Sir John Soane, prominent Georgian architect, produced a series of architectural masterpieces in his lifetime. In commemoration of the 80th anniversary of VE Day, academics from Sir John Soane's Museum and others look back to see how his architecture survived among the chaos of World War II.

How were the buildings affected? What remains of them now?

Using newspaper clippings, journal entries, and photos from archives, the articles below uncover how Sir John Soane's Museum, Dulwich Picture Gallery, Bentley Priory, the Infirmary at the Royal Hospital Chelsea and Nos 10 & 11 Downing Street fared during the national emergency.

Soanean architecture was also hugely affected in World War I. Archivist and Head of Library Services at Sir John Soane’s Museum, Susan Palmer, has collated extensive information from the archive which tells the story of the Museum’s survival between 1914 and 1918, and how the staff and Trustees were able to reopen the building after the war. You can download her article below.

Lights out over Europe The Soane Museum in World War One by Sue Palmer | 1.93 MB

Dulwich Picture Gallery and the ‘Doodlebug’

On the morning of 21 July 1944, architect and surveyor to the Dulwich Estate Frederick Austin Vernon found himself crawling through what remained of the mausoleum at Dulwich Picture Gallery. He was devotedly collecting shards of amber glass, relics of Sir John Soane’s light-filled vision for this south London gallery, shattered by the ‘Doodlebug’ that had fallen just hours before.

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What did Soane have to do with the Battle of Britain?

During the Second World War Bentley Priory housed 76 officers, 71 airmen and 84 civilian staff, while the exterior was camouflaged in green and brown paint. What Soane would have made of one of his buildings taking such a central role in defending the nation in 1940 is difficult to imagine.

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The Bombing of the Royal Hospital’s Soane Infirmary during The Blitz

Soane was commissioned to build an infirmary as part of a more general redevelopment of the Western edge of the Royal Hospital’s estate, with the Soane buildings including a new Stable Yard, built on the site of Wren’s original stable yard. In the aftermath of 'The Wednesday', the Soane Infirmary was reduced to a burnt-out ruin.

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The Impact of World War II on Soane’s interiors at 10 & 11 Downing Street

Soane was commissioned exactly 200 years ago to remodel parts of what we now know as 10 Downing Street. The impact of nearby bombing during the Second World War led to a long overdue and extensive reconstruction in the 1960s by Raymond Erith, an architect known for his admiration of Soane, and so today the whole complex is more Soanean than it had ever been before.

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