Overview
Wilton Crescent was created by Thomas Cundy II, the Grosvenor family estate surveyor, and was drawn up with the original 1821 Wyatt plan for Belgravia. [1] It was named at the time of Thomas Egerton, 2nd Earl of Wilton, second son of Robert Grosvenor, 1st Marquess of Westminster on whose estate the road was built in 1825 through Seth Smith (property developer)
In the 19th and 20th centuries, it was home to many prominent British politicians, ambassadors and civil servants. Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (1900–1979) lived at 2 Wilton Crescent for many years, marked today by an attributive blue plaque. Wilton Crescent is characterised by grand terrace houses, similar to other developments in the area, albeit narrower than those on nearby Belgrave Square. The crescent is laid out with Portland stone-clad, five-storey houses toward the north, and a straight row of stuccoed houses to the south. The curved terraces had originally been built in brick, but were- re-clad in stone between 1908 and 1912 under the supervision of architects Balfour and Turner.
Wilton Crescent lies east of Lowndes Square and Lowndes Street, to the northwest of Belgrave Square, and south of Wilton Place which connects it to the main road in Knightsbridge. Grosvenor Crescent is to the east, where the Indonesian Embassy is located. There is a private communal garden in the centre of the crescent, which won a bronze medal from the London Gardens Society in 2007.
There are two diplomatic buildings in Wilton Crescent: the High Commission of Singapore at No. 9, [2] and the Embassy of Luxembourg at No. 27 (formerly home to the Luxembourgish government-in-exile). [3] [4]
Layout and numbering
The 50 buildings forming the Crescent are Grade II listed buildings. [5] [6] [7] The crescent is split into three terraces of houses, and number 31 which forms a terrace with 1-15 Grosvenor Crescent. Numbers 32 and 33 face the opposite side of a brief continuation of the eastern arm of the crescent leading into Belgrave Square which form a terrace with 1-11 Belgrave Square. The western arm of the crescent which leads into Belgrave Square is named Wilton Terrace. It dates from the same period and is built in a similar style.
Belgravia is a district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Grosvenor Group Limited is an internationally diversified property group, which traces its origins to 1677 and has its headquarters in London, England. It has a global reach, now in 62 international cities, with offices in 14 of them, operated on behalf of its owners, the Duke of Westminster and his family. It has four regional development and investment businesses and a portfolio of indirect investments. Its sectors include residential, office, retail, industrial, along with hotels.
Belgrave Square is a large 19th-century garden square in London. It is the centrepiece of Belgravia, and its architecture resembles the original scheme of property contractor Thomas Cubitt who engaged George Basevi for all of the terraces for the 2nd Earl Grosvenor, later the 1st Marquess of Westminster, in the 1820s. Most of the houses were occupied by 1840. The square takes its name from one of the Duke of Westminster's subsidiary titles, Viscount Belgrave. The village and former manor house of Belgrave, Cheshire, were among the rural landholdings associated with the main home and gardens of the senior branch of the family, Eaton Hall. Today, many embassies occupy buildings on all four sides.
Robert Grosvenor, 1st Marquess of Westminster, was the son of the 1st Earl Grosvenor, whom he succeeded in 1802 as 2nd Earl Grosvenor. He was created Marquess of Westminster in 1831. He was an English Member of Parliament (MP) and an ancestor of the modern-day Dukes of Westminster. Grosvenor continued to develop the family's London estates, he rebuilt their country house, Eaton Hall in Cheshire where he also restored the gardens, and built a new London home, Grosvenor House. He maintained and extended the family interests in the acquisition of works of art, and in horse racing and breeding racehorses.
