See Jacob Epstein's sculptures on Zimbabwe House

Now the centre of running peaceful protests between Zimbabweans in Britain and the Mugabe Regime, Zimbabwe House, on the Strand, was not always connected to the African country. Previously it was the Headquarters of the British Medical Association, before it was acquired by the Government of what was then Rhodesia in 1935.


The building's facade has been a cause of controversy for over a hundred years, since the installation of eighteen large naked figures designed by Jacob Epstein in 1905. If you look high up on the walls of the building, you should be able to make out the remains of these statues of nude men and women, symbolising the ages of man.

They were deeply contentious at the time, thought to be too graphic, and when the Government of Rhodesia took over the building and a piece of masonry fell off one of the statues, they used the opportunity to destroy the statues by chiseling away extremities and leaving them literally defaced.

Like probably most readers, your author considers this to be a shame, but the Government of Rhodesia weren't exactly known for their enlightened attitudes. For more click here or to see some of the sculptures closer up, click here.

Learn about Australia House

Another national day is upon us, for today is Australia Day, so let's examine Australia House on the Strand, the High Commission of Australia. When they were handing out High Commissions, Australia certainly lucked out, with a huge building begun by Dove Brothers in 1913, and finally opened by King George V, in the presence of the Australian Prime Minister, Mr W. M. Hughes, after the First World War Armistice, in summer 1918.


Designed by Scots architects, A. Marshal Mackenzie and Son, the building is certainly impressive, and apparently its interior has the dubious honour of having been used as the set for Gringotts Bank, in a children's film about a young wizard called Harry Potter.

Various Australian Agencies operate from the building, including the National Library of Australia, which has an office charged with collecting printed materials, documents, paintings and photographs relating to Australia. With voting in Australia compulsory, Australia House also sets up as a polling station for at election-time, and we are told that London's large expatriate Australian population means that more votes are cast here than at any polling station in Australia itself.

For more information, visit http://www.uk.embassy.gov.au/lhlh/History.html