garden of Lowther ‘difficulties’and refused to proceed “Having seen Lowther Lodge to any plans for expansion Society’s own, though the size of the Crimean war and ended only in1998. Lodge was a major asset. with the sale, even though they had built when I was a boy of 6 or7... hall was an aspiration that was toned But in the early1920s, there was far agreed to buy the site for £48,000. I am much interested in the present and the much-needed down considerably over the years. from enough money to undertake It originally ran for more than The Society now hoped to get plan of building a lecture hall where lecture hall. Then in1919 the Though the war had brought activity major projects and the situation was 450ft down Exhibition Road £50,000 for the land from a developer the old stables and gravel tennis Government announced that to a virtual standstill, in the decade not helped when the accounts clerk and was some 200ft at who wanted to build high-quality flats; court stood. the Burlington Gardens Civil to1930 pressure on facilities became absconded with £780 in1923.(He was its widest. William Lowther a license to do so had been granted in My wife having had three intense. sentenced to a year’s hard labour.) 1913 though there were still options to operations in just overtwo years, Service Theatre, which had It was not just a new lecture hall Just as an appeal fund had been himself had sold off the build private houses there. I cannot afford as much as I would been used for many years, that was needed, better facilities for launched to move the Society into bottom section on the corner Other prospective buyers put forward like at the moment. would no longer be available Fellows and proper storage areas for Lowther Lodge, another was needed of Prince Consort Road to schemes of varying oddness, from a But I enclose an order on my bank as it was being turned into the collections were also necessary. to secure the new extension. By1928, finance the construction ‘quiet private hospital’to an ice rink. for £20 for the next four years. The President had issued a the President’s appeal had reached Tennis courts were proposed.Then I know it is only a drop in the bucket, an examination hall.The memorandum in1920 suggesting that £20,000– all that was needed now of his home. The buildings Dr Georges Bresin wanted to construct but it is all I can do”. Society had to find alternative as men and women had served all over was fora large part ofthe garden to on the site now house the a French Quarter containing cafes and Such drops in the bucket have helped lecture premises. the world in the war, they would become be sold off. Jamaican High Commission. shops ‘with first-class flats in the to sustain the Society since1830.

14 15 1928 1930 The old stables ‘Hot and cold corner’ before statues installed

Frederick Bayliss Nightingale had been of the1870s building. Blending old an assistant to Sir Edwin Lutyens, the The rather bleak face on the corner designerofNew Delhi, the Cenotaph, and of Exhibition Road, partially relieved with the new dozens of country houses. Some saw by the imposing statues of Livingstone Lutyens’influence in the new extension. and Shackleton (cabbies call this‘hot The major challenge for the Invitations to tender went out to ten and cold corner’) was deliberately architects of the new extension of London’s principal builders.The left as blank as possible to prevent contract went to the lowest, Holland, traffic noise. of1930 was to make its exterior Hannen and Cubitts who quoted The theatre was given its own and the new public spaces £36,439. Work began in July 1929 on entrance in Exhibition Road, for ease blend with what was originally the site of the old stables. of access and also so that other a flamboyant private house Though the extension is quite organisations could use it. different in style to the old building, There was now forthe first time built for a rich politician. In the it reflects the fashion for between- a properly designed library and book opinion of the architectural the-wars classicism, in sympathy with store, with a new map room, cloak- press they succeeded. The Norman Shaw’s design. For instance, rooms, an ambulatory (for meetings commission went to the the basic handmade construction and discussions during receptions), materials from the Binfield Brick and Council Room on the first floorand London architects Kennedy Tile Works were chosen with great care secretary and clerk’s room. and Nightingale, specialists in to match the originals and the windows It had taken nearly two decades for country houses and schools. facing the garden also reflect the style the Society to achieve its aspirations.

