CHAPTER 16: ORANGE STREET
Early History
The original Orange Street comprised only that section of the present
street which extends from St. Martin's Street to Charing Cross Road, the
sections between Whitcomb Street and St. Martin's Street, formerly called
Blue Cross Street, and between the Haymarket and Whitcomb Street,
formerly James Street, having been included in Orange Street in 1905. A
brief history of each section is given here:—
(i) James Street was built up at the same time as Panton Street and
Oxendon Street. On the wall of the tennis court there was formerly a tablet
with the inscription "Iames Street,
1673." (fn. a) The street first appears in
the ratebook for 1675. (fn. b) Though
no absolute proof is available it seems
fairly certain that it was built by
Colonel Panton on the southern part
of the grounds of Shaver's Hall, and
that the Tennis Court on the south
side of the street which survived
until 1866 was that built by Simon
Osbaldeston, circa 1634. (See p.
102.) (fn. c)
Figure 35:
James Street date tablet
Throughout its existence the
inhabitants of James Street have
been mainly small traders.
(ii) Blue Cross Street. This street as stated on p. 106, where the
earlier history of the site is given, was built circa 1692–93 on part of the
"Blew Mews." In 1720 Strype described the houses as "fit for good
Inhabitants." For the greater part of its existence the residents in the street
have been small traders. For many years the Feathers public house occupied
the south-east corner of Blue Cross Street and St. Martin's Street.
Scott, Duke of Monmouth
(iii) Orange Street. The site of Orange Street was formerly covered
by the Duke of Monmouth's stables. The street was formed circa 1696,
in which year building leases of the ground on either side were granted by
Ann, Duchess of Buccleuch, and her son, James, Earl of Dalkeith, to various
purchasers. (ref. 172) In 1720 Orange Street was described as "fair" with "good
built houses."
The Tennis Court
A view of the exterior of the court from a drawing by T. H. Shepherd
is given in Plate 97a. The court was dismantled in 1866 when the stone
floor was bought by the Earl of Warwick, who intended to relay it at Warwick Castle, but the stone
was found to be worn too
thin for further use. The
benches of the dedans were
removed to the Merton Street
Court at Oxford.
Figure 36:
Orange Street date tablet.
Tenants of the tennis
court from 1686 to 1735
were: Jane Davis, Isaac
Lodgedon, Thomas Hawkins
and Benjamin Itchell (or
Ithell).
After 1735 the court
fell into disuse and the
building was used as a
theatre. (ref. 173) Towards the end
of the 18th century the
playing of tennis was revived
and from 1800 to 1866 the James Street court was the headquarters of the
game in England. (ref. 166)
Orange Street Chapel
This chapel was built for a Huguenot congregation who removed
there from a chapel in Glasshouse Street, Piccadilly, at Easter, 1693. Originally the chapel occupied only a small piece of ground at the corner of Long's
Court and Orange Street, the entrance being in the court, but in 1790 the
proprietors of the chapel obtained a lease of the house at the corner of St.
Martin's Street (ref. 174) and the chapel was enlarged by the depth of it. The entrance
in Long's Court was closed and a larger entrance was made into St. Martin's
Street, the pulpits, desks, and organ being at the same time removed from the
west to the east end of the building.
Architectural Description.— The exterior was faced in stucco. The
main front to St. Martin's Street was divided into three bays by Corinthian
pilasters which supported an entablature below a panelled attic surmounted
by vase terminals. The bays contained two tiers of arched windows and a
central porch with coupled fluted Doric columns. The return face had a
double series of arched windows similar in character to the front and a
modillion cornice with a plain parapet. This latter cornice appeared to be
of an earlier date than that to the front (Plate 98a).
The interior had a flat ceiling with a central octagonal lantern light.
A gallery, continued round the body of the chapel, was supported on cast
iron columns. It contained the organ at the east end, behind which was a
higher gallery across the end. The rostrum with a central pulpit was situated
in front of the organ. Seating accommodation was provided for 700 persons.
The last service in the old chapel was held on 25th March, 1917. The St.
Martin's Street Library now covers the west end of the site while a small
Orange Street Chapel built in 1929 occupies the ground at the corner of
Orange Street and Long's Court. <Information provided in 1983 by Miss Patricia Jerrome contradicts the Survey's account of the chapel's early twentieth-century history. Miss Jerrome stated that the original church was declared unsafe and demolished in 1913, the last service being held in August 1913. A temporary structure was then erected on the site in 1917, and an architectural competition for a new church building held in the early 1920s. The project being regarded as too expensive for the chapels dwindling congregation, in 1929 £2,000 was spent on repairing and refurbishing the temporary building of 1917 and the church re-opened. Miss Jerrome was of the opinion that this is the building existing today.>
Orange Street Chapel was used by the Huguenots from 1693 until 1787. In 1776 the
friends of the Rev. Augustus Montague Toplady secured a part-time possession of the building, and
Toplady preached there on Sunday and Wednesday evenings until his death in 1778. When, in
1787, the Huguenots were forced by their decline in numbers and lack of funds to leave the chapel
it was bought by Thomas Hawkes, Army Accoutrement Contractor, of Piccadilly, and converted
into a Congregational Chapel, the first minister being the Rev. John Townsend, founder of the
London Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb. (ref. 175)