Preface

Preface

Volumes XXXI and XXXII complete the work of the Survey of London in the Parish of St. James, Westminster. The area which they describe lies astride Regent Street, which forms the dividing line between the tightly packed streets bordering on Soho to the east, and the more spacious layout of the West End. Building began in the early seventeenth century, and spread northwards and westwards. The pattern of the streets was often dictated by the earlier field boundaries, whose influence on the modern townscape can still be discerned. To the east of Regent Street most of the houses were merely building tradesmen's routine work, but further west Lord Burlington's rebuilding of his Piccadilly mansion provides one of the great landmarks in the history of English architecture, while most of the principal exponents of the Palladian style had a hand in the development of the Burlington estate. Many of the buildings described in these volumes have been demolished or greatly altered, particularly in the 1920's and 30's, and in many cases no graphic records were made.

The Council is most grateful to all those persons who have given help in the preparation of these volumes. In particular I wish to thank the President and Council of the Royal Academy of Arts, and their Librarian, Mr. S. C. Hutchison, for their great kindness in granting every request which was made to them during the study of Burlington House. The thanks of the Council are also due to the co-opted members of the Historic Buildings Sub-Committee, Mr. J. H. MacDonnell, Mr. Ian L. Phillips, Mr. T. F. Reddaway and Sir John Summerson, whose contributions to the discussion of the preparation of these volumes have once again been invaluable.

These two volumes have been prepared under the direction of the General Editor, Mr. F. H. W. Sheppard, who, with Mr. P. A. Bezodis, Mrs. Marie P. G. Draper, Mr. D. A. Bevan and Mrs. Marion A. V. Ball (all of the Clerk's Department), wrote the historical portions of the text and edited all the material. Mrs. V. G. Giles and Mr. M. J. F. Pearce assisted in seeing the volumes through the press. The architectural portions, both graphic and textual, were prepared in the Architect's Department under the direction of Mr. W. A. Eden, Architect-in-charge of Historic Buildings. Mr. Walter Ison, Architectural Editor, Mr. J. M. W. Laithwaite and Miss Priscilla Metcalf contributed the descriptive matter. The production of the drawings, which are individually acknowledged in the lists of plates and figures in the text, was supervised by Mr. F. A. Evans. Many of the photographs were taken by Mr. K. M. Jordan, and others by members of the Architect's Photographic Unit under the direction of Mr. G. N. Finnissy.

County Hall
London

Farindon
Chairman of the Town Planning
(Historic Buildings) Sub-Committee