CHAPTER XX
Leicester Square, South Side: Leicester Estate
THE south side of Leicester Square (which,
like the east side, is in the parish of St.
Martin, see fig. 94 on page 417) was the
earliest to be developed, although when the first
houses were built here in the 1660's Lord
Leicester's concept of a great square may not
yet have taken precise shape.
This early development was the work of Anthony Ellis, a mason of St. Martin's, who in April
1664 took a lease for thirty-one years of a triangular piece of Leicester Field which was
bounded on the west by Hedge Lane and on the
south by a brick wall which separated the field
from the Blue Mews. (ref. 1) (fn. a) This piece of land, represented on fig. 94 by the block marked H, had a
frontage of 162 feet. Ellis covenanted to build
two or more houses at a cost of £150 within two
years and to enclose them with a brick wall eight
feet high. (ref. 1)
By 1666 Ellis had built five houses, (ref. 5) of which
the first to be occupied was No. 40. (ref. 6) The other
four houses, between No. 40 and Hedge Lane,
were set back slightly behind gardens (see Plate
2). Ellis evidently failed to provide the brick wall
which he had covenanted to build, for in 1666
Lord Leicester granted him a lease of another
piece of ground in front of the four houses, on
which to build the wall. On this additional piece
of land, a thin triangular strip nine feet wide at
the Hedge Lane end, Ellis again agreed to build
the wall, with doors in it to give access to the
houses. (ref. 7)
This extension of Ellis's ground blocked the
existing opening into Leicester Field in the brick
wall which separated the field from Colman
Hedge Lane (see page 432). Ellis was therefore
authorized to dismantle a portion of the old wall
and to make a new gateway eight feet broad,
slightly to the north of the old opening. (ref. 7)
In 1670 Lord Leicester entered into agreements with Ellis and other builders to continue
the development of Leicester Field and Swan
Close. When the west side of Leicester Square
(fig. 94, block 1) was set out, the opening made by
Ellis into Hedge Lane was widened and room was
left for a short street between the new buildings
and Ellis's original houses, which thus formed the
north and south sides respectively of the new street,
called Spur Street.
The remainder of the south side of the square
(fig. 94, block G) was developed by William
Tinker, joiner, of St. Martin's. He entered into
an agreement in May 1670 to take a lease of a
triangular piece of land 203 feet long which
extended from Ellis's land to the south-east
corner of the square, where it had a depth of 62
feet. (ref. 8) Tinker's lease was granted on 20 June
1670, (ref. 9) and under his covenant (which stipulated
that four or more houses should be built within
two years, uniform and ranging with Ellis's), he
erected four houses facing Leicester Square and
one facing Green Street and the alley to Long's
Court. (ref. 6) They were occupied by 1673. (ref. 10) The
extreme eastern piece of his land was left open in
order to permit entrance to and from the square
through Green Street.
The frontages of the original ten houses on the
south side were unusually wide compared with
other houses in the square, Ellis's five sharing 162
feet between them and Tinker's five sharing about
150 feet on to Leicester Square and 62 feet on to
Green Street; but their depths were shallower than
those of the other houses in the square. Subsequent
alterations have completely obscured the original
house plots, and the house numbers given below
and on fig. 94 are those which were last in use
when individual houses still existed.
About 1691–2 the third Earl of Leicester sold
the freehold of one of Tinker's houses to Nicholas
Cooke, who was then developing land to the
south in the Blue Mews. (ref. 11) The house was
demolished in 1692 to open a way through from
the square to the Blue Mews (St. Martin's
Street), and two houses, with very narrow
frontages to the square (see Plate 51b), were
built on either side of the entrance. (ref. 12)
By the certificate of partition of 1788 all of
the ground on the south side of the square (plots
G and H on fig. 94) was awarded to the Tulk
family. In 1807 plot G, to the east of St. Martin's
Street, came into the possession of Charles Augustus Tulk, while plot H, to the west of St. Martin's
Street, was retained by John Augustus Tulk (I).
Both plots were subsequently divided amongst
their descendants (see pages 422–3).
Nos. 31–36 (consec.) Leicester
Square
Demolished
The site of these houses is now occupied by the
Royal Dental Hospital of London. Inhabitants
are listed below.
No. 34
Richard Lestock, later Admiral of the Blue, (ref. 13)
1714–18; (ref. 6) Paul Whitehead, satirist, (ref. 13) 1738–45; (ref. 6)
and Samuel Finney, miniature painter to Queen
Charlotte, (ref. 13) 1756–67. (ref. 6)
No. 35
Elizabeth Buckshorn, 1684–91, (ref. 6) ? widow of
Joseph Buckshorn, the Dutch painter, pupil of
Sir Peter Lely. (ref. 13) This house was taken in 1766, (ref. 6)
a few years after his return from the Near East and
the publication of The Antiquities of Athens, by
James Stuart, the painter and architect. (ref. 13) Stuart
had succeeded Hogarth as serjeant-painter in
1764 and held the post until its abolition in 1782.
He was surveyor of Greenwich Hospital until his
death at the house in the square on 2 February
1788. (ref. 14) J. T. Smith mentions that Stuart had
built a large room at the back of his house where
he exhibited several of his drawings and that his
parlour was decorated with prints by Hogarth. (ref. 15)
A later occupant was John Rising, (ref. 6) painter, who
exhibited from this address at the Royal Academy
in 1792–3.
