CHAPTER XVII
Great Marlborough Street Area: Millfield
All of the ground to be described in this
chapter belonged to the Mercers' Company
until its surrender to the Crown in 1536.
It subsequently formed part of the sixty acres in the
parish of St. Martin in the Fields which were
granted in fee in January 1559/60 by Queen
Elizabeth to William Dodington. These lands
quickly passed to Thomas Wilson of St. Botolph
without Aldgate, brewer (see page 24), and in
1622 his son, Richard Wilson of King's Lynn,
gentleman, sold some 35 acres of them to William
Madoxe (Maddox), citizen and merchant taylor of
London.
Maddox's estate comprised a close of 11½ acres
called Millfield (of which the area to be described
in this chapter formed part), a close of 13½ acres
called Kirkham or Kirkham's Close and 10 acres
to the south of the latter (fig. 2). Millfield,
which presumably took its name from Tyburn
Mill which stood nearby, was described as being
on the east side of the highway from Charing
Cross (i.e. Swallow Street) while Kirkham Close
lay on the west side. The part of Swallow Street
adjoining Millfield later formed part of the
boundary between the parishes of St. James and
St. George, Hanover Square, and Kirkham Close
is therefore not included in this volume. The
remaining ten acres later became the Burlington
leasehold estate (see Chapter XXVI). At the time
of the conveyance to Maddox, Millfield was
already enclosed and divided into two parcels then
or later in the tenure of Thomas Geethings of
St. Giles in the Fields, yeoman. (ref. 1)
In 1664 all these lands were settled by
Maddox's son, Benjamin, on the issue of his
forthcoming marriage with Dorothy Glascock.
They were then or late in the tenure of Isaac
Smith under an eleven-year lease from 1658. (ref. 2)
In 1670 Maddox leased them for sixty-two years
to James Kendrick of St. Martin's, gentleman. (ref. 3)
Kendrick immediately began to grant subleases to several persons who by January 1670/1
had 'already begunn to build and Intend to build
severall Messuages or Tenements on the said
premises … whereby the same wilbe much
ymproved.' (ref. 3) In the western part of Millfield the
sub-lessees were Robert Morris, coachman, who
had leases of two large parcels, and Thomas
Browne, gardener. Their lands lay on the east
side of the foot-path which later became King(ly)
Street, (ref. 4) and Blome's map of c. 1689 (Plate 4)
shows houses along the full length of both sides of
the street. The eastern part of Millfield comprising five acres was leased to John Steele of St.
Marylebone (ref. 5) and is shown on the map as pasture
ground; it may, however, have been dug for brickearth for Steele was rated for a brick field in the
parish in 1684. (ref. 6)
By 1688 Kendrick's sixty-two-year lease had
become vested in Thomas Pargiter of Thavies
Inn, gentleman, who in that year obtained a reversionary lease of Millfield and Kirkham Close
from Benjamin (now Sir Benjamin) Maddox for
another eighteen years. (ref. 7) But although the overall
leasehold term was thus extended to 1750 building
development does not seem to have progressed
greatly, except near King Street and Tyburn
Road. John James of St. James's, carpenter, and
Abraham Bridell (Bridle) had a lease from John
Pargiter (probably Thomas's father) of land fronting Tyburn Road. (ref. 8) They did some building (ref. 9) and
Bridell gave his name to an opening on the east
side of King Street. (ref. 10)
The stimulus to develop the rest of the ground
came in 1704 from the adjoining Pollett estate.
In that year, when the number of buildings seems
hardly to have increased since the date of Blome's
map, John Steele let his five acres of land to
Joseph Collens (ref. 11) of St. Giles in the Fields,
carpenter, who was one of the executors of James
Pollett, formerly the owner of the land to the
east of Millfield. Collens and other builders then
laid out Great Marlborough Street and the area
south of Oxford Street (see below).
In 1716/17 Sir Benjamin Maddox died leaving
as his heirs his daughter, Mary, and her son, the
infant Benjamin Pollen. (ref. 12) The latter sold about
half of his grandfather's estate in 1732–3, and in
later years he disposed of part of the remainder.
The leases of the western part of Millfield (which
had been let to Morris and Browne) had been
bought up piece-meal during the previous twenty
years by the Duke of Argyll, who in 1732–3
purchased the freehold from Pollen and built over
the ground which still remained open (see Chapter XIX). The narrow piece of Millfield lying
between Swallow Street and King Street was sold
in 1732, except for one piece which was sold
later, in 1757. (ref. 13)
Some of the houses built on the land let to
Joseph Collens were also sold in 1732 but most of
this part of the estate was retained and is still in the
possession of the trustees of the Pollen estate. The
history of the development of this part of Millfield
is dealt with below.
Great Marlborough Street
The eastern part of Millfield, which John Steele
had leased in 1704 to Joseph Collens, comprised
five acres between Tyburn Road on the north, the
wall of Pesthouse Close on the south, the Pollett
estate on the east and the western part of Millfield
(later the Argyll estate) on the west (fig. 2). A
few weeks after he had obtained the lease Collens
and Matthew Hopkinson of St. Anne's, scrivener, (ref. 14) who were two of the executors of the will
of James Pollett, the former owner of the adjoining estate on the east, petitioned for common
sewers to be constructed on both the Pollett estate
and the eastern part of Millfield, (ref. 15) evidently with
the intention of developing the two estates jointly
(see page 244). The extreme eastern end of Great
Marlborough Street was, in fact, built on the
Pollett estate.
The first part of the street to be built was the
south-western arm, which runs into Carnaby
Street in a slanting direction. This skewed frontage was probably occasioned by the need to provide
access to the new street from the northern end of
Carnaby Street, which had already been laid out on
the adjoining Lowndes estate. A tablet formerly
attached to a house at the corner of Great
Marlborough Street and Foubert's Passage (now
Place) was inscribed 'Marlborough Street 1704', (ref. 16)
this name being clearly chosen in celebration of
the Duke of Marlborough's victory at Blenheim
on 13 August 1704. The ratebooks suggest,
however, that this south-western arm was sometimes called Little Marlborough Street; it
occasionally also appears as part of Carnaby
Street. By 1706 eleven houses had been built in
this part of the street. (ref. 17)
John Steele's own lease and his sub-lease to
Joseph Collens were both due to expire in 1750.
Thus the terms offered to individual builders or
occupants could only be for forty-six years (from
1704 to 1750) at the most. In order to persuade
tradesmen to engage in building and take leases
some agreement appears to have been made with
Sir Benjamin Maddox to extend these terms as
soon as the houses were built, and many grants of
reversionary leases from Maddox are recorded.
They were usually to the then occupant of the
house and always for terms of fifty-nine years from
1750.
For most of the houses in the street these
reversionary leases provide the only source of
information for the first building, and though this
information is fragmentary it appears that the
method of development was the usual one, individual craftsmen taking leases of houses in
return for their services over a group of houses,
and then mortgaging or selling them to realise
more capital.
Originally the western extremity of Great
Marlborough Street came to an end two houses
beyond the modern No. 22 on the north side.
In 1736 the Duke of Argyll extended the line of
the street a short distance westward under the
name of Argyll Street, which then turned north
and led into Oxford Street. In 1820 the line of
the street was again extended westward from the
south end of Argyll Street to Regent Street, which
was then in course of construction (see fig. 55).
This new street was originally called Argyll Place,
but was incorporated in Great Marlborough
Street in 1925.
