The Mall () is a road in the
City of Westminster,
central London, between
Buckingham Palace at its western end and
Trafalgar Square via
Admiralty Arch to the east. Near the east end at Trafalgar Square and
Whitehall it is met by Horse Guards Road and
Spring Gardens where the
Metropolitan Board of Works
The Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was the principal instrument of local government in a wide area of Middlesex, Surrey, and Kent, defined by the Metropolis Management Act 1855, from December 1855 until the establishment of the London Coun ...
and
London County Council
London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kn ...
were once based. It is closed to traffic on Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays and on ceremonial occasions.
History
The Mall began as a field for playing
pall-mall. In the 17th and 18th centuries it was a fashionable promenade, bordered by trees. It was envisioned as a ceremonial route in the early 20th century, matching the creation of similar ceremonial routes in other cities such as
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...
,
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
,
Oslo,
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
,
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
,
Vienna and
Washington, D.C. These routes were intended to be used for major national ceremonies. As part of the development – designed by
Aston Webb – a new façade was constructed for Buckingham Palace, and the
Victoria Memorial was erected.
The Victoria Memorial is immediately before the gates of the Palace, whilst Admiralty Arch at the far end leads into Trafalgar Square. The length of The Mall from where it joins
Constitution Hill at the Victoria Memorial end to Admiralty Arch is exactly .
St. James's Park
St James's Park is a park in the City of Westminster, central London. It is at the southernmost tip of the St James's area, which was named after a leper hospital dedicated to St James the Less. It is the most easterly of a near-continuous ch ...
is on the south side of The Mall, opposite
Green Park and
St James's Palace, on the north side. Running off The Mall at its eastern end is
Horse Guards Parade, where the
Trooping the Colour ceremony is held.
The surface of The Mall is coloured red to give the effect of a giant red carpet leading up to Buckingham Palace. This colour was obtained using synthetic
iron oxide pigment from
Deanshanger Oxide Works (Deanox), which was created using the Deanox Process devised by chemist Ernest Lovell. It was
David Eccles's decision, as Minister of Works from 1951 to 1954, to make The Mall red.
On
Victory in Europe Day (8 May 1945), the Palace was the centre of British celebrations, with the
King,
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
and
Princess Elizabeth (the future queen) and
Princess Margaret appearing on the balcony, with the Palace's
blacked-out windows behind them, to the cheers from a vast crowd on The Mall.
During
state visits, the monarch and the visiting head of state are escorted in a state carriage up The Mall and the street is decorated with
Union Flags and the flags of the visiting head of state's country. During the Golden Jubilee celebrations of
Queen Elizabeth II in 2002, over one million people packed The Mall to watch the public displays and the appearance of the
Royal Family on the palace balcony.
Scheduled
buses are not allowed to use the Mall and go past Buckingham Palace except by permission of the
monarch. This has only happened twice in history; in 1927 and in 1950.
Events
The annual
London Marathon finishes on The Mall. It was also the start and finish line for
the marathon course, the
road race and the
race walks of the
2012 Olympic and
Paralympic Games. The women's marathon took place on 5 August and the men's Olympic marathon on 12 August. The men's 20 km walk took place on 4 August, with the men's 50 km walk and women's 20 km walk took place on 11 August. The Paralympic marathons were held on 9 September. In recent years the Mall has also been repeatedly used as the finishing line for UK cycling events, including the 2012 Olympics Road Races, the Ride London Prudential Classic in 2013, and stage 3 of the
2014 Tour de France. The opening ceremony for the
2019 Cricket World Cup was held on The Mall.
During the
Trooping the Colour events and other big National events, the Mall is used.
On 8 September 2022, while the Mall was cordoned off, a heckler jumped the barriers and ran towards the middle. Police officers managed to tackle him to the ground. He was arrested and thrown into a police van. Moments later a convoy went by, carrying
King Charles III and
Camilla, Queen Consort.
Potential assassination attempt
In 1981,
Marcus Sarjeant fired six blank shots from a
starting pistol at
Queen Elizabeth II as she and her entourage were making their way down the road on horseback for
Trooping the Colour. Sarjeant was immediately apprehended and arrested.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mall, The
Mall
St James's