17 The Society 1930-2000

Delegates from geographical societies all over the world came to the opening ceremony of the new extension on October 21st,1930. It was presided over by the Duke of (right, seated centre of the podium) later GeorgeVI and father of Elizabeth II.The next decades, apart from the war years, were ones of steady growth and acquisition to the collections, which led to the burden on storage areas becoming intense. More map presses were delivered in the1970s and1980sand two Great attention was paid to the sound The classical bays and arches of the The1930s extension provided a Map The Society was very keen on what it Many momentous decisions have qualities of the1930 Theatre, which new Library gave the room a clean Reading Room in addition to the map called conversaziones – opportunities been taken in the Council Room rooms were converted in the seated 750 people. Its diamond shape contemporary look. The bays with their room, originally the Lowther’s drawing formembers to talk, drink tea and where the Society’s course is charted, basement for1,000 metres provided good reflecting surfaces. An writing tables gave readers some privacy room. Most of the maps were stored coffee and examine exhibitions of including the decision to recommend of mobile shelving. The other acoustic consultant prescribed heavily for their research, though making it in the basement, with the most valuable photographs and curios.There was to Fellows that the RGS and IBG should major task, guided by the then upholstered seats and when audiences difficult for the librarian to supervise in a strongroom.The oldest is a German a small Ambulatory for this purpose merge. The large chair is a duplicate of director DrJohn Hemming, were small, a thick curtain could be users. The ample oak shelving in each atlas of the1480s, once owned by in Lowther Lodge and this was greatly the throne presented in1891to Mwanga, pulled across under the balcony. But the bay helped to accommodate the books William Morris, one of the leaders extended by the arched additions of the last independent King of Uganda, was major roof repairs at a cost state-of-the-art acoustics of the1930s as did the adjacent store above the of the arts and crafts movement so 1930 – still used as a display space, by the Imperial British East Africa of £180,768. were no longer acceptable 60 years later. lecture theatre. warmly embraced by Alice Lowther. corridor and break-out space. Company.

18 19 1930 1932 1951 1953 1953 1971 1978 1980 1992 1995 New theatre opened Shackleton statue unveiled British Maps and Livingstone statue unveiled Planning the Gold Medal for Drawing office cen 150th anniversary Railings replaced Merger wi Charts Exhibition Everest expedition Neil Armstrong th IBG

tenary

part were Lewis Leakey, Lord Lugard, During a day of celebrations on Sir Martin Conway, Sir Halford Mackinder June 9TH 1980, the Queen and the Duke and JM Wordie. of Edinburgh toured the building and The statue of the explorer Sir Ernest met the staff, Fellows and guests. They Shackleton, dressed in heavy polar were able to see some of the prize items clothing, which overlooks Exhibition in the Society’s collections. The150th Road from its alcove in the exterior wall anniversary was also marked with a of the theatre, was executed by Charles series of lectures on exploration and Sargeant Jagger. In1953 the otheralcove another following the pattern of ‘our overlooking Kensington Gore was filled habitable planet’.

Three days of celebrations marked the section illustrated triangulation methods. Many illustrious names adorn the During Lord Jellicoe’s presidency Society’s centenary in 1930, which The conquest of Everest by Hillary Medal Boards lining the lobby walls the Society merged with the Institute coincided with the opening of the long and Tensing, under the leadership of of the Kensington Gore entrance, of British Geographers (IBG). When awaited extension and the new theatre. Lord Hunt,(who was later to become a including astronaut Neil Armstrong the mergerproposals were put to a Among the first lectures in the theatre president of the Society), was planned (above) and Sir David Attenborough ballot of the IBG membership in1995 was a series on ‘the habitable globe’ in our building and organised jointly by The drawing office, first set up in more than70% voted in favour of the and short talks on notable incidents in the Himalayan committee of the RGS 1878 to provide a valuable service RGS-IBG merger, as did RGS Fellows this history of British exploration. Among and the Alpine Club.The expedition of maps and other material, was still at an SGM; the result is a world leading the geographers and explorers taking planning model remains in our archives. going strong100 years later. geographical Society.

with the statue of David Livingstone. The railings facing Hyde Park were During the1951Festival of Britain the designed personally by Lord Curzon. Society and the Institute of Navigation He disliked the original wall which put on a public exhibition of British maps Lowther had built in front of the house and charts in the ambulatory, with the and had it knocked down to make the help of the Ordnance Survey and other Society more accessible. But his railings bodies. It showed the development of were themselves cut down in1941when maps over the previous 50 years and metal was required for the war effort. also had a small historical section which They were eventually restored with the included the Molyneaux globe of 1592, help of donations and unveiled by the the first globe made in England. The OS Prince ofWales in July1992.