Hatton described the new street in 1708 as
being pleasant, with good buildings, (ref. 18) but James
Macky, writing in 1714, rated it more highly. He
listed it with eight squares because 'though not a
Square [it] surpasses any Thing that is called a
Street, in the Magnificence of its Buildings and
Gardens, and inhabited all by prime Quality'. (ref. 19)
A more critical appraisal was made by Ralph in his
Review of 1734, where he wrote that 'Great
Marlborough-Street is esteemed one of the finest
in Europe; but I think it can have this character
on no other account but its length and breadth;
the buildings on each side being trifling and inconsiderable, and the vista ended neither way with
any thing great or extraordinary'. (ref. 20)
Many of the original buildings in Great
Marlborough Street were demolished without
records being taken, but the few exceptions noted
below suggest that a fair degree of uniformity in
design and finish prevailed. In its present state,
lined with buildings of all styles and materials,
varying in height and scale, the street can no
longer be described as magnificent. Even the effect
of its unusual width has been greatly diminished by
the increased size of the newer buildings. Only
a few eighteenth-century houses survive, and their
rather dull fronts contrast oddly with the florid
Victorian and mediocre modern structures.
The inhabitants of 'prime Quality' mentioned
by Macky in 1714 included several peers. Five
were mentioned as living in Great Marlborough
Street in 1716 out of a hundred summoned
before the King (the Earls of Sutherland, Bute,
Ilay and Yarmouth and Lord Onslow) (ref. 21) and
even in the middle of the nineteenth century one
earl and two barons were living at No. 12. Out of
twenty-one persons living in the street who voted
in 1749 in the poll for Westminster eleven were
gentlemen and ten were tradesmen. (ref. 22) In a more
complete list of tradespeople in 1830 tailors
accounted for one sixth of the whole and the
medical and legal professions for almost another
sixth each. There were also two architects, two
surveyors and two artists. (ref. 23)
Like Argyll Street and Argyll Place, Great
Marlborough Street accommodated a considerable
number of architects at the end of the nineteenth
and beginning of the twentieth centuries. The
Architectural Association itself was at No. 56 for
twelve years.
The musical profession was also well served at
this time with firms like Erard's, Augener's
and Schott's and the London College of Music,
the last two still being housed at Nos. 48 and
47 respectively. The chief concern of the street
to-day, however, is the 'rag' trade, in particular,
the hat industry. (ref. 23)
(fn. a)
North side
No. 1 Great Marlborough Street
This house stood in Little Gelding's Close and
is described on page 249.
Nos. 5–7 (consec.) Great Marlborough Street
No. 5 demolished
These three houses were probably all let about
1708 to Thomas Husbands of St. Giles in the
Fields, painter stainer. (ref. 25) They were smaller than
the other houses on this side of the street and had
much shorter gardens. No. 7 was occupied by
Lady Philadelphia Shrimpton, 1708–30; (fn. 26) and
by the London College of Music, 1892–5. (ref. 23)
No. 5 was surveyed by the Royal Commission
on Historical Monuments in 1924. It was one of
the smaller houses at the east end of the north
side, having a conventional plan with a large front
room and a narrow well staircase on the east side
of the back room, which had a corner fireplace
and a door leading to a small closet in the back
wing. The front was three storeys high and three
windows wide, but the original brickwork had
been faced with cement. Ovolo-moulded panelling in two heights lined the entrance passage, and
an arch, with panelled pilasters and a moulded
archivolt broken by a keyblock, opened to the
stair compartment, the lower flights of which were
panelled. The stair had closed moulded strings,
and the moulded handrail rested on twisted
balusters and large twisted newels. The ground-floor back room retained its original ovolomoulded panelling, as did the room above, and all
of the second-floor rooms were lined with plain
rebated panelling, with two-panelled doors. (ref. 27) The
house has since been demolished.
The present buildings at Nos. 6 and 7 are a
Victorian pair with interesting fronts of uniform
design in red brick, sparingly dressed with stone.
Each front is four storeys high and, above the
elliptical-arched shop-front, three windows wide.
Slender faceted colonnets project between the
second- and third-floor windows, which have
elaborately patterned aprons of moulded brick.
The parapet is decorated with floral festoons and
surmounted by stone ball finials. There is some
correspondence of detail between Nos. 6–7 and
No. 10, where a great arch, with splayed reveals
and a moulded archivolt, frames the wide windows
of the first, second and third floors.
No. 8 Great Marlborough Street
Demolished
This house was said to have been built by
Edward or Thomas Carter, (ref. 28) presumably the
Edmund Carter of St. Giles's, bricklayer, who
worked on the south side of the street. (ref. 29) Occupants have included Lady Coventry, from at least
1716 to 1724; Sir Thomas Willis, 1726; (Sir)
Robert Lawley, 1727–9; and Brigadier St.
Hippolyte, 1731–6. (ref. 17) The proprietors of the
Pantheon appear in the ratebooks for 1791–2 (see
page 276) but the house was apparently empty in
1791 and was then taken over by Dr. Underwood,
1792–1800, (ref. 17) probably Michael Underwood,
man-midwife (ref. 30) (see also No. 60).
The house has now been demolished, but like
No. 5 it was surveyed in 1924 by the Royal Commission on Historical Monuments. It was a later
and larger house than No. 5, the first-floor plan
showing a large front room with four windows.
The back room, with three windows, was on the
east side of a roomy staircase, with a narrow well
between the flights. There was no back closet
wing. The three-storeyed front was four windows
wide, that at the east end being a narrow light.
The brickwork had been faced with cement, there
was a moulded stringcourse at second-floor level,
and a series of panels were recessed in the parapet.
The hall and lower staircase were lined with
raised-and-fielded panelling in ovolo-moulded
framing, and on the first-floor landing were two
eight-panelled doors. The staircase balustrade,
with fluted Corinthian column newels, twisted
and turned balusters, and carved step-end brackets,
closely resembled those in Nos. 12, 13 and 54, the
first still existing and the others recorded by
drawings and photographs. (ref. 27)
Nos. 9 and 10 Great Marlborough Street
Demolished
The first house on the site of No. 9 was let on a
reversionary lease in 1709 to Matthew Hopkinson
of the Middle Temple, gentleman, (ref. 31) who together
with Joseph Collens was the executor and
developer of James Pollett's estate. It was occupied by the Italian artist Jacopo Amiconi
from 1734 to 1739. (ref. 17)
According to deeds relating to adjoining
property the first house on the site of No. 10 was
built by Henry Bainbridge, joiner, and was said to
have been occupied in 1708 by William Pulteney. (ref. 32)
He died in 1715 (see page 29) and his widow,
Lady Arabella, appears in the ratebooks from
1716 to 1719.
No. 11 Great Marlborough Street
This site was first let in about 1707 to William
Warren (ref. 11) and was presumably assigned to
Thomas Onslow of St. James's, esquire, later
second Baron Onslow, who acquired the reversionary lease from Sir Benjamin Maddox in 1712. (ref. 33)
Thomas Onslow married one of the richest
heiresses of the day and in 1731–5 built the magnificent house at Clandon Park designed by
Giacomo Leoni. (ref. 34) A short note written in 1874
suggests that his house in Great Marlborough
Street was handsomely equipped. It had one of the
largest frontages in the street (33 feet) and inside
was a handsome carved oak staircase and a painted
ceiling 'representing the rule of Jupiter over the
gods and goddesses of mythology'. A surprising
feature was that at some time, not necessarily in
Lord Onslow's, the window shutters had been
lined with 'bullet proof armour'. (ref. 35) There is a
plan of the house (fig. 47) but otherwise it is
unrecorded.
