ESTATES
See Also: BIG TICH; CITY
LIVERY COMPANIES Property; COUNTRYSIDE; THE CROWN ESTATE; DEVELOPMENTS;
DISTRICT CHANGE; ESTATES; FOOD MARKETS, FORMER; PHILANTHROPY Henry Smith s
Charity; PORNOGRAPHY Pornographic Magazines, Paul Raymond; SOHO Striptease,
Paul Raymond; SQUARES; SUBURBS; TOWNHOUSES, DISAPPEARED
Albertpolis
Albertpolis
is a cultural and educational district that lies to the south of Kensington
Gardens and to the east of Queen's Gate the road. Its best-known feature is The Royal Albert
Hall (1871).
After
the Great Exhibition of 1851, the event's supervising Commission bought 86
acres estates that was bound on its north-western side by Kensington Gardens
and on its southern one by the Cromwell Road.
The institutions that have come to reside there include Imperial
College, the Royal Albert Hall, the Royal College of Art, and the Royal College
of Music.1
Location:
Exhibition Road, SW7 2AZ (red, yellow)
See
Also: ARTS VENUES The Royal Albert Hall; DEVELOPMENTS Albertpolis; MUSEUMS
Umbrella Bodies, The Exhibition Road Cultural Group
Website:
www.discoversouthken.com (The Exhibition Road Cultural Group) https://gcdn.net/member/exhibition-road-cultural-group
1. The former Royal College of Organists, which is now a private
residence, stands at No. 26 at the southern end of the west side of the
Kensington Gore square in which the Royal Albert Hall stands.
The
Royal Commission for The Exhibition of 1851
The
Royal Commission for The Exhibition of 1851 organised the Great Exhibition of
that year. The body is still active.
Location:
453 Shenfield Building, Imperial College, SW7 2AZ (orange, purple)
See
Also: EXHIBITIONS The Great Exhibition of 1851; ROYAL PARKS Regent's Park
Crown Estates Paving Commission
Website:
https://royalcommission1851.org
The Bedford Estates
In 1550
the Bloomsbury estate was granted to Lord Chancellor Thomas Wriothesley 1st
Earl of Southampton. In 1723 the
property passed through inheritance to the Russell Dukes of Bedford. During the mid-20thC the Russells
sold the freeholds of much of the estate.
The 11th
Duke of Bedford lived in Belgrave Square.
The 12th
Duke of Bedford was known as Spinach .
He died in a shooting accident.
His son, the 13th Duke was known as Ian .
Location:
29a Montague Street, WC1B 5BL (red, turquoise)
See
Also: PERIOD PROPERTIES Woburn Walk; SQUARES Bedford Square
Website:
www.bedfordestates.com
Covent
Garden
From
1536 until 1918 Covent Garden was owned by the Russell family. Their townhouse, Bedford House, stood between
the Strand and Covent Garden. In the
early 17thC the 4th Earl of Bedford decided to take
advantage of the westward growth of London by developing the property. Inigo Jones acted as the peer s
planner-architect. The original piazza
reflected Jones's knowledge of Italian architecture. (The colonnades on the western section of the
piazza's northern side used to be accompanied by others that extended along all
four sides of the piazza.)
In 1918
the 11th Duke sold Covent Garden to the Covent Garden Estate Company
Ltd., a private company.
Location:
Covent Garden Piazza, WC2E 8HB (blue, grey)
See
Also: FOOD MARKETS, FORMER Covent Garden; SLUMS & AVENUES Clare Market;
SQUARES; WEST END CHURCH OF ENGLAND CHURCHES St Paul's Covent Garden
Website:
www.coventgarden.london
The Benyon Estate
The
Benyon estate included 300 houses in De Beauvoir Town.
The
Benyon family own 400 houses in Hackney.
Location:
72c Southgate Road, N1 3JF
Website:
https://thebenyonestate.com
Bouverie Street
Pleydell-Bouverie
is the surname of the Earls of Radnor.
The family are of Huguenot descent.
They own a number of properties in the area to the south of the eastern
end of Fleet Street.
A past
Earl of Radnor is reputed to have remarked that he would not open his country
house1 to the public because The people who come around here might
be very nice, but you would n t want to see and hear them all the time. I am told that you can even smell them and
eventually your house takes on an odour like a railway station . In part, it was the income generated by the
Pleydell-Bouveries London estate that enabled the peer to afford to keep his
stately home private.
