No. 70 Pall Mall: the Guards' Club
In 1740 Thomas Ripley, Comptroller of the
King's Works, petitioned the Crown for a new
lease of a house, then in his possession, on the south
side of Pall Mall which he described as 'in a
Ruinous Condition and wanting to be Rebuilt'.
In January 1741/2 his term was extended to
1792 (ref. 265) and although there is no evidence on the
point, it seems likely that he rebuilt the house. The
front shown by Coney (pocket, drawing B) lacked
the distinction of No. 71. No. 70 had a fourstoreyed front with three windows to each upper
floor. The doorway, east of the centre, had a doorcase of Ionic columns supporting an entablature;
a trellis-patterned balcony (probably a later addition) is shown at first-floor level, and a simple
cornice below the attic storey. The roof slope
contained three small dormer windows.
In 1743 the house was occupied by Thomas
Godolphin, and in 1745 and until 1766 by
Francis Godolphin. (ref. 34) From c. 1794 to 1810 the
occupant was James Edwards, bookseller and bibliographer, who had previously occupied another
house further east on the same side of the street. (ref. 71)
In 1810 the lease of the house was acquired by Sir
Charles Morgan, baronet; he and his son lived
there until 1847, when the latter sold the remainder of his leasehold interest to the Guards' Club. (ref. 266)
The Guards' Club was established in 1813 (ref. 267)
and had for some years occupied a house adjoining
Crockford's in St. James's Street. (ref. 268) By 1847 the
lease of this house had nearly expired and the club
needed larger premises. In January 1848 the
plans of the club's architect, Henry Harrison, for
a new building upon the site of Sir Charles Morgan's house received the approval of the Commissioners of Woods and Forests. In his report on
Harrison's designs James Pennethorne commented
that the house 'will be substantial and as convenient for a private residence as for a Club
House'. The new club-house was completed in
May 1849; the two members of the club most
actively concerned with the new building were
Lieutenant-Colonel Lord Frederick Paulett and
Lieutenant-Colonel Frederick Hamilton. (ref. 266)
In London Exhibited in 1851 it is aptly observed
that the 'new Guards' Club-house . . . is remarkable for its compactness and convenience, although
its size and external appearance indicate no more
than a private house'. (ref. 269) There was, in fact,
nothing to distinguish Harrison's club-house
(fig. 65) from many a mid nineteenth-century
terrace-house in Belgravia or Bayswater. The
site fronted only thirty feet to Pall Mall, and
except for a small court at the back and a light well
on the west side, it was occupied by a building
containing a basement, semi-basement, and four
storeys, divided by cross-walls into three parts,
the front and back containing club-rooms, and the
middle containing the principal stairs, the service
stairs, and toilets. The morning-room was in
front on the ground floor, and the coffee-room
was at the back. On the first floor, the library was
in front and the drawing-room at the back.
Figure 65:
Guards' Club, Pall Mall, plans. Re-drawn from plans of 1851
The Italianate front was divided into three
well-defined stages. The first, raised on a high
plinth containing the three semi-basement windows, was rusticated and vermiculated, with three
closely spaced rectangular windows on the right
of the somewhat attenuated Doric porch. The
second stage was underlined by a projecting balcony, with balustrades between panelled dies, and
the three first-floor windows were united by a
Corinthian order, columns flanking the middle
window, which was pedimented, and pilasters at
each end. The third stage contained the secondand third-floor windows, the lower three dressed
with architrave, frieze and cornice, the upper three
with architraves only, rising from moulded sills
resting on consoles. The second and third stages
were quoined at the angles, and the front was
finished with an enriched dentilled and modillioned cornice, and a plain blocking-course.
In 1879 the club-house was damaged by fire.
Six years later the coffee-room was enlarged and a
new kitchen was added at the top of the house, the
architect being E. W. Poley. In 1901 the club
enlarged its accommodation by leasing part of the
upper floors of No. 69 Pall Mall, the adjoining
house on the west side, the rest of which was occupied by the London Joint-Stock Bank. In the
spring of 1914 the club began to consider the
further enlargement of the club-house, but in
1920 the lease of the building was assigned to the
London Joint City and Midland Bank (now the
Midland Bank Ltd.), the occupants of No. 69,
who wished to rebuild both houses. The club
removed to larger premises in Brook Street, which
had formerly been occupied by Buckland's
Hotel, (ref. 270) and Nos. 69 and 70 were rebuilt
for the bank between 1922 and 1927 (see page
425).
The Guards' club-house is now in Charles
Street, Berkeley Square.