20 21 Better seating Better lighting Air cooling Audio and video

The lecture theatre – one of the largest and most popular in London – is a very important asset. Apart from its pivotal role within the Society, its hire to other organisations for conferences, meetings and debates is a vital source of income, and for that the Society has to compete with other venues. A survey of the theatre in 2000 found that the1930s seatinghad become worn, uncomfortable and dangerous, and much of it had poor viewing angles. The speakers for the audio system were too large, the lighting poor, the screen too small and there was a lot of noise from the ventilation system. To remedy these shortcomings, London architect Craig Downie proposed a radical refit of the Grade II* listed theatre – retaining its diamond shape and the wood panelling, gold lettering and doors, but providing better seating, lighting, audio and video facilities, air cooling for the first The OndaatjeTheatre time, and improved wheelchair access. Thanks largely to the great generosity of Sir Christopher Ondaatje, after whom The lecture theatre of1930 had served the Society well for the theatre is now named, the £1.76m decades, but it became increasingly outdated in terms of project went ahead.The theatre also facilities and audience comfort.To continue to attract top provided a wonderful way of marking quality speakers and large audiences, it needed to be brought the contribution to our 2004 appeal of up-to-date.Its refurbishment, in 2001, was the first step around 500 donors who paid £1,000 each to dedicate individual chairs to in a £9m project to make the Society more welcoming by themselves or others; a plaque on the enhancing its public areas and access to its collections. back of each seat records their names.

22 Exciting Relevant Accessible Inclusive 1998 1999 2001 2002 2004 First Society strategy Fundraising begins Ondaatje Theatre re-opens Building work be £11m target met

gins

Although a number of the Society’s activities and events were open to the Raising public, access to the holdings of the library, archives and photographic the money collection was largely reserved for Accessible Fellows and a small number of scholars. It has been the most ambitious Much of it was difficult to find, buried in a warren of rooms in the basement fund raising project in the and upper floors and stored under Society’s history– to raise unsatisfactory environmental conditions. £11m to transform the Society But the ‘Unlocking the Archives’ with an iconic building which project was far more than giving people offers a welcoming public access to things that had been very difficult to see in the past. face to the world whilst at It was a way of using a sensitive new the same time providing building attached to the old to present an improved facilities for Fellows exciting, transparent and inclusive face and members.It has also to the public – building on our tradition and opening up the Society visually, been about raising the intellectually and physically to all profile of geography and those interested in learning about our emphasising its importance. geographical heritage and its relevance to understanding and managing the The capital appeal had fouraims: to £5.04m in 2001and the rest was donors, as does the Niarchos Everest Meeting 21st century needs modern world. refurbish the rather shabby theatre; raised from Fellows and members Room.There were, of course, thousands The combination of new facilities, to unlock the archives for public access; and charitable trusts including the of individuals whose help was equally The Society as it neared the 21st century was a paradox: exhibitions, online cataloguing, and and to provide more funds for research Weston Family, the Clothworkers’ invaluable – for instance Simon Murray much-needed environmentally and scientific expeditions and for Company and the Foyle Foundation. and Pen Hadow’s sponsored trek its remit, as always, covered the whole world, but some controlled storage facilities for the new initiatives. The Foyle Reading Room recognises to the South Pole brought in another described it as inward-looking. For others it held a great sense Society’s older maps and images, offers The majorpart of the project was the contribution of the latter and £240,000. of tradition and awe. The Society’s Trustees sought to retain everyone from schoolchildren to the ‘Unlocking the Archives’– at a cost of a plaque in the reception area Donations from more than 1,500 this sense of tradition while modernising and embracing the longest serving Fellow (who became £7.2m. The Council agreed to the final recognises the Weston Family and all Fellows and members totalled around world outside more fully through the Society’s first strategic one in1929) the opportunity to benefit proposal in June1999, recognising that other major donors. The donors’ book £1m. from enhanced access and the informed this project brought with it the need for is in the Foyle Reading Room. The fundraising effort took five plan in1998. The task of implementing the developments was interpretation and presentation of the a challenging fundraising task. The Sunley and Drayson training years and reached the target of £11m. led by Director, Dr Rita Gardner, and her senior staff. Society’s treasures. The Heritage Lottery Fund granted suites mark the generosity of other Building work began in autumn 2002.

