22nd October 2015

STRAND PALACE HOTEL - TIMELINE

1571 – William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley moved to the Strand and built a home named
Burghley House on the site of the Strand Palace Hotel. In one of his diaries he mentions a
dinner where he entertained Queen Elizabeth I at his home on the Strand.

1598 – Following his father’s death, Thomas Cecil was appointed ‘Earl of Exeter’ and the
building was renamed Exeter House.

1623 – After the Earl’s death in 1623, the building was converted into a marketplace, known
as Exeter Exchange, with an arcade covering the front and a large collection of shops
located at the rear. Over time, shops replaced the traders on the ground floor, and the
upper floors used as storage.

1773-1826 – The upper rooms were let to a series of impresarios, Gilbert Pidcock and
Stephani Polito who operated a menagerie in competition with the Royal Menagerie at the
Tower of London. The Exeter Exchange gave adequate and cheap shelter for their many
dangerous and exotic animals.

Artists, Poets and celebrities came to see the animals and some even included them in their
work. English poet, Lord Byron was among those who visited the indoor zoo. In November
of 1813 he wrote in his diary, ‘There was a ‘hippopotamus’ like Lord Liverpool in the face; and
the ‘Ursine Sloth’ hath the very voice and manner of my valet – but the tiger talked too much’.
Of the star attraction, Chunee, Byron wrote, ‘The elephant took and gave me my money
again – took off my hat – opened a door – trunked a whip – and behaved so well, that I wish he
was my butler’.

Chunee was an 11ft tall Indian Elephant, who could occasionally be seen parading up and
down the Strand outside of the menagerie. He had been trained as a circus animal and
interacted well with the audience and the paying visitors that came to the Exeter Exchange.
But the short-tempered elephant was prone to fits of rage and in 1826, after attacking and
killing his keeper, Chunee was publically executed.

1829 – Exeter Exchange is demolished.

1831 – The great Exeter Hall opens and is soon known as the place to hold weekly society
meetings, the most famous and influential being the Anti-Slavery Society. At the height of
the war against slavery in England, the hall became an important centre point in London for
Anti-Slavery campaigners, who congregated at Exeter Hall to give speeches on the subject
of oppressed nationalities. In 1833, just two years after the erection of Exeter Hall, slavery
was abolished in the UK.

As well as being used to house meetings, the hall became widely known for it’s great
influence on the music scene in London. With well-respected composers such as Berlioz,
Spohr and Mendelssohn performing, it soon became a stylish place to be seen, bringing the
fashionable crowds to The Strand.

1907 – Exeter Hall is demolished and J. Lyons & Co is given permission to build a grand
hotel on the Strand.
1909 – Strand Palace Hotel opens and begins a tradition of serving afternoon tea to the
nation.

1914 – On August 5 1914, a day after the announcement of war, the British Prime Minister,
Asquith and the British Government passed the Aliens Restriction Act. Suddenly,
thousands of Germans who had lived in the country for years were branded the enemy. The
top London hotels at the time, such as The Ritz, Savoy, Claridges, Strand Palace Hotel and
the Frederick Hotels employed nearly all German waiters as they had the reputation of
being the best. Advertisements were displayed in the press to say that there were no
German or Austrian subjects in the ‘employment of the Savoy, Claridges and Berkeley
Hotels, Strand Palace Hotel, the Frederick Hotels, Messrs J. Lyons and Co and the
Palmerston Restaurant’.

14-1918 – The hotel had just been opened for five years when the First World War broke out
in 1914. As bombs rained down on the capital, the hotel stood firm and became a well
known and much loved social venue for those wishing to forget the horrors that greeted
them with every whispered conversation and on every street corner.

1920s – J. Lyons & Co acquire adjoining Haxells family hotel in order to expand and improve
existing property

1922 - Arctic Explorer Roald Amundsen stayed at Strand Palace Hotel on the 30th of January
1922, the same month that a second famous Polar Explorer Ernest Shackleton died of a
fatal heart attack. Amundsen himself died only six years later.

1928 – Strand Palace Hotel reopens after extensive redevelopment, and becomes an art-
deco showcase boasting 980 bedrooms. London born architect, Oliver P. Bernard’s designs
for the hotel made it one of the most celebrated hotel interiors in the world.

