Conduit Street

Conduit Street

Conduit Street at the junction with New Bond Street
Interactive map of Conduit Street
Length	1,100 ft (340 m)
Location	City of Westminster, London, England
Coordinates	51°30′44″N0°08′32″W / 51.5121°N 0.1421°W / 51.5121; -0.1421
From	Regent Street
Major junctions	St. George Street, Savile Row
To	Bond Street, Bruton Street

Conduit Street is a street in Mayfair, London. It connects Bond Street to Regent Street. ^[1]

History

The street was first developed in the early 18th century on the Conduit Mead Estate, which the Corporation of London had owned since the 15th century; it was a popular place for upper-class Londoners to socialise. ^{[1] [2]} Around 1890 Conduit Street had the most tailoring firms and part of what was known as the Golden Mile of bespoke tailoring. It stretched from Piccadilly and Sackville Street in the south, though and around Savile Row and up to Hanover Square. There were also dressmakers and jewellers. ^{[3] [4]}

Conduit Street was hit by a number of bombs in the 2^nd World War. ^{[3] [5]} Many properties have since been demolished and rebuilt, but a handful have survived. ^[1]

The MP Charles James Fox was born on Conduit Street in 1749. ^[1]

Properties

• No. 9 Conduit Street was built for the MP Robert Vyner in 1779. ^[1] It was built by James Wyatt and is now Grade II* listed. ^[6] The building served as the headquarters of the Royal Institute of British Architects from 1859 until 1934. ^[7]
• No. 16 Conduit Street was a public house (The Coach & Horses) from the 1780s until at least 1910. The current building dates from 1900. ^[8]
• Nos. 19 and 20 are on the site of Warne's Hotel, destroyed by a fire on the afternoon of 29th January, 1809. It extended to the back premises, close to the gates of St George's Church, Hanover Square, which was thought to be under threat from the fire. ^[9]
• Nos. 42 and 43 are listed early to mid 18th century terraced houses. ^[10]
• No. 44 was the London office of the Oxford University Press Music Department in the 1950s.
• No 57 was home to bespoke tailors JB & F Wells from 1890 to 1944. The firm was started by brothers James and Fred Wells in 1880 initially at No 24. They moved needing bigger premises. The firm were tailors, naval and military outfitters. ^{[3] [4]} Their customers would include Jan Smuts a South African statesman, military leader and philosopher, serving as prime minister of the Union of South Africa twice in 1919 and 1939. The firm would have to move in 1944 when Nos 57-59 were destroyed by a V1 rocket in the 2nd World War. ^[5] Sidney Wells then leading the firm moved into 47 Maddox Street with his great uncle William Cooling Lawrence firm, Cooling, Lawrence and Sons. William and Sidney would enter into a partnership creating a new firm Cooling, Lawrence and Wells in 1945. ^[11]

References

Citations

1. Weinreb et al. 2008, p. 204.
2. Edward Walford, 'Hanover Square and neighbourhood', in Old and New London: Volume 4 (London, 1878), pp. 314-326. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/old-new-london/vol4/pp314-326 [accessed 27 October 2019].
3. Walker, Richard; Row, Savile (1988). The Savile Row story: an illustrated history. London: Prion. ISBN   978-1-85375-000-7.
4. Ancestry.co.uk - London, England, City Directories, 1736-1943, The Post Office London Directory's 1880 & 1890 published by Kelly & Co, 1736-1943, retrieved 21 May 2024
5. https://www.westminster.gov.uk/leisure-libraries-and-community/westminster-archives, Photo No 1889 & Associated report, retrieved 9 March 2023
6. Historic England (24 February 1958). "9, Conduit Street W1 (1219898)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 27 October 2019.
7. "Conduit Street deeds". www.architecture.com.
8. UK, Ewan Munro from London (23 March 2012). "This shop (currently a clothing store called Layers) is at an address listed as pub until at least 1910, maybe later, so it hasn't been a pub for a very long time. The building was erected in 1900" – via Wikimedia Commons.
9. "Georgian hotels". Jane Austen's London.
10. "42 AND 43, CONDUIT STREET W1, Non Civil Parish - 1066975 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk.
11. https://www.westminster.gov.uk/leisure-libraries-and-community/westminster-archives Westminster City Archive Centre Finding No 2902/33 Cooling, Lawrence & Wells Articles of Partnership 20 November 1945, retrieved 9 March 2023

Sources

• Weinreb, Ben; Hibbert, Christopher; Keay, John; Keay, Julia (2008). The London Encyclopaedia (3rd ed.). Pan Macmillan. ISBN   978-1-405-04924-5.