24 25 Integrity of existing Reading Room looks Pavilion opens on 75% of Society’s 1999 2000 2001 2002 2004 buildings retained out onto garden to Exhibition Road garden retained Masterplan Stage1application Final application Building work New extensio to Lottery Fund approved starts opened

n

“We had been working for fouryears on the new library for Corpus Christi, Cambridge, but when that was put on hold for financial reasons, we got the commission from the Society which was wonderful, as we were the youngest of the seven practices competing. We did a masterplan forthe entire building, then began with the refurbishment of the theatre, and followed it with the new education centre and the study centre both of which were created as part of the ‘Unlocking the Archives’ project. Joining a modern glass pavilion to a so that only about a quarterof the There was never any intention to Careful Grade II* listed Victorian house and garden was lost to the new building. Meet the create a pastiche of the Norman Shaw a1930s extension required careful The reading room was designed to house in the pavilion on Exhibition Road planning planning – and visits from English have a very low environmental impact. architect – the design had to be contemporary Heritage and Westminster City Council It relies on natural ventilation to the to fit in with the new direction the The major challenge for planning department.The local garden and a flowering vine provides Craig Downie is a Scottish Society was taking in opening itself architects StudioDownie was residents’group – the shading around the clerestory window; architect who founded his more widely to the public. Association – also took a close interest, the only air conditioning needed is for The site was very tight, so we had to to design a contemporary as did theVictorian Society and the 20th the archival storage. London practice StudioDownie maximise the usable space, burrowing building that would respect Century Society. The temperature is remarkably in1994. It has worked on a into the garden to build the reading room. the sensitive heritage of There are six different colours of bricks constant.When the judges for an wide range of projects. His I was a bit concerned that the Norman Shaw’s Lowther in Lowther Lodge; the extension has five architectural competition visited the study centre for the Society foyer would be too small, but now I’m different colours. room, the outside temperature was delighted with the result. Lodge while providing a new Restrictive covenants imposed by the 36ºC but one of the readers told them received the Judges’Special The foyer is one of my favourite areas, exciting public face for the 1851Commissioners meant that the new that, if anything, at10ºC lower, the Award for a particularly not only because of the ‘telescope’of the Society on Exhibition Road. extension could not go too close to room was too cool. inspirational building in the view through the garden to the Albert The entrance pavilion and existing buildings. The long glass pavilion forms a 2005 British Construction Hall beyond, but also because of the Working in a restricted space, the very effective sound barrier between diamond-shaped concrete of the ceiling. display space represent only architects cleverly manipulated the the garden and traffic on Exhibition Industry Awards and was This work has been published in 20% of the new building, as levels in the garden, creating a lovely Road, creating a quiet and peaceful commended by the Royal architectural books and has led to other much of it is underground. terrace with the reading room beneath, reading room. Institute of British Architects. major projects, which is very gratifying.”

26 27 Autumn 2002 Winter 2002 Spring 2003 Summer 2003 Autumn 2003 Winter 2003 Spring 2004 Summer 2004 Work begins Ground broken Piling commences Base concrete slab laid Internal rooms refurbish Basement and Pavilion Collections returned Official openin and re-purposed construction completed

g to site ed

Heavy machinery moved on to the site In the old map room, the floor was Building the as builders Durkan Pudelek began a taken up for data and electrical wiring complex two-year project to build the and to install aircooling so that the new extension new extension on a very tight building space could be re-purposed for flexible site. A huge piling rig sank supports to use as the Education Centre. This large For some years, the view from a depth of15 to 20 metres. airy room was originally the drawing The gravel was interspersed with room of Lowther Lodge and then the the south face of Lowther unexpected pockets of soft clays, which map room of the Society for 90 years. Lodge had been of a patch put paid to the original plan of butting Removal of the floor-to-ceiling shelving, of scrubby grass bordered the basement of the Foyle reading room which had caused the room to look by a gravel terrace. The lawn and the archive storage up against the very full, revealed the detail beneath. was sometimes used to erect a marquee for functions, Another challenge was the building of What are now the Sunley and Drayson for storage in two warehouses. Only the but there remained a real the new foyer for the Ondaatje Theatre, rooms had been let out for 20 years to picture library, books in the old library as several structural pillars in the old tenants who had their own access to the and those hidden away in stacks above opportunity to make much building had to be removed to allow for rooms, which were boarded off from the theatre remained.The rest of the more of the space.That was the construction of new cloakroom areas. the rest of the Society. The project not collections stayed in warehouses for to happen in the autumn This severely limited access for several only refurbished the rooms and made two years as work went on, finally being of 2002, after several years months to the recently refurbished them available again, but also opened returned only weeks before the official theatre. Work finished only days before up the area to give more ground floor opening of the new extension in June of detailed planning to make the Society’s first annual conference space as a break-out area from the 2004.The event itself made headlines in the best of this sensitive site. to be held at its headquarters in 2003. theatre and to extend the ambulatory. the national press and featured on TV.