Lord Onslow lived here until his death in 1740;
his son Richard, the third Baron, also lived here
until his death in 1776 and Lady Onslow, the
third Baron's widow, lived in the house until
1808 or 1809. (ref. 17) For many years it was occupied
by the famous firm of brush manufacturers,
founded by William Kent, who is thought to have
set up his business in Tyler Street in 1777. In
1809 (ref. 17) William Kent junior moved from No. 60
Great Marlborough Street to No. 11 where the
firm stayed until 1897. (ref. 36)
In 1910 the present building was erected to the
design of E. Keynes Purchase for Messrs. Cobb
and Jenkins, woollen manufacturers. (ref. 37) It has an
interesting front of stone and brick, six storeys
high and three windows wide. The ground storeys
seems low in relation to the first floor, where the
three tall windows are set in an elaborate frontispiece of stone in a highly mannered Renaissance
style, with panelled piers supporting Doric
entablatures across the side windows, and a
pedimented attic framing the middle window of the
second floor, the flanking windows being round
and set in a plain brick face. The upper stage of
the front is entirely in brick, with three tiers of
windows set in three bays between giant Doric
pilasters. The influence of Beresford Pite is
apparent in this odd but striking design.
Figure 47:
No. 11 Great Marlborough Street, ground-floor plan in 1882. Redrawn from a deed in the possession of G. B. Kent and Sons
No. 12 Great Marlborough Street
Joseph Collens sub-let the original house on
this site on 20 November 1707, apparently to
Richard Stacey, (ref. 11) master bricklayer to the Office
of Works from 1696 to 1714. (ref. 38) In 1712 Stacey
obtained a reversionary lease from Sir Benjamin
Maddox. (ref. 39) Occupants included Charles Mohun,
fifth Baron Mohun, c. 1712, who died of wounds
in that year after a duel with the fourth Duke of
Hamilton; Lieutenant-General Richard Lumley,
first Earl of Scarborough, Chancellor of the Duchy
of Lancaster, 1716; Sir William Milner, first
baronet, of Nun Appleton Hall, Yorkshire, M.P.,
1717–38; Lady Mary Fitzwilliam, daughter of
the second Earl Fitzwilliam, and her sisters,
1744–6; the Bendyshe or Bendish family, 1746–1788; Edward Vernon Harbord, fourth Baron
Suffield, 1844–52, Thomas William Anson, first
Earl of Lichfield, 1849–52 and George John
Vernon, fifth Baron Vernon, 1844–63, who were
related by marriage; and John Dwyer, architect,
1856–8. (ref. 40)
Figure 48:
No. 12 Great Marlborough Street, plans
Figure 49:
No. 12 Great Marlborough Street, staircase balustrade
This is the least altered of the surviving old
houses in the street. It has a conventional plan
(fig. 48), with a large front room and the staircase
on the east side of the back room, which has an
angle fireplace and a door leading to the closet
wing, also with an angle fireplace. The front was
altered and the interior partly refitted in late
Georgian times. Three storeys high and three
windows wide, the front is a very plain design in
brown stock bricks with red dressings to the flatarched window openings (Plate 124b). The doorway is set in a plain elliptical-arched opening, the
six-panelled door being framed by acanthus-capped
pilasters and a transom treated as an entablature
with a frieze decoration of paterae. Most of the
back rooms retain the original panelling, but the
best internal feature is the staircase, rising and
returning in parallel flights separated by a narrow
well. It is of wooden construction and the handsome balustrade is composed of a moulded handrail
resting on fluted Corinthian column newels and
turned twisted balusters, three to a tread, rising
from cut strings with carved bracket step-ends
(fig. 49). Similar balustrades occurred in other
houses, now demolished, in this street.
No. 13 Great Marlborough Street
Demolished
The large house which formerly stood on the
west corner of Blenheim (now Ramillies) Street
was built as two separate houses. (ref. 17) The eastern
house was mortgaged by Joseph Collens in 1707 (ref. 41)
and assigned in 1710 by his widow Lydia, who had
in the meantime obtained the reversionary lease,
to the Hon. John Richmond, alias Webb. (ref. 42) In
the latter year Webb also obtained the reversionary lease of the adjoining house on the corner,
which had been built by Richard Daston. (ref. 43)
Webb had fought at Blenheim, Ramillies,
Oudenarde and Malplaquet and rose to the rank
of general. He combined the two houses, which
remained one thereafter, and lived here until his
death in 1724. The house was said to have been
occupied by the Duke of Marlborough himself, (ref. 44)
but it was probably Webb's tenancy which gave
rise to this story. After the general's death the
house remained unoccupied for several years. (ref. 17)
Webb's house was advertised for sale in The
Daily Courant in 1725. (ref. 45) Besides the 'large fine
and commodious new-built … House … with
a pleasant Garden adjoining', the advertisement
mentioned 'a beautiful new-built Apartment at
the further End of the said Garden, through
which is a Communication from the House to that
Apartment, which also lies next a Street, consisting of a very good Kitchen and other convenient
Offices under Ground, over which is but one
Floor, containing a very good Dining-Room,
Parlour, Withdrawing-Room, and a lodging-Room, all very beautiful and convenient, and both
Houses well serv'd with New-River-Water; with
good Coach-houses and Stabling adjoining.'
The house was eventually taken by Lord
Charles Cavendish, third son of the second Duke
of Devonshire, who purchased the freehold in
1738. (ref. 13) He appears in the ratebooks from 1738
to 1782, and was followed by his son Henry,
the natural philosopher, (ref. 30) 1782–4.
The back house in Blenheim Street which was
mentioned in the newspaper advertisement of
1725 was perhaps used by Henry Cavendish as a
laboratory or workshop. A later occupant, Joshua
Brookes, the anatomist, (ref. 30) had a 'Theatre of
Anatomy', here during the period 1786–98 (ref. 17)
(Plate 124d), where he gave lectures and exhibited
the bodies of notorious criminals. In the 'pleasant
Garden' Brookes had a vivarium, 'constructed
principally with large masses of the Rock of
Gibraltar', where he kept chained wild animals. (ref. 46)
An eye-witness of the fire which destroyed the
Pantheon in January 1792 related how the mob,
looking through the iron gates to Brookes's
garden and seeing the discomfiture of the animals
from the heat of the fire, threatened 'to pull the
house about his ears'. (ref. 47)
From 1833 to 1904 No. 13 was occupied in
turn by the publishing houses of Henry Colburn
and then Hurst and Blackett. Robert Henry Kerr,
architect, occupied No. 13A from 1908 to 1916. (ref. 48)
The house has now been demolished, but a
photograph at the National Buildings Record,
possibly of this house, shows a fine staircase
similar to that at No. 54.
Nos. 14–17 (consec.) Great Marlborough Street
Nos. 15–17 were formerly two houses numbered 15 and
16. Demolished
The first house on the site of No. 14 was built
by Joshua Steed or Stead (ref. 49) and was let on reversion
in 1709 to Thomas Woodcock of St. James's,
esquire. (ref. 50) Woodcock lived here until 1732, followed by Madam Woodcock till 1754. Subsequent occupants (ref. 48) included Sir John Cust,
Speaker of the House of Commons, 1754–62; (ref. 30)
Lady Middleton, 1772–83; and at 14A, the sons
of John Papworth the architect, John Woody
Papworth, antiquary, architect and author of the
Ordinary of British Armorials, and Wyatt Papworth, antiquary, architect and founder of the
Architectural Publication Society, (ref. 30) 1850–69;
the society was also listed in the directories at No.
