Macclesfield Street
Macclesfield Street derives its name from the
earldom of Charles, Lord Gerard. It first appears
in the ratebooks in 1685, with four names
recorded for the east side and seven for the west.
No original houses now survive. The street was
partially rebuilt in 1729–30 and some vestiges of
this rebuilding still remain at Nos. 2 and 3
(Plate 66d) where John Jeffreys granted leases to
John Meard in 1730. (ref. 212) The most interesting
house of this period, however, was No. 9 which,
with other houses at the north end, was demolished
for the formation of Shaftesbury Avenue.
William Sherlock, miniature painter and engraver, lodged at Peter Welcker's music-shop
in Macclesfield Street (No. 1, on the corner of
Gerrard Street) in c. 1764, (ref. 213) and Frederick
Engels lodged at No. 6 in c. 1849–50. (ref. 214)
The following artists gave their addresses as
being in Macclesfield Street in exhibition catalogues:
William Birch, enamel painter, 1792, 1794;
Richard Dagley, painter, 1798; G. Farington,
painter, 1782; Thomas Hearne, painter, 1785–1793, 1806; Daniel O'Keefe, miniature painter,
1782–3; Henry Ross, miniature painter, 1814;
Mrs. Henry Ross (formerly Miss Maria Smith),
painter, 1814; Sir William Charles Ross,
miniature painter, 1813, 1815–16; Francis Sartorius, painter, 1782, 1791; John N. Sartorius,
painter, 1778–9.
No. 9 Macclesfield Street
Formerly No. 23 King Street. Demolished
In 1712 the house on the south-east corner of
King Street and Macclesfield Street was taken by
Edward Scarlett, senior, who opened an optician's
shop there under the sign of 'The Archimedes and
Globe'. He enjoyed royal patronage and was
Master of the Company of Spectacle Makers. (ref. 215)
In 1729 the house was rebuilt and leased to
Scarlett by John Jeffreys. (ref. 216) The new building
was L-shaped and had frontages to both King
Street and Macclesfield Street; the entrance to the
house and the one to Scarlett's shop were both in
the Macclesfield Street side.
A watercolour drawing of 1874 by Frederick
Shepherd (Plate 67a) shows that, except for the
shop front, it was a very plain brick building of
four storeys, all above the ground floor having
two windows in the King Street front, two in the
Macclesfield Street front and one in each face of
the south-west projection containing the shop.
A drawing by J. W. Archer in 1858 (Plate
67b) and a photograph taken in 1883 (ref. 104) illustrate
the handsome shop front. Solidly constructed of
wood, probably deal, it was composed of three
bays towards the street and one bay in the northfacing return. The bays were divided by Ionic
columns (those at the angles having square shafts)
rising from a high pedestal and supporting an
entablature. The pedestal, which was returned
into the central bay, had a moulded skirting, a
plain die, and a cornice-capping. The columns
had moulded bases, plain entasised shafts, and
angle-voluted capitals. The entablature was composed of an architrave with two fascias, a pulvinated frieze enriched with laurel-garland, and a
modillioned cornice. Stone steps, flanked by
wrought-iron railings, rose to the entrance in the
central bay. The shop door, with two raised-andfielded panels below a glazed light, was framed by
a doorcase consisting of an ovolo-moulded architrave, carved with egg-and-dart ornament, eared
at the head and surmounted by a leaf-ornamented
ogee frieze and a triangular pediment. In each
flanking bay was a window with top and bottom
sashes of four panes, and the wider window in the
return bay was also sashed. The house doorway,
in the recessed part of the front, had a six-panelled
door surmounted by a 'cobweb' fanlight of metal,
slightly recessed in a tall straight-headed opening
dressed with a stepped architrave of wood. The
design of the shop front suggests the employment
of an architect well versed in the Palladian idiom,
and it is significant that there are very similar
designs included in the volume of drawings by
James Paine in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
The shop continued in use as an optician's
until 1830. (ref. 217) The house was demolished about
1886 for the formation of Shaftesbury Avenue.
No. 10 Macclesfield Street
Demolished
The house on the south of No. 9 was let by
John Jeffreys in 1729 on a building lease to John
Ladyman of St. Anne's, glazier. (ref. 218) It is shown
in the drawing by Frederick Shepherd, already
referred to (Plate 67a), with a plain brick front of
three storeys, three windows wide. The doorway
was dressed with Doric antae, supporting a fascia
or name-board that extended across the two windows of the ground floor, which had presumably
been used as a shop. The house was demolished
for the formation of Shaftesbury Avenue in
1883–6.
No. 11: The Macclesfield Public House
The Macclesfield occupies the site of an earlier
public house called the Horse and Dolphin,
which eventually gave its name to the former East
Military Mews. The licensee in 1690 was
William Roberts. (ref. 219)
In 1729 John Jeffreys granted the Horse and
Dolphin on a building lease to William Twiss,
victualler. (ref. 220) The house may not have been
completely rebuilt at this time, but only altered
in order to combine it with the house adjoining
it on the north. (ref. 52) The enlarged Horse and
Dolphin survived until the formation of Shaftesbury Avenue. It was altered in 1886 (ref. 221) and
rebuilt in 1890. The architects were Saville and
Martin and the builders Guild and Brand. (ref. 222)
At the same time the name of the public house
was changed to the Macclesfield. (ref. 90)