foundations of the1874 house. It was The basement in the original building, moved several feet away, though it has which was once the servants’ quarters a subterranean link. also had to be upgraded. Some areas One of the most difficult aspects needed waterproofing, and new lighting was achieving good quality interior and floors were installed to give better finishes on the poured concrete working conditions for staff and and making sure the basement was improved storage conditions. While this waterproof. In addition, careful design, was going on,100 tons of the collection engineering and natural ventilation material, documenting 500 years of ensured the new building meets high geographical progress, had to be lifted environmental standards. out of the basement and taken away

28 29 Entrance Stores Terrace Garden

Openness was a key driverforthe New, exciting spaces project – access not just for passers-by, but also for community groups, schools, travellers and anyone with a curiosity about the way the world works. That openness starts from the new entrance with its stunning views of the Albert Hall and the south façade of Lowther Lodge. Underneath the pavilion lies the 70-seat Foyle reading room and two large climate-controlled storage areas forthe most fragile and precious of the Society’s collection of around two million items. Some can be viewed only in the library’s consultation rooms, one of which is named after Constantine Niarchos, who climbed Everest in1999. Between the glass pavilion and the Albert Hall, the delightful landscaped garden is on two levels – the extended gravel terrace atop the Foyle Reading Room and the peaceful green lawn, now some two metres lower. The warm south-facing walls of Lowther Lodge protect tender species in our geographical garden while The 20 metre long transparent ‘geographical’ glass screen temperate woodland plants are etched by Eleanor Long bounding Exhibition Road gives the clustered in the north-facing beds. Around150,000 people a year now thousands who pass by on this busy street the opportunity enjoy using ourbuilding – a figure to peep into the elegant display space within the pavilion several times greater than in the1990s. – tempting them in to take free advantage of the many With the help of the construction team, the architect and engineers, our exhibitions mounted here with the Society’s resources and advisors and donors, we were opened giving them a taste of the riches within. to the world on June 8TH 2004.

30 31 Go and explore... Glass balustrade Gold Medal winners Statues on the corner Map on the wall Sculptural installation Where to find these surprises along Exhibition Road in the old Kensington of Kensington Gore of the Ambulatory in The Pavilion Gore entrance and Exhibition Road Brickwork above the Tile in the fireplace Portrait in the Main Hall Livingstone’s tree Map on the wall Kensington Gore entrance of the main hall in the Ambulatory of the Map Room Exploring the building The Society has one of the most notable geographical collections in the world, charting the progress of the discovery of our world and acting as an exceptional repository of knowledge 2004 Etched Glass balustrade 1930 The distinguished remembered 1953 Statues on ‘hot and cold corner’ 1608 Hondius map of the world 2004 Changing exhibitions in The Pavilion about people, places and The 20 metre long glass balustrade which fronts the pavilion at Medal winners memorialised by the Kensington Gore The London cabbies call it ‘hot and cold corner’ because of the The Flemish cartographer Jodocus Hondius produced this The Pavilion hosts constantly changing free exhibitions by the street level is etched with images from the Society’s collection. entrance – and in the theatre, the names of famous scientists, statues of David Livingstone (1953) and Ernest Shackleton copper-plate wall map of the world made up of 16 main Society, by external organisations and by the Society’s sponsors, environments. It is the work of artist Eleanor Long. travellers and explorers adorn the wall panelling. (1932) on the outer walls of the OndaatjeTheatre. sheets on the Mercator projection. engaging visitors of all ages and interests in geography. Of the two million items in the collections, one million are maps – the oldest a version of Ptolemy’s Cosmographia, dating back to1486 and once owned by William Morris. There are a quarterof a million books, half a million images and a rich resource manuscripts, diaries, letters and artefacts. The artefacts include the sextant taken by Darwin on the Beagle; David Livingstone’s first sketch ofVictoria Falls; and an oxygen set used on the British Everest assault in1953. The Society runs regular Collections

