Greens Shooting Gallery

This watercolour represents an exterior view of a building called Savile House, Leicester Square which housed among others 'Green's Shooting Gallery, Gun & Pistol Repository' and 'Miss Linwood's Exhibition'.It wa named after Sir George Savile a baronet of Rufford Lancashire when he acquired it in 1727 from Queen Caroline.

Savile House was leased to Mary Linwood din 1806 and subsequently rebuilt and refurbished. Linwood was a needlework artist who displayed her embroideries of famous paintings in a long gallery on the first floor from 1809 until her death in 1845.

Upstairs was Green's Shooting Gallery between 1836-1855 where Edward Oxford practised his skills before attempting to assassinate Queen Victoria on June 20, 1840. Oxford fired two pistols but missed with both. The building also housed a carpet factory, wine cellars, a bazaar, a concert room, a wrestling arena and visitors were amazed at the confusion which reigned inside.
The building was destroyed in 1865 in a fire and the site is now covered by the Empire cinema.