Queen Mary's Steps

In the grounds of the Ministry of Defence, on the Victoria Embankment side, there are a set of steps with a buttress and wall.

They are not an old entrance to the basement of the building, which now stands behind, but rather a rebuilt part of a terrace, originally built by Sir Christopher Wren, and were part of Whitehall Palace.

It's impossible to visualise, now, but in the not too distant past, the River Thames was much wider and this would have been where it met the land.

Brief History 

In 1691, Sir Christopher Wren designed for Queen Mary II a terrace overlooking the Thames in front of the old river wall of Whitehall Palace built by King Henry VIII. This terrace projecting about 70 feet into the banks of the river, was about 280 feet long. As it involved the destruction of an earlier private landing stage a curving flight of steps was made at each end to give access from the Royal Apartments to the State Barge.

In 1939, excavations for the new Government Building revealed the river wall of the Tudor Palace, the later terrace wall and its Northern flight of steps. The upper portion of the steps has been repaired and can be seen. A reconstructed length of the terrace can be seen immediately to the left of the steps, and a rebuilt section of the river wall behind and above the terrace.