Great Scotland Yard

The building is currently the home of central London's Mounted Branch officers. This stables is literally just around the corner from 4 Whitehall Place, the original 'Scotland Yard' where Sir Robert Peel based his 'New Police'. At 6pm on Tuesday September 29th, 1829 the first Constables walked out on their new beats (which they had been shown the day before) for the very first time. They wore dark blue tailcoats and trousers, a black top hat and a leather, neck stop (to prevent strangulation). Each man carried a rattle to attract attention and a short truncheon for self-protection. The original 'Peelers' consisted of 895 Constables, 88 sergeants, 20 inspectors and 8 superintendents. The original Metropolitan Police District covered a radius of seven miles from Charing Cross (the centre of London). A simple plaque is all that now marks this spot.

Nearest Tube/train stations: Westminster (five minutes walk) via Jubilee, District & Circle lines, Embankment (two minutes walk) via Bakerloo, District, Circle and Northern lines, or Charing Cross (ten minutes walk) via Jubilee or South West trains (via mainline station).

Nearest Water Taxi service: Westminster Pier (five minutes walk).