14A from 1850 to 1858.
The former No. 15 was built by John Kemp of
St. James's, woodmonger, (ref. 51) and let in 1709 to
William, fourth Baron Byron of Rochdale, (ref. 49) who
assigned (and probably mortgaged) it in 1710 to
Sir John Tyrwhit of Stanfield, Lincolnshire. (ref. 52)
The first occupant mentioned in the ratebooks was
Robert Darcy, Earl of Holdernesse, 1716–17;
followed by Lord Morpeth (? Henry Howard,
later fourth Earl of Carlisle, who in 1743 married
the fourth Baron Byron's daughter as his second
wife), 1718–24. The Byron family appear as
ratepayers later, Lord Byron, the fourth Baron, in
1727–36; his widow, Lady Byron, in 1736–40;
and William, fifth Baron Byron, 1745–74. From
1833 to 1843 the site appears to have been vacant
ground for which Thomas Campbell, the sculptor,
was rated. He was also rated at No. 16 from 1835
to 1843.
The former No. 16 was let originally to Mark
Dixon, (ref. 49) presumably the carpenter who worked
elsewhere in St. James's, and occupied by William
Spelman. (ref. 53)
Dixon sold the house in September 1709 to Sir
Lambert Blackwell, one of the Directors of the
South Sea Company, who in December 1709
obtained a reversionary lease. (ref. 53) After the collapse
of the South Sea Bubble in 1721 Blackwell's assets
were listed, and the house, with improvements,
was said to have cost him £1306 5s. 8d. The inventory described the furnished rooms as four
rooms on the first floor, a dining-room, four bed
chambers, garrets, kitchen, wash-house and
pantry. Most of the rooms and the staircase were
hung with pictures and one room was hung with
prints. (ref. 54) Sir Lambert occupied the house until his
death in 1727 and was followed by his son, Sir
Charles Blackwell, who occupied the house until
his death in 1741. (ref. 55) Later occupants of note included Thomas Campbell, the sculptor, (ref. 56) 1835–
1843, (ref. 17) whose sitters included Mrs. Siddons,
formerly an occupant of a house on the south side
of the street. Thereafter the house was occupied
by a succession of architects: G. Devey, 1848–80;
Coutts Stone, 1848–1903; W. P. Padmore,
1850–89; J. Weir, 1870; C. G. Maylard, 1870;
J. Williams, 1880; Percy G. Stone, who designed
Augener's (see below), 1882–1903; and Forsyth and Maule, 1898–1909. (ref. 23)
No. 18 Great Marlborough Street
Formerly Nos. 17 and 18. Demolished
The original No. 17 was amalgamated with
No. 18 in 1833. (ref. 17) It was one of the three houses,
Nos. 18 and 19 being the others, which were
apparently let to George Meggott by Joseph
Collens. (ref. 53) All three were subsequently let on
reversion in 1711 to Robert Meggott, George
Meggott's son. (ref. 57) Both father and son were
brewers and owned property elsewhere in St.
James's, including a brewery in Brewer Street
(see page 119).
Robert's son, John, who adopted his mother's
maiden name of Elwes, bought the freehold of all
three houses in 1751. (ref. 58) His eccentricity won him
a place in the Dictionary of National Biography,
where he is described as a miser who at his death
in 1789 left property worth half a million pounds.
He bequeathed the three houses in Great Marlborough Street to his two illegitimate sons, George
and John, George taking Nos. 17 and 19 and
John No. 18. (ref. 59)
No. 17 was taken over by Pierre Erard in
1833 (ref. 17) and altered or rebuilt with No. 18 (see
below).
The original No. 18 occupied only the western
part of the site later covered by No. 18. It was the
middle one of the three houses belonging to the
Meggott family and was occupied by George
Meggott from 1707, (ref. 17) possibly till his death in
1711. (ref. 60) His son Robert lived here until 1718. (ref. 17)
In 1794 (ref. 17) the house was taken over by
Sébastien Erard, the celebrated harp and pianoforte manufacturer. He had come to England in
1786 to open a branch of the business which he
had founded a few years earlier in Paris. (ref. 61)
After Sébastien's death in 1831 the firm was
continued by his nephew, Pierre Erard. (ref. 61) In
1833 he took over the adjoining house on the
east, the then No. 17, (ref. 17) and apparently rebuilt or
refaced the houses to give a uniform façade towards
the street, with dressings to the windows and an
imposing porch on one side (Plate 133b).
Pierre Erard died in 1855 and his widow's
nephew, Pierre Schaeffer, continued the business
until 1878. (ref. 61) In 1892 the freehold of Nos. 17 and
18 was purchased from the Elwes family by Marie
Eugenie Schaeffer Erard, and her husband, the
Comte de Franqueville; (ref. 62) the business at this time
was managed by Daniel Mayer, who held a lease
of the building. (ref. 63)
Mayer commissioned Percy G. Stone, whose
office was next door at No. 16, to design a new
building for the firm to contain workshops, showrooms and a concert hall. Stone took C. J. Phipps's
advice, as he admitted that this was 'the first time
I have had anything to do with a Public place of
amusement', but his plans for a hall to hold 770
persons were rejected by the London County
Council. By 1894, however, the new building
was finished with a concert room on the first floor
to seat 300 persons, but as Stone had failed to get
approval for his plan a licence for performances
was refused. In 1895 Phipps was employed to
alter the concert room to suit the licensing requirements. His first plans were also rejected and
it was not until 1898 that the room was approved,
finished and licensed. The licence was given up
in 1910 and the use of the room for concerts
discontinued. (ref. 63)
Figure 50:
No. 18 Great Marlborough Street, plans in 1897. Redrawn from plans in the possession of the London County Council
The building erected for Erard's (Plate 141a,
fig. 50) consisted of a front range and a back
range, joined by a large staircase compartment and
an ante-room, centrally placed to leave an adequate
light area on the east side and on the west. The
front range contained a show-room and an office on
the ground floor, the Salle Erard for concerts on
the first floor, and private apartments above. In
the back range were piano show-rooms and workshops. The front, built in buff-pink brick, banded
and dressed with terra-cotta, was an elaborate
design in a mixture of the 'François Premier' and
'Flemish Renaissance' styles. The composition
was of three lofty storeys, divided by narrow
panelled pilasters into three bays, each crowned
with a gable. The porch projecting from the
middle bay had a segmental pediment, which was
broken by an arched niche and rested on two
groups of three stumpy Doric columns raised on
high pedestals with panelled dies. In the left bay
was an arched doorway leading to the concert
room, and a window. In the right bay was a large
window of three lights, the middle one arched.
Each bay of the first-floor face contained a large
window, divided by pilaster-mullions and transoms
to form three arch-headed lights below smaller
lights, each divided by a central mullion of paired
balusters. The apron panels below these windows
were adorned with medallion portraits of musicians, and two similar medallions flanked the
royal arms above the middle window. In each bay
of the second-floor face was a large square
window, divided by mullions and a transom into
two tiers of three lights. The window in each side
bay had a shaped apron and a scrolled pediment,
but the middle window was finished with a semicircular pediment filled with fan ornament. The
gables, too, had different profiles, those above the
side bays rising in ogee curves to finish with a
segmental pediment, whereas the middle one was
concave-sided and had a triangular pediment,
originally with a finial in the form of a harp.