Location:
Bouverie Street, EC4Y 8DP (orange, orange)
See
Also: THE HUGUENOTS
Website:
www.longfordestates.co.uk
1. Longford Castle in Wiltshire.
The Cadogan Estate
Sir
Hans Sloane worked as a doctor in Jamaica.
He realised that quinine could be used to treat malaria. He was to become one of the most successful
physicians of the 18thC, earning a large fortune through his medical
practice. In 1712 the Cheyne family sold
the Manor of Chelsea to him. Sloane used
the manor house to store his collection curios and antiquities in. In 1722 Sir Hans conveyed Chelsea Physic
Garden to the Society of Apothecaries in perpetuity for an annual rent of 5.
Sloane
did not reside in Chelsea until 1742.
Following his death, the estate was split in two. The western portion went to his daughter
Sarah and her family the Stanleys of Paultons, Hampshire. The eastern one was left to his other
daughter Elizabeth and her descendants the Cadogans.
In 1771
Sloane Square was enclosed. The houses
around it were constructed under the supervision of the architect Henry
Holland, who developed land to the north-west of the square. In the 1780s the manor house was
demolished. Nos. 19-26 Cheyne Walk were
built on the site.
Location:
16 Cadogan Gardens, SW3 2RS (blue, yellow)
Swan
Court, 77 Chelsea Manor Street, SW3 5RT.
The site of the manor house. (red, orange)
19-26
Cheyne Walk, SW3 5RA (orange, grey)
Paultons
Square, SW3 5AP (orange, blue)
Sloane
Square, SW1W 8EL (purple, yellow)
Stanley
Terrace, 293-301 The King's Road, SW3 5EP (orange, pink)
See
Also: THE ARMY The Royal Hospital Chelsea; THE BRITISH MUSEUM; CONFECTIONERY
Chocolate, Milk Chocolate; DEVELOPMENTS Hans Town; GARDENS & PLANTS The
Chelsea Physic Garden; TOWNHOUSES, DISAPPEARED Beaufort House; TOWNHOUSES,
DISAPPEARED Chelsea Manor House
Website:
www.cadogan.co.uk
The Cecil Estates
William
Cecil 1st Baron Burghley was a highly adept 16thC
politician who successfully navigated the reigns of King Edward VI and Queen
Mary I to become the principal servant of their sister Queen Elizabeth I. He founded two separate two aristocratic
dynasties - the Marquises of Exeter and the Marquises of Salisbury.
See
Also: BESS'S BOYS; TOWNHOUSES, DISAPPEARED Exeter House
The
Salisburies
Location:
Salisbury
House, 80 Strand, WC2R 0RL. Shell-Mex House now occupies the site. (blue,
orange)
See
Also: BOOKSHOPS Cecil Court; PUBS Gin Palaces, The Salisbury; RESTAURANTS
J. Sheekey; WEST END THEATRES Wyndham's Theatre
Website:
www.gascoynececil.com
The Duchy of Cornwall
The
Duchy of Cornwall owns land to the south of the South Bank.
See
Also: PALACES, DISAPPEARED & FORMER Savoy Palace, The Duchy of
Lancaster
Website:
https://duchyofcornwall.org
The Grosvenor Estates
The
Grosvenor family own two urban estates in London - Belgravia and Mayfair. In 1677 Sir Thomas Grosvenor, a Cheshire
landowner, married the twelve-year-old Mary Davies. She was the heiress of her father Alexander
Davies, who had been the heir of his uncle the moneylender Sir Hugh
Audley. The last had created acquired
the 100 acres of modern Mayfair and 400 acres of what became Pimlico and
Belgravia.
The
survival of the Grosvenor Estates into the 21stC was largely
achieved through the foresight and the work of the 2nd Duke of
Westminster. He created a trust in
favour of his then one-year-old kinsman the 6th Duke.
In 1988
Westminster City Council tried to end the use of 532 of Grosvenor Estates flat
as being for the working class . The
local authority claimed that the term had become obsolete. The High Court ruled in the Estates favour.
