Writers' Building - Writers' Building Timeline

Writers' Building Timeline

1776: The site of the demolished St Anne’s church and the adjoining plot were granted to Thomas Lyon, after whom Lyons Range is named, to construct buildings to accommodate the junior servants of the East India Company or the “writers”. Lyon was acting on behalf of Richard Barwell, member of the Council, when Warren Hastings was governor. Writers’ Buildings was the first three-storeyed building in Calcutta.

1780: Barwell leased out the range of buildings to the Company for the rent-free accommodation of its writers “for five years by his own rate at 31,700 current rupees per annum to be paid half-yearly in advance”. Writers’ looked like a “shabby hospital, or poor-house”.

1800: Fort William College, opened to train writers in Oriental languages, later moved to this building. Over the next 20 years, structural changes were made: a hostel for 32 students and an exam hall, which still exist, a lecture hall, four libraries and rooms to teach Hindi and Persian.

1821: A 128 ft-long verandah with Ionic style columns, each 32 ft high, were added on the first and second floors.

1830: The College moved out of Writers’ and the building fell into the hands of private individuals who turned it into living quarters, shops and godowns. The Government College of Engineering functioned from here for some time.

1871-74: George Campbell, lieutenant governor-general, felt the need for a secretariat for “quick disposal of work”. But the East India Railway Company occupied a large space at Writers’ and was unable to find alternative accommodation

1877-82: Ashley Eden, lieutenant-governor of Bengal, was told to relocate the principal offices, housed on Sudder Street and Chowringhee, to Writers’. Because of the space crunch, initially three blocks were constructed

1879-1906: Two new blocks were added, approached by iron staircases that are still in use. Writers’ acquired its Greco-Roman look, complete with the portico in the central bay and the red surface of exposed brick. The parapet was put in place and lining the terrace, the statues (sculpted by William Fredric Woodington in 1883) were installed. Minerva stands above the central portico And Pre-Independence, Writers’ had a large courtyard with seven blocks. By 1970, all 13 blocks were constructed. The main block, including the rotunda and five main blocks, are heritage structures.