The bronze medallion-heads on the front were
the work of Ruth Canton. The heads on either
side of the royal arms were of Sébastien and Pierre
Erard, whose names appeared over the door with
the dates 1780 (the foundation of the firm in
Paris) and 1892. The heads on either side of the
door, from left to right, represented Liszt,
Beethoven, Thalberg, Spontini, Mozart and
Schubert. The group over the door representing
Orpheus charming the beasts was added after
May 1894, but was part of the original design for
the building. (ref. 64)
The ground-floor showroom was very eclectic
in style, the walls being hung with 'Cordova
leather' lincrusta between grouped columns of a
dwarf order on high pedestals, while the ceilings
were decidedly Adamesque. The walls of the
concert room were also lined with lincrusta
above a high dado of neo-Jacobean panelling. In
the centre of the north side was an elaborately
framed double-doorway with a swan-necked pediment, and in the windows of the south side were
medallion portraits in stained glass of famous composers and pianists.
In 1914 the Comte de Franqueville sold No.
18 (as the building was hereafter known) to
Augener's, (ref. 62) the firm of music publishers, printers
and sellers, whose business had been established at
No. 86 Newgate Street in 1853 by George
Augener for the importation of foreign music. In
1896 Augener's acquired the business of Robert
Cocks and Company, then of New Burlington
Street, and in 1904 the two companies were united
under the name of Augener Ltd. (ref. 61)
The firm of Erard remained at No. 18 after
Augener's had bought the building, and pianos
continued to be manufactured here until 1931. (ref. 23)
Augener's removed in 1961 to Charing Cross
Road and Acton, and No. 18 was demolished.
Ronald Ward and Partners have designed the new
building erected on the site in 1962. (ref. 65)
Nos. 19–21 : Great Marlborough Street Police Station And Marlborough Street Magistrates' Court
The first house at No. 19 was one of the three
houses belonging to the Meggott family (see under
the former No. 17). It was occupied by Mrs.
Meggott from 1718 to 1754 and by Robert
Meggott's son, John Elwes, from 1754 to 1771. (ref. 17)
William Rhodes, the surveyor who made a map of
the parish in 1770, lived here from 1771 to
1783, (ref. 17) and was possibly responsible for rebuilding
the house as shown in a photograph of c. 1900. (ref. 66)
It was taken over by the Metropolitan Police in
1912 and rebuilt as part of the police station (see
below).
The first house at No. 20 was let in 1707 by
Joseph Collens, then described as of St. Martin's,
carpenter, to Charles Nourse (ref. 67) of St. James's,
esquire, who obtained a reversionary lease in
1709. (ref. 68) It was occupied from 1727 to 1754 by
(Sir) Abraham Janssen, the second baronet; his
father Sir Theodore (ref. 55) was one of the Directors of
the South Sea Company and a close associate of
Sir Lambert Blackwell (ref. 69) who lived at No. 16.
The house was occupied by James Kennedy,
architect, in 1879–85 and James W. J. Kennedy,
architect, in 1886–90. (ref. 23) In 1899 the house was
demolished for a police station (see below).
The original house at No. 21 was let on reversion in 1710 to Lord William Powlett, second son
of the first Duke of Bolton, (ref. 70) who appears as the
ratepayer from 1707 to 1729 and whose widow,
Lady Powlett, is given as the occupant until 1737.
Giles Earle, the soldier, politician and wit, was the
next occupant. He had formerly been a follower
of the second Duke of Argyll, but changed his
allegiance to Walpole, whom the Duke's brother,
and Earle's neighbour, Lord Ilay, also supported. (ref. 30)
Earle occupied the house from 1738 until
1744. His son, William Rawlinson Earle, (ref. 30) succeeded him at No. 21 and lived here until his
death in 1771. (ref. 17) Sir James Porter, diplomatist, (ref. 30)
occupied the house in 1775–7. (ref. 17) In 1793 it
became a police office (see below).
In 1792 an Act of Parliament 'for the more
effectual administration of the office of a justice of
the peace in such parts of the counties of Middlesex
and Surrey as lie in and near the metropolis' provided for the establishment of seven public offices.
Three justices were to be attached to each office,
and they were empowered to employ sufficient
constables 'for the more effectual prevention of
felonies'. (ref. 71)
In 1793 No. 21 Great Marlborough Street and
the ground at the rear in Marlborough Mews
(now Ramillies Place) was adapted for use as one
of these public or police offices (ref. 59) (Plate 124c). In
1856 the Receiver for the Metropolitan Police
District took a lease of No. 20 Great Marlborough
Street and the ground at the rear was used for the
enlargement of the police station. (ref. 59) No. 20 itself
was not used, but was let out to various tenants (ref. 23)
until 1892, when the freehold was purchased with
that of No. 21. In 1899 No. 20 was demolished
and a new police station built on the site; the old
station in Marlborough Mews was converted into
a section house. (ref. 59) No. 19 Great Marlborough
Street and the premises at the rear were purchased
by the Receiver from the Elwes family in 1912.
The present building, comprising a court and
police station on the sites of Nos. 21, 20 and 19
Great Marlborough Street, was erected in the following year to the designs of J. D. Butler, the
police architect; Messrs. Patman and Fotheringham
were the contractors. (ref. 59) It has a wide front of two
stages, entirely in stone. The lofty ground storey
has a channel-jointed face containing tall and
narrow round-arched windows, three being set in
each of the segmental bows that flank the arched
porch. The upper stage is two storeys high and
bounded by Ionic pilasters, the windows being
arranged in pairs and framed with eared architraves. An open balustrade, broken centrally by a
pedestal carved with the royal arms, finishes this
front. Inside are three re-used chimneypieces
which possibly date from the conversion of No. 21
into a public office in 1792–3; two are fine examples in white marble with green inlay, and the
third is of wood and compo.
No. 22 Great Marlborough Street
Demolished
The first occupant of No. 22, from 1707, was
Colonel Rawlins (ref. 17) or Thomas Raleigh who
assigned it in 1714 to Peter Carle of St. James's,
esquire. (ref. 72) In 1738 Lord Ilay (later third Duke of
Argyll) purchased the house and left it on his death
in 1761 to his mistress, Mrs. Williams. It was
divested of its garden in 1827 when the Earl of
Aberdeen, who then occupied Argyll House in
Argyll Street, bought it to add to his own garden (ref. 73)
(see fig. 56, page 296).
Houses in Great Marlborough Street on the site of the Palladium
Demolished
The two houses numbered 23 and 24 on figs.
55 and 56 existed for only a few years. No. 23
was let to Richard Avery of St. Giles in the Fields,
bricklayer, by 1706 (ref. 74) and occupied by Colonel
(later Major-General) Russell, 1707–30, (ref. 17) and
by Dr. Arthur Sykes, latitudinarian divine, (ref. 30)
1731–47. (ref. 17) In 1747 the house was purchased by
Lord Ilay, then third Duke of Argyll, (ref. 75) and
demolished shortly afterwards. (ref. 17) Its site was left
open as a garden for the new house built by the
Duke on the next site westward.
The house numbered 24 on figs. 55 and 56 was
the last in the street on the north side. It was built
by Joseph Collens and first occupied by the Jacobite Lord Duffus (Kenneth Sutherland, third
Baron Duffus); Collens's widow assigned it in
1711 to the Earl of Ilay (ref. 76) who purchased the
freehold in 1732. (ref. 77) At the end of the garden
Lord Ilay erected a free-standing building for a
library. (ref. 78) After the completion of Argyll House
in Argyll Street about 1742, Lord Duffus's house
was demolished. The house subsequently erected
on the site was numbered No. 1 Argyll Street for
many years and later No. 10 Argyll Place. It is
described on page 301.
