Tate Archive history of Tate Britain:
http://www.tate.org.uk/archivejourneys/historyhtml/bld_brit_extensions.htm
John Ruskin
John Ruskin first proposed a gallery for contemporary and British art in 1867, modelled on the Musée du Luxembourg in Paris which opened in 1861. In his essay he said "It may be easily seen where it should be built. The reach of the river from Westminster to Vauxhall is a disgrace to the metropolis. It might be and should be its chief beauty. Take 15 millions boldly out of your pocket, knock down the Penitentiary at Pimlico and send your beloved criminals to be penitent out of sight somewhere. Clear away the gasometers on that side and the bone boilers on the other, lay out a line of gardens from Lambeth Palace to Vauxhall Bridge on the south side of the river and on this build a national gallery of porphry and white marble reaching that mile long from Westminster Bridge to Vauxhall Bridge and I only wish it may be pretty enough and rich enough for the French to want to come and steal it.
Henry Tate
Henry Tate was a sugar refiner and philanthropist. he made his money from refining sugar at the Love Lane refinery in Liverpool and from sugar cubes. He was referrred to publicly as "the Sugar Boiler". He donated paintings and a cash endowment and appointed the architect Sidney Smith. From when it opened in 1897 the National Gallery of British Art was popularly known as the Tate. In the 1930s it was officially named the Tae Gallery and in 2001 just Tate.
Second World War
In the Second World War Millbank was at risk and heavily bombed as it was near the Thames and Queen Alexandra's Military Hospital. The Tate's collection was dispersed into storage in nearby underground stations (Green Park, Picadilly) and three private country houses - Eastington Hall in Worcestershire, Hellens at Much Marcle in Hereford and Worcester and Muncaster Castle in Cumberland. Some were stored in the basement at Millbank.
The Millbank building was painted black and used as a shelter. Market gardens and allotments were set up in the grounds of the Tate and Queen Alexandra's Military Hospital.
Prefabs
In 1944 Winston Churchill announced the Temporary Housing Programme as part of Britain's post-war reconstruction. The aim was to provide half a million 'prefabricated or emergency houses', with a lifespan of fifteen years. The Minsitry of Works held an exhibition of prefabs at the Tate Gallery in 1944. (I think they were on the site south of John Islip Street where a current portacabin houses a staff canteen)
Four standard designs: two timber framed designs (the Tarran and the Uni-Seco), one steel-framed with asbestos panels (the Arcon), and the Aluminium prefab, made from surplus aircraft materials.
This proved so popular, that the Tate held two follow up exhibitions in 1945.
Clore Galleroes
In the 1980s parts of the Queen Alexandra's Military Hospital were demolished to allow for the Clore Galleries to be built.
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