Archives research guide: The Savoy and Savoy Place
An interesting history of The Savoy from its medieval beginnings and how it has changed over the centuries to make way for buildings that we see today including Savoy Place, home of the IET in London.
The present Savoy Place was designed by Stephen Salter and H Percy Adams, architects, as a joint Examination Hall for the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Surgeons. The site however, has a much longer and more notorious history!
The beginnings
The area of the Savoy manor takes its name from Peter, Count of Savoy, who was given the land by Henry III on 12 February 1246. He built a palace on this site but after his death in 1268 the property was left to a hospice in France. However, his niece, Eleanor of Provence, Queen to Henry III, bought back the land. It was then given to her son, Edmund Plantagenet, the first Earl of Lancaster.
Successive Earls of Lancaster extended the site and furnished the Savoy Palace in wonderful style, culminating in the efforts of John of Gaunt, using his booty from wars with France and Spain.
During the Peasant's Revolt of 1381, both John of Gaunt and his palace became a target. A crowd marched on London, burnt down the palace and destroyed its contents. The palace was not restored but rather modified to serve as a prison for the Duchy during the 15th century.
In 1509 Henry VII left a substantial amount of money in his will for a hospital to accommodate 100 beds for the lodging of poor folk to receive a bath, a night's rest and medical care.
The hospital was completed in 1517 when the executors of Henry's will named it the Hospital of Henry VII King of England of the Savoy. Despite its good intentions, mismanagement and corruption sent the hospital into decline. For the majority of the 17th century the Savoy Hospital was not put to its intended use, housing wounded soldiers and eventually being transformed into a military barracks and prison.
Regeneration
The area further deteriorated with houses appearing in the Strand, in Duchy Lane and on the riverside. Religious institutions also appeared such as a school of Jesuits and the area also provided retreat for the families of poor French Protestants. In 1723 a German Lutheran Church was built on what is now part of the site occupied by the IET, this was demolished in 1877 to make way for the Victorian Embankment.
Parts of ancient Savoy remained until the beginning of the 19th century but most buildings were swept away for the construction of Waterloo Bridge (1811) and the Thames Embankment (1862). With this regeneration the Savoy was finally returning to a place of prestige.
The IET at Savoy Place
The building now occupied by the IET was originally built as a joint Examination Hall for the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Surgeons, completed in 1889 and designed to accommodate 600 candidates. The foundation stone, which can be seen at the front of the building, was laid by Queen Victoria on 24 March 1886. It was further adapted in May 1887 to build classrooms, laboratories and a lecture theatre.
On 1 June 1909 the Institution purchased the remaining seventy-six years of the ninety-nine year lease, held by the Duchy of Lancaster by the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons.
The Institution had been founded over 15 years before, in 1871, as the Society of Telegraph Engineers. As the application of electrical engineering spread beyond telegraphy to power, lighting and other areas, the name was changed to the Institution of Electrical Engineers.
It was granted a Royal Charter in 1921. By the early 1900s the Institution had over five thousand members and was collecting funds for the purchase of its own building. It was impressed by the Examination Hall, the President stating 'there is no finer site in London'.
The 1909 alterations, carried out by H Percy Adams and Charles Holden, included renovation of the entrance hall, the lecture theatre and the creation of a library from the long room on the first floor. The entrance hall was lined with white marble and decorated with bronze friezes. The lecture theatre was panelled in Cuban mahogany, matching the interior doors on the ground floor, with carved cartouches designed by the sculptor W S Frith.
The original work can still be seen today, although both rooms have been adapted for modern use. In the late 1950s, Adams Holden and Pearson altered the façade and added the top storey and entrance. More information is available on the individual rooms in Savoy Place.
Savoy Hill House
Behind Savoy Place is the building originally known as Lancaster House, later Savoy Mansions. It was built in 1880 by the Savoy Building Company and had a number of occupants: it housed ale and stout merchants, the National Providence League, architects, solicitors and in 1884 Turkish baths were licensed in the basement.
In 1923, the newly formed British Broadcasting Company was offered spare accommodation at Savoy Place for its broadcasts. It began leasing seven rooms and quickly expanded, taking over the West Wing by the end of the year. The BBC renamed the latter building Savoy Hill and '2LO' broadcast from there until 1932. Savoy Hill was bought by the Institution in 1984 and is now known as Savoy Hill House.
Savoy Place today
Since its construction in the late 19th century the building, now occupied by the IET, has undergone much refurbishment. Most of Savoy Place is now dedicated to conference facilities and member activities. The Institution has over 150,000 members and much of its administrative staff is based at Michael Faraday House, a purpose-built office in Stevenage.
Visitors are welcome to look round the building and attend the Institution's public lectures. The land is still owned by the present Duke of Lancaster, the Queen, who is also the Patron of the IET.
