View of Cockspur Street, Pall Mall East, Opera House

This view includes the construction of Pall Mall East and shows the foundations of the Royal College of Physicians and Union Club, designed by Sir Robert Smirke on the site of Trafalgar Square. The early stages of the development are shown in the foreground. Workers are depicted engulfed in dust and surveying the site in early summer weather.

Smirke was a renowned London-born architect whose architectural practice became the largest in the city during the early 1800s. Supported by fellow Royal Academicians, Smirke received commissions from noble clients and leading politicians early in his career. He worked on a range of buildings, including churches, domestic and public buildings. In 1832 he was knighted while at work on what is arguably his most famous design, the British Museum.

Robert Blemmell Schnebbelie exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1803 to 1821. Like his father, Jacob Schnebbelie, he practised as a topographical draughtsman. As well as providing the drawings for many of the plates in Wilkinson's 'Londina illustrata' (1808-25), Robert Schnebbelie also contributed illustrations to Hughson's 'Description of London' and other similar publications.