Senate House

This is the inspiration for Orwells Ministry of Truth in 1984

Location: Senate House, Malet Street, London, WC1E 7HU

Description: Ahead of you is the University of London Senate House which houses the University Library and administration.

Completed in 1936, it was used as the Ministry of Information during the Second World War and is said to be the model for the Ministry of Truth in George Orwells 1984.

The main building contains the administrative offices of the University of London, including the offices of the Chancellor of the University, as well as the entire collection of the Senate House Library. The building consists of 19 floors and is 210 feet high.

The grand Art Deco design was the work of architect Charles Holden, who was appointed as architect in February 1931.

During the 1930s Oswald Mosley, leader of the British Union of Fascists, intended to house Parliament in the building in the event of his taking power.

Hitler also (allegedly) intended it as his headquarters in London after the invasion of Britain. Also as the second tallest building in central London, after St. Paul's Cathedral, Senate House was spared by the Luftwaffe as it provided a useful landmark for pilots navigating their way to the East End during the Blitz.

Also, a library office there may have been the inspiration for Room 101 in that novel's Ministry of Love. Also, many films have used this as a location: Batman Begins, The Day of the Triffids, Blue Ice and Foyle's War.