Location:
The Grosvenor Office, 70 Grosvenor Street, W1K 3JP (purple, blue)
Website:
www.grosvenor.com www.grosvenorlondon.com
Belgravia
The
original St George's Hospital stood on Hyde Park Corner, which was on the
north-eastern tip of the Grosvenors Belgravia estate. In 1980 the hospital was relocated to Tooting
in south London. It is reputed that
following the closure of the original site, the Department of Health looked
forward to banking a healthy sum through selling on its long lease to property
developers. However, the Grosvenor
Estates pointed out that the original lease stated that should the site ever
cease to be used as a hospital then the land should automatically revert to the
ground landlord. This duly occurred and
the building was reopened as The Lanesborough, a luxury hotel.
Location:
1 Lanesborough Place, SW1X 7TA (red, orange)
See
Also: BUILDING MATERIALS Clay, Belgrave Square; HOTELS The Lanesborough;
ICE CREAM Belgravia
Mayfair
In 1720
the portion of land called Mayfair began to be developed for housing. The district's landlords were able to draw on
the lessons that had been generated by the London's westwards growth since the
mid-17thC. Thus, they were
able to make precise stipulations on matters such as layout and building use
and so have the leverage with which to guard against the social deterioration
of the district.
It was
only in the 1820s that Park Lane, on Mayfair's western edge, became a
fashionable address. This followed the
execution of a number of improvements that had been carried out to Hyde Park. These included replacing its brick wall with
iron railings and the erection of the Decimus Burton-designed Hyde Park Corner
Screen (1825). An additional factor may
have been the arrival of the Grosvenors, whose previous house at Pimlico had
been demolished in order to provide a site for the Millbank Penitentiary. Grosvenor House dominated Park Lane between
Mount Street and Upper Grosvenor Street.
After
the First World War, domestic help became increasingly expensive to hire and
thus the great townhouses of the West End became increasingly costly to
run. Even the 2nd Duke of
Westminster moved out of Grosvenor House.
In 1924 the property was sold to the soap magnate Lord Leverhulme, who
planned to use the building to house a public art gallery. However, he died before he could see the plan
to completion. His executors sold on the
property to developers. The building was
the first of the grand Mayfair mansions to be demolished. The Grosvenor House hotel (1928) was
built on its site. The British version
of the board game Monopoly was launched during the 1930s. For the game's first players, building hotels
on Park Lane would have resonated of reportage.
During
the Second World War the City of London was heavily bombed and this meant that
there was more pressure for office space.
Thus, the trend towards Mayfair's depopulation and commercialisation was
reinforced.
Location:
86-90 Park Lane, W1Y 3TB (orange, blue)
See
Also: CHURCH OF ENGLAND CHURCHES The Grosvenor Chapel; EMBASSIES & HIGH
COMMISSIONS The Former United States Embassy; FAIRS The May Fair; HOSPITALS St
George's Hospital; SQUARES Grosvenor Square; TOWNHOUSES, DISAPPEARED
The Gunter Estates
James
Gunther was a celebrated confectioner who had premises in Berkeley Square. He invested the business's profits in land to
the west of London. In the late 1790s he
acquired Earls Court Lodge, which soon popularly became known as Currant Jelly
Hall. In the mid-1800s Gunther started
developing residential properties in Earls Court and Brompton. His son Robert was active in both of the
family businesses but eventually concentrated on the property one.
Location:
Gunter Grove, SW10 0UN (blue, orange)
Gunterstone
Road, W14 9BP
Tregunter
Road, SW10 9LR (blue, pink)
See
Also: CAKES & PASTRIES Gunter's
The Howard de Walden Estate
Location:
23 Queen Anne Street, W1G 9DL (orange, turquoise)
See
Also: THE UNRESURRECTED MOLE Website:
www.hdwe.co.uk
The Hyde Park Estate
The
Hyde Park Estate lies within a triangle composed of Edgware Road, Bayswater
Road, and Sussex Gardens. For centuries
the land was owned by the Bishops of London.
Housing started to be built on it in 1807. The development was completed in the
1850s. It was known as the Paddington
Estate.
The
Estate was transferred from the bishops ownership to the newly formed
Ecclesiastical Commissioners in 1868. In
1948 the Commissioners merged with Queen Anne's Bounty to create the Church
Commissioners. By the 1950s much of the
estate was in a poor condition. As a
result, a programme of redevelopment was embarked upon.
Website:
https://www.hydeparkestate.com
The Panton Estate
Colonel
Thomas Panton (d.1685) was a renowned gamester who skills included chess and
billiards. His particular game was
hazard. In a single night he won enough
to purchase estates that had a rent-roll of 1500. Thereafter, he never played cards or dice
again.