South side
No. 34 Great Marlborough Street
Formerly No. 29. Demolished
Mary Lepell, maid of honour to the Princess of
Wales (Queen Caroline) and who married John,
Lord Hervey in 1720, (ref. 30) occupied the first house
on this site from at least 1716 until 1724. (ref. 17) <This is probably Lady Hervey's mother, also Mary Lepell.>
Nos. 37 And 38 Great Marlborough Street: The Marlborough Head Public House
Since at least 1739 (ref. 17) there has been a public
house of this name on this site. (ref. 79) Up till 1885 it
occupied only the site of No. 38, but it was rebuilt
in 1885–6 on the site of Nos. 37 and 38. (ref. 48)
Nos. 39–45 (consec.) Great Marlborough Street
Formerly Nos. 34–40 (consec.). Demolished
Occupants of note at No. 39 were: Lady (Ann)
Hollis, 1721–6; Lady Vane, 1741–2; J. Slater,
architect, 1889–91; Arnold B. Mitchell, architect, 1898–1905; (ref. 48) and at No. 40: Lady Hone,
1727. (ref. 17)
The first house at No. 41 was granted on lease
by Joseph Collens on 15 July 1706 to Robert
Jones of St. James's, carpenter, who also obtained
the reversionary lease in 1709. (ref. 80) It was occupied
by Thomas Hardwick, architect and surveyor to
the parish, (ref. 81) 1815–25, (ref. 17) and by Charles Darwin
in 1837–8, shortly before his marriage. (ref. 82)
John Kemp was said to have taken a lease of the
first house on the site of No. 42. (ref. 83)
The original house at No. 43 was said in 1709
to have been let to Edmund Carter, (ref. 84) presumably
the bricklayer, and the earliest recorded occupant
was (Sir) William Paston, second Earl of Yarmouth, from at least 1716 to 1732. (ref. 17) The
architects Yates, Cook and Darbyshire have
occupied the house since 1922. (ref. 23)
John Kemp(e) was said to have taken the first
lease of No. 44; (ref. 83) it was occupied by the following
architects: Basil Champneys, 1873–80; T. E. C.
Streatfeild, 1874–83; W. O. Milne, 1874–89;
Edward Morgan Forster (the father of the
novelist), (ref. 85) 1878–80; Peter Dollar, 1879–92;
Milne and Hall, 1890–4. (ref. 23)
The original house at No. 45 was said in 1709
to have been let to Richard Avery, the bricklayer. (ref. 84)
Occupants have included Sir Peter Mew from at
least 1716 to 1720; Lady Clarges, 1721–7; (ref. 17) and
the following architects: Arthur Evers, 1867–71;
Evers and Mileham, 1872; Mileham and Kennedy, 1873–5; James Kennedy, 1876–8; Richard
Creed, 1877–87; Edward Dolby, 1877–83;
Haddon Brothers, 1877–82. (ref. 23)
No. 46 Great Marlborough Street
Formerly No. 41
John Dickins of St. James's, mason, took a
lease of the first house on this site. (ref. 86)
Sir John Cust, later Speaker of the House of
Commons, (ref. 30) occupied it in 1747–52, (ref. 17) and
Benjamin Robert Haydon, history painter, occupied the first floor in 1808–17; (ref. 87) Gilbert Stuart
Newton, the painter, is said to have taken over
Haydon's rooms. (ref. 88)
The present building is a pleasant 'Dutch' design of 1902 by W. Dunn and R. Watson and has
stone, framed windows forming bands across the
red brick front, which finishes with a stepped
gable. (ref. 89)
No. 47 Great Marlborough Street
Formerly No. 42
Some time before January 1710/11 this house
was let to Thomas Flight, whose trade or occupation is unrecorded. (ref. 90) The Pollen family to whom
Sir Benjamin Maddox's estate descended seem to
have occupied the house for some time. Other
occupants have included: Sir Nathaniel Napier,
from at least 1716 to 1727; Sir William Napier,
1728–46; Benjamin Pollen, 1751–5; —
Pollen, 1755–75; Sir Walter Farquhar, physician, (ref. 30) 1775–97; and the London College of
Music, 1896–present day (1962). (ref. 48)
The house appears to date from the early
eighteenth century but is much altered. It has a
front five windows wide now heightened to four
storeys, and is finished in cement, with Grecian
ornaments to the buttressed ground storey.
No. 48 Great Marlborough Street
Formerly No. 43
The first house on this site was granted on
reversionary lease in January 1710/11 to John
Willson of St. James's, esquire. (ref. 90) It was assigned
in 1725 to George Middleton, (ref. 91) the goldsmith and
partner in the banking firm which became Coutts.
In 1732 Middleton purchased the freehold. (ref. 13)
Lady Carlisle was an early occupant, 1718–24 or
1725, followed by Lady Read, 1725 (?1726)–
1750. (ref. 17)
In 1774 the house was taken by Edmund
Francis Calze who rebuilt it as 'a large Place
of Entertainment for the Publick … called
the Cassino'. (ref. 92) Calze, whose real name was
Cunningham, was a portrait painter, (ref. 30) but he
was described in 1777 as a builder (ref. 93) and
certainly engaged in building activity elsewhere
in London. (ref. 92) In 1776 he abandoned the house in
Great Marlborough Street and defaulted in the
payment of his rates. (ref. 17) He had become involved in financial difficulties and in July 1777
was declared bankrupt. One of his creditors was
Joseph Iredale of King Street, Soho, who performed the bricklayer's work at the Casino. (ref. 92)
In 1776 advertisements appeared in the press
for a masquerade to be held at the New Rooms in
Great Marlborough Street and a Mr. Barthelemon (presumably the violinist, François Hippolite
Barthélemon) (ref. 30) invited subscriptions to a 'Musical
Academia' for the following year at the Casino. (ref. 94)
The 'New Rooms' and the Casino were presumably one and the same.
At Christmas 1777 the house was taken by
William Miller (ref. 17) who also provided public
entertainments in the form of masquerades. (ref. 94)
Miller quitted the house in 1780 and was succeeded by George Gaines. (ref. 17) The house continued
to be open to the public, providing a 'University
for Rational Amusement' at which debates
were held. (ref. 94)
In 1781 an advertisement appeared for the
performance of a 'Dramatic Pasticcio' called The
Court of Aristophanes, in which the chief character
was Sir Swindle MacSubtle; the managers stated
that 'The Theatre, Machinery, Decorations and
every other part of this Amusement, is entirely
new'. (ref. 94)
The house appears to have stood empty for a
few years (ref. 17) until 1786, when it was taken by an
attorney, George Hardisty. (ref. 48) His business survived until 1907, the last date at which the firm
of Hardisty, Rhodes and Hardisty appeared in
directories at No. 48.
In 1908 the house was purchased by Charles
Gottlieb Volkert (ref. 95) of the firm of Schott and
Company which still occupies it. (ref. 23) This musicpublishing firm had been established in Mainz in
1773 and the London branch was opened possibly
in 1838, but perhaps in 1847, the date being
uncertain. (ref. 96)
This is another much altered old house (Plate
124a). It has a plain brick front of four storeys,
three windows wide, the attic obviously an addition. Inside are a few early Georgian six-panelled
doors, but the simple and elegant staircase appears
to date from about 1800.
