Lincoln Memorial Tower

The Lincoln Tower is built on the site of an orphanage for females, founded in 1758. When the orphanage closed in the mid nineteenth century, its site was acquired by trustees of the Surrey Chapel on nearby Blackfriars Road, whose own chapel lease was due to expire. This larger site provided them with ample opportunity to fund-raise not only for a new Congregational chapel which they named Christ Church, but also for a large complex of ancillary buildings. The pastor of Surrey Chapel at the time was the energetic Christopher Newman Hall who had lectured and written extensively in support of Abraham Lincoln and abolition of slavery during the American Civil War. He raised funds in America…

The original design by the architect E. C. Robins, developed in 1873, would have placed the tower and spire as an elevated structure above the centre of the new Congregational chapel. This was adapted in the final scheme by architects Paull and Bickerdike, who kept much of the original design and detailing of the building complex as a whole, but gave greater prominence to the Lincoln Tower. This became a stand-alone building with its own ground floor and entrances, though still integral to the complex. As more memorial funds were raised, the new architects, like E. C. Robins before them, added a lofty spire; raising the tower 200 feet high. The spectacular spire incorporated Robins' concept…