Showcases to explain the materials 1874 Brickwork sunflower 1875 The original fireplace 1914 Portrait of Lord Curzon 1873 Bark from Livingstone’s tree 1644 Chinese map of the world and to highlight the treasures. The initials of the original owners, William Lowther and his wife The fireplace was designed by the architect Norman Shaw A grateful Society commissioned this painting by John Singer A carved section of the tree from the shores of Lake Bangweulu, A woodcut map ofthe world on six sheets, a copy ofthe1602 Alice, surmounted by a sunflower, one of the symbols of the and its ceramic tiles were painted by Mrs Lowtherand her Sargent at the end of Lord Curzon’s presidency, during which Central Africa, under which Dr David Livingstone’s heart was original by Matteo Ricci, a Jesuit priest, one of the first Western E [email protected] fashionable arts and crafts movement. daughter with fanciful family coats of arms. he moved the Society into Lowther Lodge . originally buried in a tin box. scholars to live in China.

32 33 1 Doug Scott 3 Cliff Pereira 5 Rita Gardner 7 David Hayman 9 David Riviere Fellow Fellow Director Fellow Head of Finance Mountaineer Cultural historian Chair, Regions Committee and Services

Michael Palin 2 Nick Crane 4 Christopher Ondaatje 6 Pat Laughton 8 John Hemming 10 Suzi Harby President Fellow Fellow Long-serving staff member Fellow Fellow Author and broadcaster Honorary Vice President Director1975-96 Speaker

My favourite 1 3 5 7 9 place... Our iconic building stirs feelings of deep affection in the thousands of people who pass through the doors of the Society every year. Almost everyone has a part of the building that they cherish as My favourite room in the splendid original Society building is The Foyle Reading Room, because this is the place where The new entrance lifts my spirits every time I enter the building. The old library with its series of reading and study recesses, Looking across the garden from the south-west corner is the somewhere special. Here are the Council Room – but not the outside waiting area. So many I find the most spectaculargems – insights to forgotten or Opening up the wonderful views along the terrace and south ideal work areas where you could get on without distractions but best place to see the three ages of the building (1874,1930, and times I sat in trepidation to be ushered inside for scrutiny as to hidden worlds, in words, images, maps and objects. façade of Lowther Lodge to the Royal Albert Hall, it is a superb with advice always close at hand. It always felt friendly as if the 2004) in harmony. It is where the builders’ offices were during some of those places. whether I should be given a grant towards my next expedition. piece of modern design and reflects our innovation. ghosts of all those who had worked there before encouraged you. construction and where I spent many hours with an hard hat on!

2 4 6 8 10

Of all the wonderful things to be found at Lowther Lodge nothing The new exhibition space on Exhibition Road because it’s a The theatre to which I have given my name represents for me My favourite room in the old building is the Geography The old library, purpose-built at the centenary in1930.This The lecture theatre with its majestic wood panelling and in moves the hairs on the back of my neck quite like the honours brilliant example of modern architecture which announces that the essence of the Society – extraordinary speakers from the Outdoors office as it was the Lowther children’s schoolroom was the nicest place in London to do research, because it has gold lettering around the top, names of those famous explorers; board.The list of Gold MedalWinners is a roll-call of heroes from the RGS-IBG is a forward-thinking forum which puts geographical worlds of science, exploration and travel telling of discoveries and the balcony afforded wonderful views of Hyde Park with the overhead daylight and each bay had all the books one wanted Stanley, Markham, Scott, Murchison, Speke, but to name a few. my childhood to the present day. Here is achievement writ large. knowledge on the metaphorical – and literal – thoroughfare. and inspiring people to understand and care for their planet. opportunity for fresh air. on shelves around the reader. It gives you nothing but inspiration to go and explore the world.

