2-480-671 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Victoria Embankment, showing Somerset House, London, 1887. The Victoria Embankment is part of the Thames Embankment, designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette in the 1860s to accommodate a modern sewer system as well as providing a thoroughfare along the river and relieving traffic congestion on Fleet Street and the Strand. First built for Lord Protector Somerset in 1547-1550, Somerset House was the first Renaissance palace in England. It was given to Anne of Denmark in 1603 and was known as Denmark House until 1645. It was substantially rebuilt to designs by Sir William Chambers in the late 18th century, at which time the Thames flowed up to the palace's frontage. Somerset House was the home of many royal societies in the 18th and 19th centuries. From 1836-1973 it housed the offices of the General Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages.