The best density is gentle .

RT @thomasknox: He’s right. This is monstrous. Get RID.

London’s tradition of elegant and protective ironwork is so rich and varied. This Kennington fence appears to be inspired by Medieval maces. But the House of Lords do not care. They prefer prison chic.

RT @BenProcter: Hard to disagree with anything in this thread.

RT @RossKempsell: The ugly new security fence around the House of Lords is an eyesore and will only serve to divorce the House further from….

RT @TheCriticMag: The fence outside the House of Lords reminds me of an unpleasant border crossing, writes @boys_nicholas .

RT @RoyalFineArt: The new security fence outside the Palace of Westminster is mind-numbingly hideous and damaging to its historic context.….

RT @DavidScullion: The new fence around the House of Lords, is potentially more dangerous, actually removing a line of sight for the police….

RT @tomhfh: Crazy how we managed elegant Downing Street gates (1989), and appropriate Cromwell Green fencing (2012), but by 2025 all we can….

@boys_nicholas He concludes in his cri de coeur for @TheCriticMag to the barricades my Lords, you have nothing to lose but your prison walls. You have built a fence. And trashed a legacy. Pull it down again. Put up something worthy of our past, our present & our future.

So argues @boys_nicholas my Lords, there is your opportunity. You can certainly get rid of this horror a decade hence. Can you get rid of it faster? Can you replace it with something elegant & appropriate as has been possible in every other comparable security barrier nearby?”.

Doubtless, the hope, once the shock has faded, was quietly to upgrade the temporary consent to a permanent one without anyone noticing….

One rare unredacted detail on City of Westminster planning portal is that this is a “temporary” planning application for ten years. This was probably the deal to get this monster through planning. .

The Lords new prison completely & needlessly ignores this tradition all around it BUT there IS hope .

. New Palace Yard’s original Victorian railings, designed by Charles Barry’s son, Edward, are a stunning display of decorative security with iron spikes, crowns, roses and fine twisted balusters.

In 2012, new railings were added to Cromwell Green outside after invasion by Greenpeace protestors: a quatrefoil string course, ribbon-like finials & vertical standard bars with spearhead railing heads keep public out. But they also let the public see in.

The low & thick security walls that now line Whitehall & Parliament Square are a little heavy. Hard not to be if you're built to be tank-proof. But they're elegant: portly & creamy Portland stone balusters, beautifully formed lamps as finials. Ultra-secure bi-steel nestles within

Spearheads are hard to climb over. Posts and torchères are providing extra strength. Even if there were no policemen with submachine guns this gate would be hard to overcome.

Two lavishly ornamented torchères provide both light and height. Look carefully & you will see acanthus leaves, volutes and palmettes. This is not minimalism. But nor is it insecure. The gates’ twin functions of providing security & elegance are inescapably intertwined.

It’s all SO unnecessary. Secure fences CAN look lovely. The steel gates outside Downing Street erected in 1989 are rather enjoyable. Alternately sized vertical standard bars are topped with spearhead and shell-shaped railing heads. The comely posts have castellated finials

Presumably foreign delegations still come on ambassadorial visits to the Palace of Westminster. If they do, then one lesson theywill certainly take from these prison walls is “don’t employ British designers.” What a melancholy message.