2-320-896 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

One of the sphinxes, Victoria Embankment, London, 1924-1926. The Victoria Embankment on the north side of the Thames was designed by Joseph Bazalgette. Completed in 1870, its main purpose was to accommodate Bazalgette's new main sewer and the Metropolitan District underground railway. The embankment also offered a pleasant thoroughfare along the riverbank, with a promenade and gardens, as well as reducing the risk of flooding from the river. A print from Hutchinson's Britain Beautiful, edited by Walter Hutchinson, volume III, 1924-1926.