Buildings

Electra House, Victoria Embankment

Views of EH over the years. Hover your mouse cursor over the image for a brief description, double-click to open fully.

Arundel House 

Built in 1884 by the Duke of Norfolk, Arundel House survived the demolition of Electra House in the 1990's (pictured below, left).  Arundel House itself underwent a radical transformation in 2001 when an extra floor was added (pictured right). It is now the headquarters of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). 

Electra House, Moorgate

EH Moorgate opened in 1902 as accommodation for the Eastern and Associated Telegraph Companies. Administrative functions were transferred to the new Electra House on Victoria Embankment in 1933, which subsequently became Cable and Wireless headquarters. EH Moorgate was bombed in 1941, and EH Victoria Embankment took over full C & W operations. Following repair of the bomb damage, the City of London college moved into the Moorgate building in 1944. It's now a campus of London Metropolitan University, and survives it's younger namesake by several years.

Central Telegraph Office (CTO) St. Martin-le-Grand

The Central Telegraph office was an imposing Victorian structure built in 1869 of granite and Portland stone and originally four storeys high. Its site bordered St. Martin’s Le Grand, Newgate Street and Bath Street, so named for a 17th century Turkish bath

Constructed as an addition to the General Post Office, the CTO suffered the distinction of being damaged by German air attack in both World Wars. After the second attack, the building was reduced to 2 floors, and remained until demolition in 1967. This sequence of images shows the CTO after the World War 1 bombing, in slightly more peaceful times in 1935, and finally in 1945 after it had been reduced to two floors after the 1941 bombing. It was demolished in 1967.

The last image in this series shows a facsimile of a CTO Christmas Card from 1889. The card was sent to Mike Baker by his late friend Frank Guerin.

Fleet Building

Fleet Building opened in 1961 to become the new Central Telegraph Office, as the former CTO in St Martins Le Grand became obsolete. It initially housed the largest telephone exchange in London, as well as the International Telex Exchange, the first in the world.

Note the availability of meter-less parking in Farringdon Street (first photo) and the absence of any air-conditioning (evidenced by all the open windows).  The last two pictures in this group shows front and rear of the now fully developed Goldman Sachs European headquarters, on the site of the former Fleet Building.

Cardinal House and St Botolphs

Cardinal House (pictured left) took over from the Government Buildings in Bromyard Avenue, Acton as the training school in 1967. The International Telegraphs Message Relay Centre (MRC) was located there, as was the Telegraph Retransmission Centre (TRC). Cardinal House closed down mid-1991, and remaining facilities were transferred to BT Coventry.

St Botolphs, near Aldgate, was the location for the OTAO on the eastern side of the City.