Stanley Appleyard’s photos taken of and around the Broad Sanctuary Westminster from early 1920s, taken between August 1921 and April 1923.
Images include Westminster Column, the Middlesex Guildhall, Westminster Hospital, Methodist Hall and the West entrance to Westminster Abbey.
All but 4 of the 60 images are clearly taken at a royal event at Westminster Abbey. Half of these are confirmed as being the wedding of Prince Albert, Duke of York to Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon on the 26th April 1923. The remaining 30 are the wedding of Mary, Princess Royal to Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood on the 28th February 1922.
Westminster Column
This is the Westminster School Crimean War Memorial, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in 1858 and erected in 1860. The memorial features in about 30 of the 60 images though there are a number of duplicates. There is only explicitly dated image in the Broad Sanctuary Westminster set. This shows this memorial , the west door of Westminster Abbey and St Margaret’s Church behind. This image is dated the 20th August 1921:
The following shows the memorial on the 28th February 1922:
The Sanctuary
Stanley worked for Thomas Firth and Sons at 8 The Sanctuary in Westminster. This provided the opportunity to capture images of events at Westminster Abbey. Stanley took the following photos on the occasion of the wedding of Prince Albert Duke of York on the 26th April 1923.
Children Outside 8 The Sanctuary looking up to the adorned balcony:
And the balcony of 7 and 8 The Sanctuary that the children were looking at.
The following shows Abbey House at the end of Victoria Street and the same sign and profile foreground left visible in the image above:
Westminster Hospital
The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, built 1986, now sits on the site occupied by Westminster Hospital. The hospital moved, in 1938, to Dean Ryle Street, off Horseferry Road, and then the building shown was demolished in 1950.
The following two images show Westminster Hospital adorned for the celebrations on 28th February 1922. Traffic in the first and the absence of a flag on the Middlesex Guildhall in the second suggest a date other the 28th.
One year later Westminster Hospital is again providing viewing galleries for the Royal Wedding:
The second shows people leaving Westminster Abbey after the ceremony and crowds in front of Westminster Hospital:
and a more formal view of Westminster Hospital 1920s
And a film about the Westminster Hospital from the late 1920s – ignore the first 3 minutes.
Methodist Central Hall
Finally an image of the Methodist Central Hall on the 26th April 1923: