Blackfriars Rotunda

The Blackfriars Rotunda stood as a landmark on the south side of the Thames from seventeen eighty-seven until its demolition in nineteen fifty-eight. It began its life as a purpose-built gallery for the Leverian Museum, an expansive collection of natural history curiosities that had been won by its owner in a lottery. The building was designed with a central circular gallery and a striking conical slate roof, marking it as a distinctive architectural feature of the area long before the modern skyline took shape.