34 35 Next About the steps Society

Our President, Michael Palin, Picture credits The Royal Geographical Society The majority of the images in this brochure are from the RGS-IBG archives. (withIBG)is a leading world centre launched an appeal in 2009 Cover Pavilion, Exhbition Road © James Morris Page1 Michael Palin © John Swannell for geographers and geographical to raise £860,000 for two Page 2 & 33 Lord Curzon by John Singer Sargent, James Lowther courtesy of Wiki Commons learning dedicated to the development Page3 Satellite image © Google Maps major projects at our London Page6 Norman Shaw © Royal Academy of Arts, London and promotion of knowledge together home. We need to carry out Pages 16 & 20 Ondaatje Theatre © Central News Ltd with its application to the challenges Page 21 Drawing office © Chris Ware / Keystone Press Agency facing society and the environment. long overdue repairs on the Page 23 Ondaatje Theatre © Jonathan Bagge Page 24 Archives © John Freeman Founded in1830, it has been one of north face of Lowther Lodge, Page 29 Education Centre, Sunley Room, Foyle Reading Room, Terrace © James Morris the most active learned societies ever Page 30 Exhibition © David Pearson which is now nearly140 years Page 31 Entrance, Terrace, Foyle Reading Room © James Morris since.Today, the Society supports old. We also want to create Page 32 Glass balustrade © James Morris and promotes geographical research, Page 34 Michael Palin by kind permission of John Swannell a new members’ room out Doug Scott by kind permission of The Cumberland News education, fieldwork and expeditions, Sir Christopher Ondaatje by kind permission of Sir Christopher Ondaatje and geography in society; it also of the old library in the1930s Page 35 David Hayman by kind permission of David Hayman, John Hemming by kind permission of John Hemming advises on policy issues. The Society part of the building. Every effort has been made to trace the copyright holders of materials used in this publication. has substantial Collections, accessible If any copyright holder has been overlooked, the Society should be pleased to be informed. to all.

The plans retain the classical design Reference Our priority is to restore the north face of This repair work will complete this The Society is a charity with a Lowther Lodge to its original glory and round of external conservation of of the original room with its arches Mill, H. R. The Record of the Royal Geographical Society 1830-1930. London; RGS 1930. Walker, Lynne. The Royal Geographical Society's House; An Architectural History. Geographical Journal, Vol 146 No.2 (July 1980) pp 178-189. broad-based membership that and bays and will create a welcoming preserve it against future deterioration the building, which started with the supports its mission and aims. environment with eight informal lounge Research support so essential repairs must be undertaken, replacement of the roof covering of The Society welcomes all those with areas and six private meeting rooms. Louise Ireland, Lisa Miller, David Riviere, Sarah Strong, Joy Wheeler at an estimated cost of £470,000. the1930s building in1994 and the an enthusiasm for geography to join. With help from members and Design AtelierWorks The failing balcony on the first floor, repair of the south façade in 2003/4. Please contact the Membership Office Fellows, and the generosity of a number Print Route peeling paintwork and the cracked Our other project is to refurbish T +44 (0)20 75913080 tall chimney stack, supported with the elegant and much loved first floor of trusts and foundations, we had raised This report was produced using iron bands,are there for everyone to Nightingale Room, named after one £560,000 by April 2010 and hope to electricity generated from 100% renewable To find out more visit us see. More insidious are the chipped of the architects of the 1930 extension complete the projects by late 2011. sources and 100% vegetable oil based inks. W www.rgs.org ornamental brickwork and tiles, failing and formerly the Society’s library. We Warm thanks to those who have leaded lights to the windows, and will transform it into a much-needed already donated; we encourage others the need for substantial re-pointing space for members to meet, work and to support these important projects if to brickwork. relax. To do this will cost £390,000. you are able to do so.

36 About this publication

“For almost a hundred years, explorers, travellers, writers, scientists, students and geography enthusiasts young and old have come to Lowther Lodge to celebrate, exchange wisdom, and learn about ourworld and the planet on which life depends. Their dreams and hopes and collective curiosities have shaped a character which few buildings can match and given Lowther Lodge a value beyond measure. Embodied here is the past, the present and the future of geography.”

Michael Palin President, 2009-2012

Entrance is on Exhibition Road Nearest Tube station Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) 1 Kensington Gore London SW7 2AR

T +44 (0)20 7591 3000 F +44 (0)20 7591 3001 E [email protected] W www.rgs.org