Redevelopment by Seth Smith in the 1820's
Between 1822 and 1833 the central area of the block
bounded by Davies Street, Brook Street, Duke Street, and
Oxford Street was the scene of the most considerable
single redevelopment on the Mayfair estate before the
1870's. The extent of this rebuilding is not now apparent,
for of the sixty-three new houses, as well as stables and
coach-houses and a dissenting chapel, the sole survivor is
No. 27 Gilbert Street. The developer was Seth Smith, a
London-born builder whose operations on the Grosvenor
estate spanned more than thirty years, mostly in Belgravia,
where he and Thomas Cubitt were the main contractors.
In 1851 he was employing 170 men, (ref. 30) and at the time of his
death in 1860 he was worth nearly half a million pounds. (ref. 31)
Smith's first venture on the Grosvenor estates was in
Davies Street in 1818–20, and is described on page 69.
From there he turned to the area between the backs of the
houses on the north side of Brook Street and those on the
south side of Oxford Street. This had originally been
developed in the 1720's under two leases expiring in
1822–3, the houses being comparatively small and almost
exclusively occupied by tradesmen. Despite its somewhat
run-down character the Grosvenor Board does not seem to
have envisaged wholesale redevelopment here, and it was
only after several applications from Smith for the
piecemeal rebuilding of a number of small sites that in
April 1822 Earl Grosvenor signed an agreement with him
for the redevelopment of a large area. (ref. 32) In modern terms
this included most of Weighhouse Street from Davies
Street nearly to Duke Street, most of Gilbert Street, and
much of the east side of Binney Street. Smith undertook to
demolish all the existing buildings and to build as many
substantial brick houses of four square storeys 'as will
completely occupy and fill up' the street frontages. The
completion dates required varied from one block to
another, the earliest being in 1825 and the last in 1829; and
Lord Grosvenor agreed to grant sixty-three-year leases to
Smith or his nominees within three months of the houses
being built. The total ground rent reserved amounted to
the very large sum of £2,361. (ref. 33)
An elevation for the houses had been settled between
Smith and the estate surveyor, Thomas Cundy I, before
the signing of the agreement. This is probably the
elevation, for houses with ground-floor shops, which was
inspected by Earl Grosvenor in December 1821, and
which is signed 'Smith and Maberley, 11 Davies Street'
(Plate 23a in vol. XXXIX). In the early 1820's William
Maberley was for a short while Smith's partner, and he
may be the William Maberley who was admitted to the
Royal Academy Schools as an architectural student in
1817. (ref. 34)
Most of the building was finished within the stipulated
times, the bulk of the leases being granted in 1823–5 and
1828–9. Smith took most of the leases himself, but a few
were granted at his nomination to local tradesmen
(butcher, baker, staymaker, etc.), and three of the last (in
1830 and 1833) were to James Gerry, a carpenter in Gilbert
Street, or his nominees. (ref. 35) The completed development
consisted of sixty-three new houses, many containing
shops (Plate 22b), plus stables and coach-houses, a
warehouse and a chapel (see below). A proposed Diorama
'for exhibiting Views' came to nothing. (ref. 36) The new stables
were in Cock Yard (now St. Anselm's Place), on the east
side of Thomas (now Binney) Street south of Robert (now
Weighhouse) Street, and in a new mews called Chapel
Mews, opening off the north side of Robert Street.
Like other builders Smith was willing to dispose of his
houses on long- and short-term leases. Nos. 23, 25 and 31
Gilbert Street, for instance, were all leased by him to their
first occupants on twenty-one-year terms (at rents of £100,
£105 and £80 respectively, Smith's own ground rents to
Lord Grosvenor for these houses being under £20 each),
but at No. 24 the first occupants bought an assignment
of Smith's own lease. (ref. 37) In spite of the evident demand for
the houses Smith found himself unable to meet his
commitments to Lord Grosvenor; when all the leases had
been granted there was still over £1,000 of ground rent
unsecured. In 1829 he had applied for some reduction in
the ground rent, and Lord Grosvenor had allowed him to
transfer the greater part of the outstanding rent to his
speculation in Belgravia. (ref. 38) Ten years later he again applied
for an abatement of the Mayfair rents, and was supported
by the estate surveyor, Thomas Cundy II, who thought he
had originally been overcharged by some £673 per annum.