Bernard had worked as a set designer in theatre and opera, in Britain and the USA. This
experience clearly influenced his work at Strand Palace Hotel. The foyer combined
traditional and new materials and made innovative use of glass and lighting. The walls were
clad with pale pink marble and the floor with limestone. The balustrades, columns and door
surrounds were made of translucent moulded glass, chromed steel and mirror glass. The
hotel’s foyer and original revolving doors were removed from the hotel in 1969 and are
currently housed in the Victoria & Albert Museum.

1928 – Second hand boilers were installed which were salvaged from World War I
battleships. The boilers required careful monitoring and 24-hour man guarding. Amongst
the folklore of the hotel, it is said that over a period of 36 years, a father and son team, who
rarely saw each other, as they had to work in shifts, oversaw the boilers!

1939-1945 – During the Second World War, food ration vouchers were exchanged for meals
in the restaurant and air raid shelters were provided for all guests.

1942-1945 – Strand Palace Hotel was commissioned as the official rest and recuperation
hotel for the American armed forces.

1946 – Room 506 becomes the near murder scene of the notorious ‘handsome brute’ lady-
killer, Neville George Clevely Heath who was posing as a lieutenant colonel in the South
African Airforce, using the pseudonym of Captain James Robert Cadogan Armstrong.

In the early hours of Saturday, 23 February 1946, a guest on the fourth floor of the Strand
Palace Hotel was disturbed by violent noises from the room directly above. The guest
reported the commotion and due to the swift action of the hotel’s Head Porter, Thomas
Paul and Assistant Hotel Manager, Leonard William Luft, Clevely Heath’s victim, Ms Pauline
Brees was saved. She was adamant that the Police were not called to the scene as she
wished to avoid a scandal. Unfortunately, her ill-fated decision led to a number of young
ladies deaths, as Clevely Heath went on to become a notorious serial killer with murders
that shocked the nation.

1958 – En-suite bathrooms were added to all hotel bedrooms.

1968 – The front hall and ground floor restaurants, including the Winter Garden were re-
designed, and the first computerised billing system in London was installed.

1969 – Oliver P. Bernard’s stunning art deco foyer and revolving doors were dismantled and
taken to the Victoria & Albert Museum.

1970s – During excavation work in the fields of Normandy, France in the late 1970’s, a
Strand Palace Hotel room key was discovered in on of the First World War trenches. The
key is now on display at the Victoria & Albert Museum.

1976 – Trust House Forte bought Strand Palace Hotel from J. Lyons & Co.

1981 – The hotel played a part in the Royal Wedding of HRH The Prince of Wales and Lady
Diana Spencer on the 29 July 1981. Guests were greeted at Covent Garden and brought to
the hotel where they had a private viewing of the Royal procession as it passed through the
Strand en route to and from St. Paul’s Cathedral.

1985 - The hotel undergoes a more in-depth refurbishment with new furniture, bathrooms
and redecoration of all bedrooms.

1995 – The old steam boilers were removed and modern low-pressure hot water boilers
fitted; the original steam boilers had served the hotel for over 65 years. The project took
over two years to fully complete.

2006-2008 – The hotel’s current owners, London & Regional Properties acquired Strand
Palace Hotel. Significant development of all of the hotels bars, restaurants, and main
reception area was undertaken. Over 500 bedrooms were fully refurbished including
corridors and the redecoration of the conference areas.

2009-present – Strand Palace Hotel has benefitted from a multi-million-pound

enhancement programme and is set to face the next 100 years as the premier address
amongst London’s West End hotels.

For further details or images, please contact Mason Williams Communications on 0845
0941 007.

Bianca Dorp | 07986 873 767 | Bianca@mason-williams.com

Bethany Sharratt | 07971 668809 | bethany@mason-williams.com

Catherine Richards | 07702 188 393 | catherine@mason-williams.com

London Office: The Penthouse, Italian Building, Dockhead Road, Nr Butler's Wharf, London,
SE1 2BS | Manchester Office: No 1 Universal Square, Devonshire Street North, Manchester
M12 6JH

About Strand Palace Hotel:

Having welcomed guests since 1909, the Strand Palace Hotel is surrounded by the best
London has to offer. Set on the heart of the Strand, the hotel is located just minutes from
Covent Garden and the River Thames, making it the perfect location for guests looking to
indulge themselves in the heart of London's cultural scene. With 785 bedrooms and a gym,

the hotel also houses the award-winning Carvery and Grill, Lounge Bar, Sacred Café and Gin
Palace