Lord North Street in central London is a short street dating from 1722 of Georgian [1] terraced housing running between Smith Square and Great Peter Street in Westminster, the political heartland of British government. As such the properties have always commanded high fees and featured in many dramatic storylines. [2]
Past residents include the English man of letters Maurice Baring (at North Cottage, No 6, North Street), [3] socialite Sibyl Colefax, [4] founder of the Colefax and Fowler fabrics and wallpaper company, [5] and Harold Wilson, twice Prime Minister who in November 1974 alleged that renegade MI5 operatives had broken into his home. [6]
More recent residents include Jonathan Aitken [7] and Theresa Gorman. [8]
The street was originally North Street (leading north from Smith Square). However in 1936 Brendan Bracken, a resident and close confidant of Winston Churchill, had it renamed Lord North Street as it sounded grander, and so it was renamed after the Prime Minister from 1770 to 1782 who lost America, Frederick North, Lord North.
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.
The West End of London is a district of Central London, London, England, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings and entertainment venues, including West End theatres, are concentrated.
Mayfair is an area in London, England and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts in the world.
Smith Square is a square in Westminster, London, 250 metres south-southwest of the Palace of Westminster. Most of its garden interior is filled by St John's, Smith Square, a Baroque surplus church, the inside of which has been converted to a concert hall. Most adjoining buildings are offices, with the focus on organisations lobbying or serving the government. In the mid-20th century, the square hosted the headquarters of the two largest parties of British politics, and it is now hosts much of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Local Government Association. It has a pedestrian or mixed approach to the four sides and another approach to the north.
Berkeley Square is a garden square in the West End of London. It is one of the best known of the many squares in London, located in Mayfair in the City of Westminster. It was laid out in the mid 18th century by the architect William Kent, and originally extended further south. The garden's very large London Plane trees are among the oldest in central London, planted in 1789.
Bond Street in the West End of London links Piccadilly in the south to Oxford Street in the north. Since the 18th century the street has housed many prestigious and upmarket fashion retailers. The southern section is Old Bond Street and the longer northern section New Bond Street, a distinction not generally made in everyday usage.
Hanover Square is a green square in Mayfair, Westminster, south west of Oxford Circus where Oxford Street meets Regent Street. Six streets converge on the square which include Harewood Place with links to Oxford Street, Princes Street, Hanover Street, Saint George Street, Brook Street and Tenderden Street, linking to Bond Street and Oxford Street.
Brook Street is an axial street in the exclusive central London district of Mayfair. Most of it is leasehold, paying ground rent to and seeking lease renewals from the reversioner, that since before 1800, has been the Grosvenor Estate. Named after the Tyburn that it crossed, it was developed in the first half of the 18th century and runs from Hanover Square to Grosvenor Square. The western continuation is called Upper Brook Street; its west end faces Brook Street Gate of Hyde Park. Both sections consisted of neo-classical terraced houses, mostly built to individual designs. Some of them were very ornate, finely stuccoed and tall-ceilinged, designed by well known architects for wealthy tenants, especially near Grosvenor Square, others exposed good quality brickwork or bore fewer expensive window openings and embellishments. Some of both types survive. Others have been replaced by buildings from later periods.
Sibyl Sophie Julia, Lady Colefax was an English interior decorator and socialite in the first half of the twentieth century.
St George's Square is a prestigious and very long garden square in affluent Pimlico, Central London. It benefits from gardens and a church in its central area. Near the northern acute angle, the square is intersected by Lupus Street. Pimlico tube station is a short distance east. Its north-east side is in effect Belgrave Road and southern side is arterial Grosvenor Road which is lined by a small public garden in front of the River Thames.
Marylebone is an area in London, England and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary.
Edward Maurice Berkeley Ingram CMG, OBE was a British diplomat and civil servant.
St James's Place is a street in the St James's district of London near Green Park. It was first developed around 1694, the historian John Strype describing it in 1720 as a "good Street ... which receiveth a fresh Air out of the Park; the Houses are well-built, and inhabited by Gentry ..." Henry Benjamin Wheatley wrote in 1870 that it was "one of the oddest built streets in London."
The Plumbers Arms is a Grade II listed public house at 14 Lower Belgrave Street, Belgravia, London SW1.
Wimbourne House is a historic townhouse at 22 Arlington Street in St James's, a district of the City of Westminster in central London, England. Designed in the Neo-Palladian style by William Kent, it was built between 1743 and 1754, being completed after the architect's death. It is a Grade II* listed building, and the west front overlooks Green Park. The building now houses special event rooms for the adjacent Ritz Hotel.
Mandeville Place is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster, London, the buildings in which are notably more impressive than those to the immediate north and south.
Great Cumberland Place is a street in the City of Westminster, part of Greater London, England. There is also a hotel bearing the same name on the street.
Stratton Street is a street in the Mayfair district of the City of Westminster, London. It runs from Berkeley Street in the north to Piccadilly in the south.
Allenswood Boarding Academy was an exclusive girls' boarding school founded in Wimbledon, London, by Marie Souvestre in 1883 and operated until the early 1950s, when it was demolished and replaced with a housing development.
Sussex Square is a garden square in Paddington in Central London. Located in the City of Westminster, it is part of the Tyburnia area north of Hyde Park. Stanhope Terrace runs along its southern side.