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.
The north-east side of Belgrave Square, soon after constructionStatue of Prince Henry the Navigator in Belgrave Square, erected in 2002
The square is perfectly 650 feet (200m) across, inclusive of small porch projections. The square is surrounded by four terraces, three of eleven houses and the fourth (south-east) of twelve. These houses are all white stucco except for the cream-coloured projecting corner houses. In addition there are detached mansion houses in three of the corners, and a private central garden.
Numbering is anticlockwise from the north: NW terrace, No.s1 to 11; west corner mansion, No.12; SW terrace, No.s13 to 23; south corner mansion, No.24; SE terrace. No.s25 to 36; east corner mansion, No.37; NE terrace No.s38 to 48. The slightly later north corner mansion No.49 was drawn up by Cubitt (not to be confused with his son George, another architect, ennobled as Lord Ashcombe) for Sidney Herbert in 1851.
From its construction until the Second World War the square saw building rentals and longer leases by the upper echelons of capitalists seeking further influence, status or socialising in the capital. Such success was immediate.[2] This was encapsulated by the decision of another of London's leading freeholders and estate planners, the Duke of Bedford, to choose No.6 as London accommodation rather than any house on his own Bloomsbury estate, which had lost its aristocratic cachet.[2]
The square has included embassies since its first century, including the German Embassy, which occupies three houses on the west side. During the Second World War the square was used as a tank park; most of the houses were afterwards converted into offices for charities and institutes. The 21st century has seen more domestic leases granted, such as three by the Grosvenor Estate in 2004.[citation needed]
Listed status
Grade I
The buildings on the square are listed. In this highest category are:
1 Belgrave Square was the official residence of the Ambassadors of Romania from 1936 to 2005. The building has continued to host events for the Embassy since 2006, and is also headquarters of the Romanian Cultural Institute in London.[15]
2 Belgrave Square was first leased (c. 1829) to James Goding, whose Lion Brewery on the south bank of the River Thames was denoted by the iconic South Bank Lion and Twickenham Stadium Lion. Later residents included James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn, Edward Balfour and Nathaniel Clayton. In the 20th century, the house was purchased by the British soldier and politician Ernest George Pretyman and his wife, Lady Beatrice, daughter of George Bridgeman, 4th Earl of Bradford. In 1935, after Pretyman's death, it was sold to Grace, Lady Dance. On 12 May 1953, it was reopened by the Duke of Gloucester as the base of the Hispanic and Luso-Brazilian Council, which remained until it moved to 14-15 Belgrave Square in 2013. Since 2021, it has become the residence to Lalit Modi the former Chairman of the Indian Premier League.
17 Belgrave Square was the base of the Royal College of Psychiatrists until the college relocated in October 2013, and was home to two MPs, Sir Ralph Howard and Pandeli Ralli. Leontine, Lady Sassoon was in residence from 1929 to 1952. She is said to have held parties for soldiers during the Second World War, while part of the property was used as a Red Cross supply depot. No.17 was taken over by the Institute of Metals in 1956; the college arrived in 1974.[21]
18 Belgrave Square has been the home of the Austrian Embassy since 1866. It is the only building of those used by the Austro-Hungarian Empire's Foreign Service that is still used today by diplomats of the Republic of Austria.[22] Between 1846 and 1851, it was inhabited by Sir Francis Egerton (born Leveson-Gower), the 1st Earl of Ellesmere, and his family. Owing to the rebuilding of Cleveland House in St. James's, which would be renamed Bridgewater House, the Earl was also forced to house his famed "Bridgewater Collection of Pictures" here, using bedrooms, dining rooms, hallways, etc.[23] The collection reopened to the public once it moved back to Bridgewater House in 1851.
19–20 Belgrave Square houses the Bruneian High Commission. Previously, No. 20 was the London home of the 9th Baron Barnard.[24]
24 Belgrave Square is now the Embassy of Spain. In the early part of the 20th century, it was known as Downshire House and was the London home of Lord and Lady Pirrie. Lord Pirrie was the chairman of Harland & Wolff, a leading shipbuilding firm located in Belfast, Ireland. One evening in July 1907, the Pirries hosted J. Bruce Ismay and his wife Florence for dinner. Ismay was the managing director of the White Star Line, one of the top shipping companies of the North Atlantic. Harland and Wolff constructed all White Star vessels. White Star's main rival was the Cunard Line. The Cunard Line's newest ships, the Mauretania and Lusitania, the largest ships in the world, had just entered service. Pirrie and Ismay discussed the new ships during the dinner, and how to counter the competition of these new ships. Their discussions led to them planning that night the construction of three ships, larger than any in the world. The names of these ships would be RMSOlympic, RMSTitanic and HMHSBritannic.
29 Belgrave Square is where Sir Winston Churchill received his first cabinet appointment in 1906, from the Prime Minister at that time, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman.
31 Belgrave Square was the home of the Royal Automobile Club Motor Sports Association and the Speedway Control Board.
32 Belgrave Square was an overseas residence of Heidi Horten.
43 Belgrave Square has been the Embassy of Turkey since 1954. In the early part of the 20th century, it was the London home of the Earls of Harewood.[28]
42-45 Belgrave Square
45 Belgrave Square was the home of Caroline Agnes Horsley-Beresford (1818–1894) (Duchess of Montrose),[29] who used the pseudonym "Mr Manton", also of Sefton Lodge, Newmarket, a notable racehorse owner, a "wildly extravagant woman" who "strode across the racing scene". It is now the Malaysian High Commission. It featured in the 1954 film The Million Pound Note, as the spot where the actor Gregory Peck lost the note in the wind.[30]
The private communal garden is 2 hectares (4.9 acres) in size and contains mature plane, chestnut and lime trees, and various shrubs. Its gravel walks were laid in 1854, with privet hedges planted around its perimeter. Wooden pergolas and shelters stand within, and it features a tennis court. The garden is listed Grade II on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.[31][32]
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.