Eaton Square is a rectangular, residential garden square in London's Belgravia district. It is the largest square in London. It is one of the three squares built by the landowning Grosvenor family when they developed the main part of Belgravia in the 19th century that are named after places in Cheshire — in this case Eaton Hall, the Grosvenor country house. It is larger but less grand than the central feature of the district, Belgrave Square, and both larger and grander than Chester Square. The first block was laid out by Thomas Cubitt from 1827. In 2016 it was named as the "Most Expensive Place to Buy Property in Britain", with a full terraced house costing on average £17 million — many of such town houses have been converted, within the same, protected structures, into upmarket apartments.
The Embassy of Germany in London is the diplomatic mission of Germany in the United Kingdom. The embassy is located at Belgrave Square, in Belgravia. It occupies three of the original terraced houses in Belgrave Square and a late 20th-century extension.
Lowndes Square is a residential garden square at the north-west end of Belgravia, London, SW1. It is formed of archetypal grand terraces of light stucco houses, cream or white. The length of the central rectangular garden is parallel with Sloane Street to the west; visible from the north-west corner is a corner of the Harvey Nichols store, beyond which is Knightsbridge tube station. Ecclesiastically, it remains in a northern projection of one of the parishes of Chelsea, except its east side, which is in the very small parish of St Paul, Knightsbridge, a division which is mirrored secularly by the boundaries of two London Boroughs.
The Embassy of Italy in London is the diplomatic mission of Italy in the United Kingdom. The front entrance is located on a private cul-de-sac in Mayfair, though there is also an entrance at the back on Grosvenor Square.
The Embassy of Luxembourg in London is the diplomatic mission of Luxembourg in the United Kingdom. It was the home of the Luxembourg government-in-exile during the Second World War.
The Embassy of Belgium in London is Belgium's diplomatic mission to the United Kingdom. It is located at 17 Grosvenor Crescent, having moved from its historical location in Eaton Square in 2006.
The Embassy of the United Arab Emirates at 1-2 Grosvenor Crescent in the Grosvenor Crescent district of London, is the diplomatic mission of the United Arab Emirates in the United Kingdom. The UAE also maintains a Consulate, Police Liaison Section & Cultural Attaché's office at 48 Prince's Gate, South Kensington, a Military Attaché's Office at 6 Queen's Gate Terrace, South Kensington and a Health Section at 71 Harley Street, Marylebone.
The Embassy of Spain in London is the diplomatic mission of Spain in the United Kingdom. Formerly known as Downshire House, the embassy is located at 24 Belgrave Square in the Belgravia area of London. Spain also maintains a Consulate General at 20 Draycott Place in Chelsea, a Defence Office at 3 Hans Crescent in Knightsbridge, an Education, Employment & Social Affairs Office at 20 Peel Street in Holland Park, and an Economic & Commercial Section at 66 Chiltern Street in Marylebone.
The Embassy of Norway in London at 25 Belgrave Square is the diplomatic mission of Norway in the United Kingdom. The embassy is located on Belgrave Square in a building it has occupied since 1949.
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.
The statue of the 1st Marquess of Westminster is an outdoor sculpture depicting the owner and developer of the surrounding Grosvenor estate, Robert Grosvenor, 1st Marquess of Westminster. The statue by Jonathan Wylder is located at the corner of Wilton and Grosvenor Crescents, Belgravia, London, England, and was commissioned by Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster in 1998.
This is a list of the etymology of street names in the London district of Belgravia. The following utilises the generally accepted boundaries of the area viz. South Carriage Drive to the north, Grosvenor Gardens/Place/Square to the east, Buckingham Palace Road/Victoria railway line to the south-east and Chelsea Bridge Road, Lower Sloane Street/Sloane Square/Sloane Street to the west.
Grosvenor Crescent is a street in London's Belgravia district, that in December 2017 was ranked as the UK's most expensive residential street, with an average house price of £16,918,000.
Motcomb Street is a street in the City of Westminster's Belgravia district in London. It is known for its luxury fashion shops, such as Christian Louboutin shoes, Stewart Parvin gowns, and the jeweller Carolina Bucci, and was the location of the original Pantechnicon department store.
