Magic lantern slide circa 1900.Victorian.Social History.Somerset House is a large Neoclassical building situated on the south side of the Strand in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge. The building, originally the site of a Tudor palace, was designed by Sir William Chambers in 1776, and further extended with Victorian wings to the east and west in 1831 and 1856 respectively.The East Wing forms part of the adjacent Strand campus of King's College London.