Soon afterwards a new agreement reduced Smith's rent by
this amount, leaving only £157 unsecured. (ref. 39)
Most of the new houses were occupied by tradesmen,
and by 1841 nearly all of them were inhabited by more than
one family, twenty or more persons per house being not
uncommon, while in some cases there were over thirty. (ref. 40)
The first residents of the houses on the west side of Gilbert
Street near to Brook Street, however, included two
'Honourables', but by 1849 even Gilbert Street had
acquired such notoriety 'from the many disreputable
houses' in it that some of the inhabitants tried to have the
name changed to Brook Street North; and in 1867 a
brothel there was suppressed by the Grosvenor Board. (ref. 41)
Few of Seth Smith's houses survived for long after the
expiry of the leases in 1885–6, the majority succumbing to
the redevelopment of the area for flats and industrial
dwellings in the 1880's and '90's. Only Nos. 23–27 Gilbert
Street escaped demolition at this time, but their survival
was short lived and except for No. 27 they were completely
rebuilt in 1910–12.
No. 27 Gilbert Street and No. 11 Binney Street.
The
former was originally the northernmost of a row of five
houses leased to Seth Smith in 1829. (ref. 42) It has a plain brick
front with a stuccoed ground storey and an iron balcony at
first-floor level, but was originally only two bays wide, an
extra bay having been added on the north side in 1900–1
(fig. 12a in vol. XXXIX).
In 1890 Smith's houses to the north of No. 27 were
demolished for industrial dwellings (Hanover Flats), and
in 1892 the Duke decided that No. 27 should also come
down to provide a site for the Hanover (later St. Anselm's)
Mission. Eustace Balfour, the estate surveyor, was
appointed architect for the new building, but the scheme
foundered for lack of funds and was eventually abandoned
in 1900. (ref. 43) With No. 27 then in a 'neglected state' the
Grosvenor Board invited the builder John Garlick to
tender for a lease of both the house and some adjoining
land at the back and on the north side next to Hanover
Flats. After Garlick's bid had been accepted he repaired
No. 27 in 1900–1 and added a new bay in matching style on
the vacant strip next to the flats, the join being still clearly
visible. (ref. 44)
At the same time Garlick also built a new stable and
coach-house on the land at the back, and this survives,
much altered, as No. 11 Binney Street. (ref. 44) In 1919 plans by
Wimperis and Simpson for the conversion of the building
into a house were approved by the Grosvenor Board, and
in 1923 John Garlick was making alterations to the
elevation. (ref. 45) In its general form—particularly the slated
gambrel roof and flanking 'Dutch' gables—the house
evidently dates from 1900–1, but the whole of the ground
floor and the slightly bowed and small-paned first-floor
windows are of more recent origin. In 1957 the interior was
again remodelled in a simple neo-Georgian style by Claud
Phillimore and Aubrey Jenkins for Viscount Ridley. (ref. 46)
Robert Street Congregational Chapel (demolished).
Built by Seth Smith in 1823–4 this chapel stood
on the north side of Robert (now Weighhouse) Street,
approximately halfway between Davies and Gilbert Street
(Plate 22a). There had been a chapel on the same site,
perhaps continuously, since at least the early 1750's, and
an intention in the early 1730's to call the street Chapel
Street suggests that a chapel already existed or was
intended hereabouts at that date. (ref. 47) In 1801 the Methodists
took the building over and may have rebuilt it. They left in
1812, but in 1813 the chapel was re-opened by the newly
formed 'London Association for extending the Gospel in
the Metropolis and its Environs'. (ref. 48)
The plans and elevations of Seth Smith's new chapel
were submitted for the approval of the Grosvenor Board in
April 1823 and the building was opened for worship on 15
September 1824. (ref. 49) It had a modest two-storey front
towards Robert Street, the lower half stuccoed with a
Doric order of columns and pilasters supporting a plain
entablature, the upper half in stock bricks with three large
round-headed windows. Inside, there was seating for a
congregation of up to four hundred. (ref. 50) The building costs
were said to have exceeded £2,000. (ref. 51) At this stage in his
career Smith probably could not afford to pay for the
chapel out of his own pocket, which, as a Congregationalist
himself, he would, no doubt, have wished to do and later
did in Belgravia: but as the sole lessee he assumed
responsibility for both the ground rent (£30) and the
parochial rates. (ref. 52)
When Smith's lease expired in 1886 the congregation
was planning to rebuild the chapel on a larger site at the
north corner with Duke Street, but this was abandoned in
1887 after the death of their principal supporter, Samuel
Morley, M.P., had put an end to any hope of raising the
necessary finance (see page 87). The London Congregational Union then stepped in to secure the Duke
Street site for the new Weigh House Church, and when
that building was completed the two congregations were
merged. The old chapel in Robert Street was given up in
August 1890 and demolished shortly afterwards. (ref. 53)