No. 36
Apsley Pellatt, apothecary, (ref. 16) from whom the
prominent glass manufacturer and M.P. for
Southwark of the same name no doubt descended, (ref. 17) 1738 till his death in 1741; Anna
Millicent King, 1757–61, (ref. 6) who was horridly
murdered by her lodger, Théodore Gardelle, a
Swiss miniature painter (he 'carried bits of her
about in parcels', and deposited her entrails 'in
the boghouse'): (ref. 18) and Edward Fisher, mezzotint engraver, who engraved several of Reynolds's
portraits, (ref. 13) 1761–77. (ref. 6) Fisher advertised from the
Golden Head in Leicester Fields and may therefore have lodged after 1777 with Hogarth's widow
at No. 30. (ref. 19)
No. 37
Lewis Mettayer, plate-worker and jeweller (ref. 20)
(perhaps a relative of Samuel Mettayer, see
page 294), 1727–8; George Knapton, portrait
painter, (ref. 13) 1739–40; and George Desnoyers, the
ballet-dancer (see also No. 20), 1743–4. (ref. 6)
Nos. 31–36 (consec.) Leicester
Square: The Royal Dental
Hospital Of London
The Dental Hospital of London was established in 1858 and was housed at No. 32 Soho
Square from 1860 to 1873. In 1874 it removed
to Nos. 40–41 Leicester Square. In 1897 the
number of patients treated was over 62,000, and
the existing accommodation inadequate. A
larger site was therefore acquired, comprising all
of the ground on the south side of the square to the
east of St. Martin's Street. The line of frontage
at each end of the site was set back to provide for
the widening of Green (now Irving) Street and
of St. Martin's Street, and in 1899–1901 the
present building was erected to the designs of
Messrs. Young and Hall. The cost of the
building was nearly £50,000, and the contractors
were Messrs. Trollope. In 1901 King Edward
VII granted royal patronage to the hospital. (ref. 21)
The hospital front is an eclectic Renaissance
design, built in red brick and buff terra-cotta.
There are four lofty storeys above an arcade
containing shop fronts and mezzanine windows.
The composition is asymmetrical, with two bays
in the curved face to the left, and three bays in
the straight face to the right of the entrance
feature, which is three windows wide.
Nos. 40–42 (consec.) Leicester Square: The Leicester Square Theatre
The original house at No. 40 appears to have
been the first erected in Leicester Square. Priscilla Tatton is given as the occupier in 1666–74
but as Dorothy Ellis was rated here in 1674–85 (ref. 6)
it seems possible that this was the house in Leicester Fields for which her husband, Anthony
Ellis, owed tax on ten hearths shortly before his
death in 1671. (ref. 22) His name does not appear in the
ratebooks as an occupant of any other house, and
Priscilla Tatton was possibly a relative. Later
occupants were Philip Mercier, portrait painter,
appointed, in 1727, principal painter to Frederick,
Prince of Wales, (ref. 13) 1720–6 or 1727; (ref. 6) and (Sir)
Thomas de Veil, a half-pay officer and justice
of the peace for Middlesex and Westminster, (ref. 23)
1729–37. (ref. 6)
In the middle years of the nineteenth century
No. 40 was occupied by the National Philanthropic Association and the Poor Man's Guardian
Society. (ref. 24) A soup kitchen was established here
by these organizations in February 1847 which,
despite lack of funds, continued to distribute relief
for some years, and in 1851 'substantial Christmas
fare' was supplied to ten thousand families. (ref. 25) In
1873 Nos. 40 and 41 were demolished for the
erection of a new building on their combined
sites (Plate 51b). This was occupied by the Dental Hospital of London from 1874 to 1901. (ref. 26)
Occupants of the former No. 41 include
Thomas Brand, while he was M.P. for Arundel, (ref. 27)
1774–80 (ref. 6) (see also No. 1 Soho Square), and
William Cruikshank, the anatomist, (ref. 28) 1781–8 (ref. 6)
(see also No. 49 Leicester Square). The former
No. 42 was occupied by George Hutchins,
1683–8, (ref. 6) ? the King's Serjeant, knighted 1689. (ref. 13)
The whole of the south side of Leicester Square
to the west of St. Martin's Street is now occupied
by the Leicester Square Theatre block. Sir Walter
Gibbons, who was responsible for the building of
the London Palladium and the Haymarket
Capitol, headed the promoters of the theatre,
which aimed at providing a house equipped for a
wide variety of types of entertainment; the main
part of the Leicester Square front was to be
devoted to an independent block of offices and a
large flat designed for occupation by Jack
Buchanan. The theatre was designed by Andrew
Mather and the general contractors were Gee,
Walker and Slater Limited. (ref. 29) It opened as a
cinema on 19 December 1930, with Viennese
Nights, (ref. 30) and except for a brief period of experiment in 1931–3 it has been used as a cinema ever
since. (ref. 31)
Built of white glazed terra-cotta, the front of
the Leicester Square Theatre is an asymmetrical
composition, dominated by the upper face of the
entrance feature where three attenuated window
arches are flanked by wide fluted piers and finished
with a heavy modillioned cornice, surmounted by
a pedimented attic. The interior, which has been
altered and redecorated since the theatre was first
opened, calls for no comment.
Spur Street
(NOW PART OF PANTON STREET)
The formation of Spur Street began with the
building of houses on the south side in 1664–6
by Anthony Ellis, who also had a lease of the
ground on the north side in 1670 (see page 507).
The houses on the north side were completed by
1675 and the name appears to have come into
general use by 1735. (ref. 6) On the formation of the
parish of St. Anne's in 1686 the north side of the
street was taken into the new parish and the south
side was left in St. Martin's.
Thomas Coram, who established the Foundling Hospital, (ref. 13) occupied a house on the north
side in 1750. (ref. 6)
Spur Street was the address given by several
artists in exhibition catalogues, the most notable
being John Constable in 1805–6; others included
John Dixon, engraver, 1766–7; James Nixon,
miniature painter, 1780–1; John N. Sartorius,
painter, 1785–6, 1795–9, 1807–8; and J. W.
Slater, painter, 1803.