NHM: Main Entrance HDR

Best in large ("L"). (Please don't resist!).

Well, this is the subtle and unimpressive entrance to the Natural History Museum on the Cromwell Road; Alfred Waterhouse was the architect responsible, and I wish he'd made more of an effort... Shabby, isn't it?

Sigh

The museum's website describes it thus: "The rounded arches and grand entrance were inspired by basalt columns at Fingal's Cave in western Scotland. This is one of Britain's most striking examples of Romanesque architecture."

I think my regular visitors know that I find this building endlessly awe-inspiring; this main entrance is something I rarely see, as I almost always enter through the relatively uninspiring Exhibition Road entrance. I've not blipped this before in its entirety, and it is simply superb: it is impressive, welcoming, beautiful, and unique.

The light was not exactly fantastic and it was drizzling, so I didn't expect much when I took this set of pictures hurriedly on my way back in from the cold after posting a letter, but I'm pleased with the result. The cold, white, cloud-filtered light lets the colours of the varied terracotta tiles speak for themselves.

p.s. Here is an alternative view from a sunny day earlier this year.