Craven Street is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England, near The Strand. Several notable historical figures have lived in the street which was the home of Benjamin Franklin, when he lived in London before the American Revolution.
The street was originally known as Spur Alley. It was rebuilt around 1730 when the land was owned by the Craven family and it received its current name then. [1]
Craven Street runs from The Strand in the north to Northumberland Avenue in the south. Corner House Street and Hungerford Lane join Craven Street in the north and halfway along Craven Street it is crossed by Craven Passage which is pedestrian only and joins Craven Street to Northumberland Street and Hungerford Lane. Hungerford Lane rejoins Craven Street at its southern end.
Mark Akenside, author of The Pleasures of the Imagination , lived at No. 33 from 1759 to 1761. [2]
Benjamin Franklin lived at No. 36 for sixteen years before the American Revolution. The house is a Grade I listed building with Historic England and now functions as a museum known as Benjamin Franklin House. [3]
Pioneer of haematology William Hewson, lived at No. 36 for two years from 1772 at the same time as Franklin. In 1998 workmen discovered the remains of six children and four adults underneath the house which may relate to medical experiments carried out by Hewson.
Aaron Burr, 3rd Vice President of the United States lived abroad from 1808 to 1812, passing most of his time in England, where he occupied a house on Craven Street in London.
The German poet Heinrich Heine lived at No. 32 in 1827. [2] A plaque marks the house.
Herman Melville, author of Moby Dick , lived at No. 25 in 1849 when he visited London as a sailor during his youth. [2] A blue plaque marks the house.
The European Academy of Optometry and Optics headquarters is located at No. 42. [4]
Charing Cross Road is a street in central London running immediately north of St Martin-in-the-Fields to St Giles Circus, which then merges into Tottenham Court Road. It leads from the north in the direction of Charing Cross at the south side of Trafalgar Square. It connects via St Martin's Place and the motorised east side of the square.
Drury Lane is a street on the eastern boundary of the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster. Drury Lane is part of London's West End Theatreland.
The Strand is a major street in the City of Westminster, Central London. The street, which is part of London's West End theatreland, runs just over 3⁄4 mile (1.2 km) from Trafalgar Square eastwards to Temple Bar, where it becomes Fleet Street in the City of London, and is part of the A4, a main road running west from inner London.
Harley Street is a street in Marylebone, Central London, named after Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer. Since the 19th century it has housed a large number of private specialists in medicine and surgery.
Dr Johnson's House is a writer's house museum in London in the former home of the 18th-century English writer and lexicographer Samuel Johnson. The house is a Grade I listed building.
Northumberland House was a large Jacobean townhouse in London, so-called because it was, for most of its history, the London residence of the Percy family, who were the Earls and later Dukes of Northumberland and one of England's richest and most prominent aristocratic dynasties for many centuries. It stood at the far western end of the Strand from around 1605 until it was demolished in 1874. In its later years it overlooked Trafalgar Square.
Northumberland Avenue is a street in the City of Westminster, Central London, running from Trafalgar Square in the west to the Thames Embankment in the east. The road was built on the site of Northumberland House, the London home of the Percy family, the Dukes of Northumberland between 1874 and 1876, and on part of the parallel Northumberland Street.
The College of Optometrists is the professional, scientific and examining body for optometry in the United Kingdom, working for the public benefit. Their headquarters is at 41-42 Craven Street, London WC2, of which no 41 is a Grade II listed building.
Benjamin Franklin House is a museum in a terraced Georgian house at 36 Craven Street, London, close to Trafalgar Square. It is the last-standing former residence of Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. The house dates from c. 1730, and Franklin lived and worked there for sixteen years. The museum opened to the public on 17 January 2006. The chairman is American-British investment banker and philanthropist John Studzinski.
Gerrard Street is a street in the West End of London, in the Chinatown area.
William Hewson was a British surgeon, anatomist and physiologist who has been referred to as the "father of haematology".
Adelphi is a district of the City of Westminster in London. The small district includes the streets of Adelphi Terrace, Robert Street and John Adam Street. Of rare use colloquially, Adelphi is grouped with Aldwych as the greater Strand district which for many decades formed a parliamentary constituency and civil registration district.
Wych Street was in London where King, Melbourne and Australia Houses now stand on Aldwych. It ran west from the church of St Clement Danes on the Strand to meet the southern end of Drury Lane. It was demolished by the London County Council in around 1901, as part of redevelopment bisected by new street Aldwych, the east of which mimics its course, in a curved way so taking up land buildings stood on, and these works created Kingsway.
In British usage, the term townhouse originally referred to the opulent town or city residence of a member of the nobility or gentry, as opposed to their country seat, generally known as a country house or, colloquially, for the larger ones, stately home. The grandest of the London townhouses were stand-alone buildings, but many were terraced buildings.
Northumberland Street is a street in the City of Westminster.
Essex Street is a street in the City of Westminster that runs from Milford Lane in the south to Strand in the north. It is joined by Little Essex Street on its western side and Devereux Court on the eastern side. It was laid out by Nicholas Barbon in around 1675 or 1680 and contains a number of listed buildings.
The Cheshire Cheese is a public house at 5 Little Essex Street, London WC2, on the corner with Milford Lane.
Milford Lane is a narrow street in the City of Westminster that runs from Strand in the north to a brief walkway section leading to Temple Place in the south. It is joined by Little Essex Street and Essex Street on its eastern side. Maltravers Street once joined the lane to Arundel Street, but ceased to exist when building work at 190 Strand was completed.
Devereux Court, a street in the City of Westminster located just south of the Strand and east of Essex Street, is completely pedestrianised. This narrow lane is lined with well-preserved seventeenth-century buildings. The court's distinctive dog-leg layout has remained unchanged since its establishment in the 1670s on the grounds of Essex House, a stately home renowned for its expansive gardens.
Seething Lane is a street in the City of London. It connects All Hallows-by-the-Tower, Byward Street, with St Olave's Church, Hart Street. The street is named after an Old English expression meaning "full of chaff", which was derived from the nearby corn market in Fenchurch Street. Samuel Pepys lived there and is buried in St Olave's Church at the junction with Hart Street. A bust of Pepys, created by Karin Jonzen, sits in the public garden at the south end of the street.
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