Nos. 49 And 50 Great Marlborough Street: Church of St. John The Baptist
Formerly Nos. 44 and 45. All demolished
The first house on the site of No. 49 was said to
have been let to Edmund Carter before January
1709/10. (ref. 97) Lady 'Hertackington' was the first
recorded occupant in 1716; followed by John
Gordon, sixteenth Earl of Sutherland, 1717–22,
and later by (Sir) Walter Farquhar, physician, (ref. 30)
1772–3. (ref. 17)
Occupants of note at No. 50 were: General
Whiteman, 1710, (ref. 97) 1717–22; James Stuart,
second Earl of Bute, 1716; Sir Peter Vanderput,
1723–6; and Sir Robert Clifton, 1726–33. (ref. 17)
Both Nos. 49 and 50 were demolished in 1884–
1885 for the erection of the church of St. John the
Baptist.
The district of St. John the Baptist was
formed in 1865 to serve an area of St. James's
parish which was bounded approximately by
Oxford Street, Poland Street, Brewer Street,
Bridle Lane, the former Carnaby Market and
Argyll Street. Services were first held in a room
behind No. 49 Poland Street and later, from May
1867 until September 1869, in the conservatory of
the Pantheon. In 1869 Nos. 49 and 50 Great
Marlborough Street were purchased for £6100,
and in September of that year a temporary iron
church was opened on part of the back premises.
Shortage of funds delayed plans for a permanent
building, and it was not until 1884 that a promised grant of money from the Commissioners of
Woods and Forests at last made it possible for work
to begin. A. W. Blomfield was the architect of
the new church, and by December 1884 a building contract had been signed with John Woodward.
The temporary church was closed on 31 December
1884, and services were held in a mission room in
Cambridge Street. The site in Great Marlborough
Street was conveyed to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners on 7 February 1885 and the completed
church was consecrated on 23 November 1885.
The cost of the building was £5100, of which
£4000 was given by the Commissioners of Woods
and Forests.
Figure 51:
Church of St. John the Baptist, Great Marlborough Street, plan. Redrawn from an engraving in The Building News, 15 May 1885
In 1937 St. John's district was amalgamated
with that of St. Thomas's, Kingly Street, and the
church was demolished in the latter part of that
year. (ref. 98)
The front of St. John's (Plate 12b) was a freely
treated Perpendicular Gothic design, executed in
red brick and Doulting stone. The composition
was crowded and asymmetrical, the dominant
feature being a large window of six lights with a
traceried head, set within a moulded arch below a
gable. This window was slightly off centre,
having on its west side an octagonal turret, and on
the east a buttressed tower. At the base of the
tower and below the turret were doorways with
ogee canopies, and beneath the great window was
a low window of four lights, in pairs. On the
second stage of the tower shaft was a tall canopied
niche for a statue, and in the apex of the central
gable was a canopied tabernacle framing a relief of
St. John baptising. The west turret was finished
with a crocketed spirelet, rising, like the central
gable, against the straight parapet of open arcading
that finished the front, stopping against the belfry
stage of the tower. This had a pair of single-light
traceried openings in the front face, and one opening in each side face, and was crested with battlements between the corner pinnacles.
The plan (fig. 51) was very simple, a wide
aisleless nave of four bays with the southernmost
bay arranged as a chancel opening to a shallow
pentagonal sanctuary flanked by vestries. At the
northern end, behind a screen of three bays, wide
between narrow, was an extension of the nave
below a gallery. There is no evidence bearing on
the decoration of the interior beyond the fact that
a report of 1919 to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners mentions damage from roof leaks to
the gilding of walls and mosaics.
Nos. 51 And 52 Great Marlborough Street
Formerly Nos. 46 and 47. Demolished
Occupants of No. 51 have included: Lord
Bellamount, 1717; Sir James Wood, 1735–6;
(Sir) Walter Farquhar, physician, (ref. 30) 1771–5. (ref. 17)
In 1717 No. 52 was said to have been let to
John 'Meeres', possibly John Meard, the carpenter. (ref. 99) Lady Jarrett was the occupant in
1734–9 and Edmund Calze, the artist (see also
No. 48), appears in the ratebook for 1777–8. (ref. 17)
No. 53 Great Marlborough Street
Formerly No. 48
The former house on this site was said in
1709/10 to have been let to Thomas Ingram,
whose trade or occupation is unknown. (ref. 97) It was
occupied by Henry Dawnay, second Viscount
Downe, from at least 1716 to 1732; and by his
son John Dawnay in 1733–40. (ref. 17) Walter W.
Gibbings, architect, occupied the present building
in 1925–37. (ref. 23)
The present building on the site was erected in
1886–7 by the Metropolitan Board of Works for
a fire station to replace one in King (now Kingly)
Street. The Board's architect, George Vulliamy,
was responsible for the design which was approved
in July 1886, a few months before his death. The
contractor was G. J. Lough, trading as Messrs.
Stimpson and Co., whose tender was for £7660. (ref. 100)
This building is one of the most conspicuous on
the south side of the street (Plate 140b). It has an
elaborate Gothic front of red brick curiously
dressed with Baroque details in stone. The
ground storey has two wide openings with stilted
segmental arches. In the next two storeys are
five windows closely spaced between two buttresses. The third floor also has five windows, that at
each end being flanked by faceted colonnets supporting inverted scrolls, linked by festoons. Above
these Baroque motifs are panelled dwarf piers from
which a tri-lobed arch, framing the three windows
of the fourth floor and the single one of the fifth,
rises into the scroll-stepped gable.
The fire station was closed in 1922 (ref. 101) and the
building has since served as an office block. (ref. 23)
No. 54 Great Marlborough Street
Formerly No. 49. Demolished
The original house on this site was first leased
to John Meard, (ref. 102) presumably the carpenter of
that name. In 1711 a reversionary lease was
granted to Walter Chetwynd of Ingestre,
Staffordshire (ref. 103) (later first Viscount Chetwynd),
who was then occupying the house. He assigned
his lease in 1716 to George Fitzroy, Duke of
Northumberland, (ref. 104) whose widow in 1728 assigned it to the Hon. Hatton Compton. (ref. 105) The
freehold was purchased in 1739 by Charles
Compton. (ref. 106)
Figure 52:
No. 54 Great Marlborough Street, plans
According to the ratebooks the occupants of the
house included: Lady Winchilsea, widow of
Charles Finch, the fourth Earl, 1716; Lord
Compton, 1717–24 (? James, Baron Compton,
later the fifth Earl of Northampton); the Duchess
of Northumberland, 1726–8 (the 'Countess' in
1726); General Compton, 1729–40; Charles
Compton, 1741–55 (? the father of the seventh
Earl of Northampton); Sir Piercy Brett, 1768–1781; Lady Brett, 1782–8; Mr. and Mrs.
William Siddons, the actress and her husband,
1790–1804.
No. 54 was demolished in 1953. It was a large
house with a plan divided by internal walls into
four compartments (fig. 52). The front room,
three windows wide, was west of the staircase hall,
two windows wide and two storeys high. Behind
the front room was a room of similar size but
having two windows and a corner fireplace. The
top-lit service stair was at the back of the main
staircase, leaving space for a small back room, or
closet. The front was four storeys high, the attic
being an addition, and five windows wide. The
originally plain brick face had been dressed with
cement to provide a horizontally jointed face to
the ground storey, and moulded architraves to the
first- and second-floor windows. The cornice
below the attic was probably original and was
aligned with that on the fronts of Nos. 51–52.