Location:
Panton Street, SW1Y 4EA (orange, purple)
Great
Windmill Street, W1D 7DH. Piccadilly
Hall stood on the corner of Coventry Street and Windmill Street. Its final resident was Colonel Panton.
(purple, red)
See
Also: GAMBLING Gamblers, Colonel Thomas Panton
The Pollen Estate
The
Pollen Estate owns a portion of south-eastern Mayfair, including Cork Street.
In 1622
William Maddox, a tailor, bought 35 acres of land. This was in what became eastern Mayfair.
In 2014
the Church Commissioners sold 64% of the Pollen Estate to the Crown Estate for
381m. At the time, it consisted of 43
properties, some of which were on Bond Street and Savile Row. At the time, the Pollen family had a 25%
holding and Greenwich Hospital a 10% one.
In 2014
the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund acquired 64.2% of the estate.
Location:
160 Aldersgate, EC1A 4HT (purple, red)
Savile
Row, W1S 3PQ (blue, red)
Website:
www.thepollen.com
The Portman Estate
In 1532
Sir William Portman bought a small estate north of what was to become Oxford
Street. Orchard and Portman were the
first streets to be lain out. In 1764
Portman Square was lain out.
In 2006
the Portman Estate covered 206 acres.
Location:
40 Portman Square, W1H 6LT (red, blue)
Website:
www.portmanestate.co.uk
The Rugby Estate
Location:
Lamb's Conduit Street, WC1N 3NB (purple, turquoise)
Website:
www.rugbyschool.co.uk
Thomas
Arnold
Thomas
Arnold was the headmaster of Rugby School from 1827 to 1841. His ideas on education had a major impact on
the subsequent development of public schools and universities in Britain. He sought to induce the boys in his care to
educate one another with the social skills and the outlook that Victorian
society was to believe that they needed.
Their childish games, such as rugby, were no longer to be
suppressed. To the contrary, Arnold
believed they should be encouraged as a means of instilling toughness, selflessness,
bravery, and a willingness to work co-operatively. In the wake of his influence the public
schools started to generate the cult of muscular Christianity .
See
Also: SPORTS Rugby
The Pratt Estate
The
Pratt Estate covered much of Camden Town.
The Pratt family sold it off and held on to their Welsh farmlands. The disposal started in the 1910s and was
completed following the end of the Second World War.
Location:
Pratt Street, NW1 0AB (blue, red)
Sir Richard Sutton
Location:
41 Great Pulteney Street, W1F 9NZ (orange, pink)
Website:
www.srsl.co.uk www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vols31-2/pt2/pp116-137
The Thurloe Estate
The
Thurloe Estate in South Kensington is centred on Thurloe and Alexander Squares.
What
became the Thurloe Estate was acquired by the vintner Sir William Blake (d.1630). It passed to the grandson of John Thurloe,
Cromwell's Secretary of State. The
estate's development was started by John Alexander (1762-1821) during the
building boom that followed the end of the Napoleonic Wars.
Joan
Campbell's (1887-1960) inherited London residence was in Bryanston Square. She claimed never to have never visited any
part of South Kensington, including her estate.
Location:
Alexander Place, SW7 2SF (purple, brown)
2
Bryanston Square, W1H 2DH (orange, purple)
The Tonbridge Estate
There
is a story that the academic literary critic Ian Watt is supposed to have
recounted about his time in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp during the Second
World War. Well, we were in a cell that was probably built for six but was
holding about sixteen of us. There was
n t much food and we had n t been given any water for quite a while. The heat was absolutely ferocious. Dysentery had begun to take its toll, which
was distinctly disagreeable at such close quarters ...
Added
to this unpleasantness, we could hear one of our number being rather badly
beaten by the Japanese guards, with rifle butts it seemed, in the guardroom
down the corridor. At this rather trying
moment one of my subalterns, who d managed to fall asleep, stated screaming and
flailing and yelling. He was shouting:
No, no - please don t ... Not any more, not again, Oh God please. Hideous noises like that. I had to take a snap decision to prevent
panic, so I ordered the sergeant to slap him and wake him up. When he came to, he apologized for being a
bore but brokenly confessed that he d dreamed he was back at Tonbridge.
The
novelist E.M. Forster was once invited to write an article for Tonbridge s
school magazine. He replied that he
would do so Only if it could be against compulsory games.
David
Backhouse 2024