Buckingham Palace Garden is a large private park attached to the London residence of the British monarch. It is situated to the rear (west) of Buckingham Palace, occupying a 17-hectare (42-acre) site in the City of Westminster and forms the largest private garden in London. It is bounded by Constitution Hill to the north, Hyde Park Corner to the west, Grosvenor Place to the south-west, and the Royal Mews, Queen's Gallery, and Buckingham Palace itself to the south and east.
Eaton Hall is the country house of the Duke of Westminster. It is 1 mile (2 km) south of the village of Eccleston, in Cheshire, England. The house is surrounded by its own formal gardens, parkland, farmland and woodland. The estate covers about 10,872 acres (4,400 ha).
Carlton House Terrace is a street in the St James's district of the City of Westminster in London. Its principal architectural feature is a pair of terraces, the Western and Eastern terraces, of white stucco-faced houses on the south side of the street, which overlook The Mall and St. James's Park. These terraces were built on Crown land between 1827 and 1832 to overall designs by John Nash, but with detailed input by other architects including Decimus Burton. Construction was overseen by James Pennethorne. Both terrace blocks are Grade I listed buildings. A separate but linked cul de sac at the terrrace's western end is named Carlton Gardens.
Richmond Green is a recreation area near the centre of Richmond, a town of about 20,000 inhabitants situated in south-west London. Owned by the Crown Estate, it is leased to the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The Green, which has been described as "one of the most beautiful urban greens surviving anywhere in England", is roughly square in shape and its open grassland, framed with broadleaf trees, extends to roughly twelve acres. On the north-east side there is also a smaller open space called Little Green. Richmond Green and Little Green are overlooked by a mixture of period townhouses, historic buildings and municipal and commercial establishments including the Richmond Lending Library and Richmond Theatre.
Seaford House, previously Sefton House, is a former aristocratic mansion and the largest of the detached town houses sited on each corner of Belgrave Square, London, England. A magnolia stucco building with four main storeys, it is most famed for its interiors.
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.
Brunswick Town is an area in Hove, in the city of Brighton and Hove, England. It is best known for the Regency architecture of the Brunswick estate.
Albury Park is a country park and Grade II* listed historic country house in Surrey, England. It covers over 150 acres (0.61 km2); within this area is the old village of Albury, which consists of three or four houses and a church. The River Tillingbourne runs through the grounds. The gardens of Albury Park are Grade I listed on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
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, save its east side, in the very small parish of St Paul, Knightsbridge, a division which is mirrored secularly by the boundaries of two London Boroughs.
Wilton Crescent is a street in Belgravia, Central London, comprising a sweeping elegant terrace of Georgian houses and the private communal gardens that the semi-circle looks out upon. The houses were built in the early 19th century and are now Grade II listed buildings. The street is the northern projection of Belgravia and is often taken to fall into the category of London's garden squares.
Portland Place is a street in the Marylebone district of central London. Named after the 3rd Duke of Portland, the unusually wide street is home to the BBC's headquarters Broadcasting House, the Chinese and Polish embassies, the Royal Institute of British Architects and numerous residential mansion blocks.
The Kingston House estate and Ennismore Gardens in Knightsbridge is a green, dual-character area within the western limits of the City of Westminster in London. The first-named is immediately south of Hyde Park, London taking up the park's semi-panorama row of 8 to 13 Princes Gate (demolished) and otherwise, as to more of its wings, set around the east of Princes Gate Garden including a terrace of houses №s 1 to 7 Bolney Gate. The second-named is a garden square of 59 tall creamy-white terraced houses and the approach road to Prince of Wales Gate, Hyde Park as well as the identical-size public, square green of the church that is since 1956 the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God and All Saints facing which green are its anomalous outlier row for a London garden square, №s 61 to 66. The relatively small, broad-fronted house set against the Consulate-used pairing at №s 61 to 62 is № 60 and as with the other 65 numbers of Ennismore Gardens is a listed building.
49 Belgrave Square is a Grade II* listed house in Belgrave Square, Belgravia, London.
The Embassy of Austria in London is the diplomatic mission of the Republic of Austria in the United Kingdom. The embassy is located at 18 Belgrave Mews West in the Belgravia area of London, and the residence of the ambassador is located at 18 Belgrave Square.
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 Portugal in London is the diplomatic mission of Portugal in the United Kingdom. The embassy is located on Belgrave Square, Belgravia, in two separate buildings, and there is also a Portuguese consulate in Portland Place, Fitzrovia.
The Embassy of Turkey in London is the diplomatic mission of Turkey in the United Kingdom. There was an embassy of the Ottoman Empire in London dating from 1793; this was suspended in 1914 following the outbreak of the First World War and replaced by the embassy of the new Republic of Turkey in 1924. From 1901-1954 the embassy was located at 69 Portland Place before moving to its current location; however this building was kept and is currently used as the Ambassador's Residence.
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.
↑ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Volume 32. Oxford University Press. 2004. p.592. ISBN0-19-861382-2. Article by H.E. Wortham, revised by K.D. Reynolds.
↑ Catalogue of the valuable collection of porcelain, old French and other decorative objects and furniture, of her grace Caroline, Duchess of Montrose, deceased, removed from 45 Belgrave Square, and Sefton Lodge, Newmarket ... Christie's London. London: Christie, Manson & Woods, 1895
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