Walter B.Granville (1819-74)  was certainly one of the foremost, if not the foremost, among architects of the British Raj and has left behind a legacy of  magnificent landmark buildings in Calcutta

Granville resided chiefly in Calcutta,  where he designed and constructed  large public buildings.He was first appointed as thd Consultant Architect  specifically in order to design “major civic institutions for the capital of the Raj”.

Some of his notable landmarks which all stand today except  for one.

  • The Indian Museum which was formed in 1814 moved into its current premises in 1875. The architecture of the Indian Museum resembles a simplistically designed grand white Neoclassical-style building, with three floors. Each floor houses colonnaded pavilions and massive halls. The total area is divided into thirty five galleries, whose sizes vary depending on what they feature.
  • The GPO,which came up in 1868 on a section of  the old Fort William, is notable for its imposing high domed roof (rising over 220 feet) and tall Ionic-Corinthian pillarsA Postal Museum that was built in 1884 displays a collection of artefacts and stamps.
  • The Calcutta High Court is the oldest high court in India. The neo-gothic style building was constructed in 1862. The Calcutta High Court is said to be based on the famous Cloth Hall of Ypres, Belgium.The impressive pillars on the front of the building contain some extremely beautiful capitals, carved out of caenstone.
  • For the Calcutta University, he designed and built the Senate House in 1872. It was to provide accommodation for meetings of the Senate, the chamber of the Vice-Chancellor, office of the Registrar, examination rooms and lecture halls. Sadly it was demolished  in 1960-  establishing the first major demolition in the city of a heritage edifice.