Survey of London: Volume 45, Knightsbridge

This volume describes a district today synonymous with wealth and smartness. The area covered includes the old thoroughfare of Knightsbridge itself, and the triangular swathe of land to its west, north of Brompton Road, bounded on the north by Hyde Park and on the west by Exhibition Road. In addition to the hotels, shops and fashionable houses and apartments for which the area is known today, the volume also describes the fabric of Knightsbridge's more diverse past: the medieval hamlet, straggling out along the road to Kensington; the string of aristocratic mansions, such as Kingston House, that in the eighteenth century lined the south side of the road west of Knightsbridge Green; the famous Tattershall's horse-mart at Knightsbridge Green; the Japanese Native Village of the mid-1880s, from which W. S. Gilbert drew inspiration for 'The Mikado'; and Whistler's legendary Peacock Room at 49 Princes Gate, the greatest of all Aesthetic interiors. Also included is Sir Basil Spence's Knightsbridge Barracks, still providing a Brutalist modern concrete home to the military pageantry of the Horse Guards.

Survey of London. Originally published by London County Council, London, 2000.

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Table of Contents

Title Page(s)
Preface v
Acknowledgements vii
List of figures xi-xiii
List of plates xv-xxi
Introduction 1-18
Knightsbridge South Side: East of Sloane Street 19-21
Knightsbridge South Side: East of Sloane Street, Hyde Park Corner to Wilton Place 21-28
Knightsbridge South Side: East of Sloane Street, Wilton Place to William Street 28-29
Knightsbridge South Side: East of Sloane Street, William Street to Sloane Street 29-36
Knightsbridge North Side: Parkside to Albert Gate Court 37
Knightsbridge North Side: Parkside to Albert Gate Court, Park Side 37-42
Knightsbridge North Side: Parkside to Albert Gate Court, High Row 42-46
Knightsbridge North Side: Parkside to Albert Gate Court, Albert Gate 46-53
Knightsbridge North Side: Parkside to Albert Gate Court, West of Albert Gate 53-63
Knightsbridge Barracks 64
Knightsbridge Barracks: The First Barracks, 1792-1877 64-68
Knightsbridge Barracks: The Victorian Barracks, 1878-1965 68-71
Knightsbridge Barracks: The New Barracks, 1967-70 71-76
Knightsbridge Green Area 77-79
Knightsbridge Green Area: Scotch Corner and the High Road 79-88
Knightsbridge Green Area: Knightsbridge Green 88-91
Knightsbridge Green Area: Raphael Street 91-92
Knightsbridge Green Area: Post-War Redevelopment 92-94
Trevor Square Area 95
Trevor Square Area: Powis House and the Trevor Estate 95-97
Trevor Square Area: Development of the Estate 97-102
Trevor Square Area: Social Character 102
Trevor Square Area: The Estate since 1909 102-105
Trevor Square Area: Smith & Baber's Floorcloth Factory 105-106
Montpelier Square Area 107
Montpelier Square Area: The Montpelier Estate 107-109
Montpelier Square Area: Montpelier Square 109-116
Montpelier Square Area: Other Streets 116-124
Montpelier Square Area: Deutsche Evangelische Christuskirche, Montpelier Place 124-127
Rutland Gardens and South Place 128
Rutland Gardens and South Place: South Place and South Lodge 128-134
Rutland Gardens and South Place: Kent House and the Kent House Estate Development 134-140
Rutland Gardens and South Place: Stratheden House and Rutland Court 140-142
Rutland Gate 143
Rutland Gate: The Rutland House Estate 143-144
Rutland Gate: Early Development of Rutland Gate, 1836-c.1847 144-151
Rutland Gate: John Elger's Development, 1853-59 151-152
Rutland Gate: Twentieth-Century Redevelopments 152-156
Princes Gate and Ennismore Gardens: The Kingston House Estate 157
Princes Gate and Ennismore Gardens: The Kingston House Estate, Kingston House and the Kingston House Estate 157-160
Princes Gate and Ennismore Gardens: The Kingston House Estate, Development by Elger, Kelk and Mayhew from 1845 160-170
Princes Gate and Ennismore Gardens: The Kingston House Estate, Development by Peter and Alexander Thorn, 1868-74 171-174
Princes Gate and Ennismore Gardens: The Kingston House Estate, Development in Northern Ennismore Gardens, 1869-85 174-182
Princes Gate and Ennismore Gardens: The Kingston House Estate, The area since the 1920s 182-186
Princes Gate and Ennismore Gardens: The Kingston House Estate, Russian Orthodox Cathedral, Ennismore Gardens (formerly All Saints' Church) 186-190
Princes Gate and Princes Gardens: the Freake Estate 191
Princes Gate and Princes Gardens: the Freake Estate, Development by C.J. Freake 191-205
Princes Gate and Princes Gardens: the Freake Estate, Redevelopment and Social Change 205-209
Princes Gate and Princes Gardens: the Freake Estate, Some Former Residents 209-210
List of abbreviations used in the references 211
References 211-225
Index: A-J 227-235
Index: K-Z 235-246
Frontispiece ii
Plate 1 1
Plate 2: Knightsbridge in the Eighteenth Century 2
Plate 3: Knightsbridge in the Eighteenth Century 3
Plate 4 4
Plate 5 5
Plate 6 6
Plate 7 7
Plate 8: Knightsbridge in 1963. 8
Plate 9: Old houses east of Old Barrack Yard in 1854. 9
Plate 10: Knightsbridge, c. 1910. 10
Plate 11 11
Plate 12: No. 15 Knightsbridge, c.1897. 12
Plate 13: No. 15 Knightsbridge, c.1897. 13
Plate 14: Woollands 14
Plate 15: Harvey Nichols. 15
Plate 16: Knightsbridge, south side in 1996. 16
Plate 17 17
Plate 18 18
Plate 19 19
Plate 20 20
Plate 21: Nos 68–98 Knightsbridge in 1931. 21
Plate 22: Knightsbridge, c.1910. 22
Plate 23 23
Plate 24: No. 1 Albert Gate 24
Plate 25: No. 58 Knightsbridge, interiors in 1902. 25
Plate 26: No. 2 Albert Gate 26
Plate 27: No. 2 Albert Gate, interiors in 1888. 27
Plate 28: Hyde Park House 28
Plate 29: Hyde Park House 29
Plate 30 30
Plate 31: Hyde Park Hotel 31
Plate 32: Hyde Park Hotel 32
Plate 33: Hyde Park Hotel, interiors in 1965. 33
Plate 34: Rutland Court 34
Plate 35: Parkside 35
Plate 36 36
Plate 37 37
Plate 38 38
Plate 39: Knightsbridge Barracks of 1792–3 39
Plate 40: Knightsbridge Barracks of 1878–80 40
Plate 41: Knightsbridge Barracks of 1878–80 41