The finest internal feature was the staircase, which
before alteration rose in three flights, short, long,
short, round an oblong well to a gallery landing on
the first floor (Plate 142a, fig. 53). In its general
details the balustrade resembled others in the
street, including No. 12 on the north side, in
having fluted Corinthian column newels, turned
and twisted balusters, and carved bracket stepends. Here, however, the balustrade of the short
first flight was swept out in a bold quadrant curve,
and the face of the landing gallery was treated as
an entablature, having an enriched architrave and
an ogee-profiled frieze carved with scrolled
foliage and, beneath the central newel, a draped
female head. (ref. 107)
Figure 53:
No. 54 Great Marlborough Street, staircase and details
Nos. 55–57 (consec.) Great Marlborough Street
Formerly Nos. 50–52 (consec.). Demolished
Nos. 55 and 56 were first let to Benjamin
Hopkins of St. James's, glazier. (ref. 108) No. 55 was
occupied in 1724–35 by Lady Jersey, widow of
William Villiers, the second Earl of Jersey, (ref. 109) and
No. 56 in 1891–1904 by the Architectural
Association, during, and just after, its reorganization under the presidency of Leonard Stokes. (ref. 110)
No. 57 was occupied by Lady Greville, 1716,
1718–19; Mr. Greville, 1717; and Sir Edward
Hill, 1738–40. (ref. 17)
Ramillies Place and Ramillies Street
The only other streets of any consequence in the
eastern part of Millfield were those now known
as Ramillies Place and Ramillies Street. The
former was previously called either Marlborough
Mews or Blenheim Mews, and was renamed
Ramillies Place in 1910. Ramillies Street was
formerly known as Blenheim Street and received
its present name in 1885. (ref. 111)
The level of Ramillies Place and Street is a few
feet lower than that of Oxford Street, to which
direct access on foot is obtained by short flights of
steps. This difference is probably partly natural,
but may have been emphasized by the use of this
part of Millfield for digging brick earth (see page
250).
Marlborough Mews was built between 1704
and 1709 to provide stabling and coach-house
accommodation for the houses in Great Marlborough Street. The stables on the south side
were built on the northern ends of the plots of
ground on the north side of Great Marlborough
Street and were let with the houses fronting
the latter. (ref. 112) The stables on the north side of the
mews were sometimes let with the houses on the
south side of Great Marlborough Street. (ref. 113) A
description of one of these was probably typical of
them all. Over a six-horse stable and coach-house
was a hayloft and lodging-room; there was a
common staircase and gallery leading to the
latter. (ref. 114) Additional stable accommodation was
provided by the Nag's Head stable yard, so called
after an alehouse fronting the Tyburn Road
(now Oxford Street); (ref. 115) the stables here were
probably built by Benjamin Hopkins of St.
James's, glazier, since the yard was occasionally
referred to as Hopkins's stable yard. (ref. 114)
Blenheim Street was probably finished a little
later than Great Marlborough Street, about 1710.
William Ludb(e)y, of St. James's, carpenter, seems
to have been responsible for much of the building. (ref. 116) In 1711 he also granted leases of houses on
either side of Queen Street (now Hills Place) to
George Devall of St. Andrew's, plumber; (ref. 117)
Henry Sawkins of St. James's, carpenter; (ref. 118)
Thomas Horseley of St. James's, painter or
painter stainer; (ref. 119) John Ludb(e)y of St. James's,
bricklayer, (ref. 120) and others.
The property on either side of Queen Street
between Oxford Street and Marlborough Mews
was part of the Pollen estate sold by Benjamin
Pollen in 1732. It was purchased by William
Hodsoll of the Strand, goldsmith. (ref. 121)
Another part of Millfield which was sold in
1732 lay between the land purchased by Hodsoll
on the east and the Argyll estate on the west.
Since 1709 this had been held by Stephen
Whitaker, then described as a pipe-maker, (ref. 122) later
as a brickmaker (ref. 123) and, when he purchased the
freehold from Benjamin Pollen, as a gentleman. (ref. 124)
Oxford Circus Avenue now covers this area.
Oxford Street, South side
Oxford Street forms the boundary between the
parish of St. Marylebone on the north side, and
the parishes of St. Anne, St. James and St. George
on the south. Its general history will be described
in future volumes on the parish of St. Marylebone.
The ground on the south side of the street between
Wardour Street and Swallow Passage (a few yards
west of Oxford Circus) formed part of the parish
of St. James, and all of this section of the street
west of No. 167 was in Millfield.
Until 1687 there appear to have been some
half a dozen houses in Millfield fronting Tyburn
Road (as Oxford Street was then called); more
building seems to have taken place there in the
early 1690's. (ref. 17) Tallis's street elevation of c. 1839
shows a succession of simple house-fronts, stuccofaced or in brick, rising for two or three storeys
above a continuous range of shop-fronts. The
single dominant note is provided by the front of
the Pantheon (see Chapter XVIII). The first
striking intrusion into this modest assembly was
made in the 1880's, with T. E. Collcutt's elaborate building at Nos. 175–181, 'impudently
adjoining the Pantheon'. (ref. 125) Other, less fastidiously studied buildings followed, but this part of
Oxford Street still has many small frontages and
retains many vestiges of its past buildings.
Nos. 175–181 (odd) Oxford Street
Formerly Nos. 359–357 (consec.)
Nos. 175–181 (odd) were rebuilt by T. E.
Collcutt for Messrs. Phillips, china manufacturers,
and for J. J. Duveen, the fine-art importer, to a
'Northern Renaissance' design, exhibited at the
Royal Academy in 1885. (ref. 126) The front was in
brick with stone dressings and bands of ornament in
Doulton salmon-coloured terra-cotta, and with two
great gables of which the western one remains.
The wider eastern portion, Nos. 175–179, has
been rebuilt in a severe featureless style, while
Collcutt's façade at No. 181, now painted grey,
still exists above the eastern half of a shoe shop.
No. 225 Oxford Street : Studio One and Studio Two Cinemas
Formerly No. 338
No. 225 was for at least a century before 1908
the premises of J. Bell and Co., chemists, (ref. 127) until
their amalgamation with Croyden and Co. of
Wigmore Street. Until 1908 there was here a
charming example of a small late eighteenthcentury shop-front, with slightly projecting arched
display windows and delicate woodwork and
ironwork (ref. 128) (Plate 137b). With a larger site
behind, it was rebuilt in 1909–10 by Melville S.
Ward, in the 'Jacobean' style for the London
Cinematograph Co. (1909) Ltd., as Cinema
House, described as 'the last word in living-picture
theatres'. The façade of reconstructed Ketton
stone remains above the ground floor behind the
present screen of neon tubing. (ref. 129) The interior
was reconstructed in 1935 by L. H. Kemp and
F. E. Tasker, to provide two separate auditoriums,
'Studio One' in the existing theatre with modifications to the former panelling of 'old oak', and
'Studio Two' in place of the former two-level
cafeteria in the basement. (ref. 130)
No. 229 Oxford Street : The Feathers Public House
Formerly No. 336
A public house of this name has existed on this
site since at least 1743. (ref. 131) Above the ground floor
the stuccoed street front remains little changed
since Tallis drew it in c. 1839 as No. 336, halfway
between Queen Street (now Hills Place) and
Argyll Street.