Sloane Street

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Location: Sloane Street, Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, United Kingdom. (51.49667°N 0.15844°W).

Phone: +44 20 7896 9988

Sloane Street

Sloane Street is a major London street in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea which runs north to south, from Knightsbridge to Sloane Square, crossing Pont Street about halfway along. Sloane Street takes its name from Sir Hans Sloane, who purchased the surrounding area in 1712. Many of the properties in the street still belong to his descendents the Earls Cadogan, via their company Cadogan Estates.

Sloane Street has long been a fashionable shopping street, especially the northern section closest to Knightsbridge, which is known informally as Upper Sloane Street. Since the 1990s Sloane Street's status has increased further, and it is now on a par with Bond Street, which has been London's most exclusive shopping street for two centuries. The street has flagship branches for many of the world's most famous brands in fashion.

History of Sloane Street:

Sloane Street, along with Sloane Square, also gives its name to "Sloane Rangers", originally applied to the stereotypical kind of young upper class English ladies seen in the area. The expression was roughly the female equivalent to the term "Hooray Henry", used to describe brash, upper-class young English public school boys, although this term is not geographically restricted and is used all over the UK.

During the 1990s, Dubai's ruling Al Maktoum family, led by Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, bought most of the properties on the west side of Sloane Street at the Knightsbridge end. The National Bank of Dubai opened its first overseas branch in London to serve the many UAE-based visitors who rent these properties in summer. The Jumeirah Carlton Tower Hotel is owned by the hotels arm of Dubai Holding Company, which is also controlled by Sheikh Mohammed.

The northern half of the street is near Knightsbridge and is home to a few smart, more modern residential blocks, all with 24 hour porterage, the Cadogan Hotel and Millennium Hotel. Harrods lies next to Hans Place immediately to the west along Basil Street and Hans Crescent, and Lowndes Square lies to the east.

The southern half of the street has much more individual character, with a number of typical Pont Street Dutch style red brick buildings, built in the 19th century by Earl Cadogan, which house elegant apartments. In the most exclusive residential area of the street, which is between Sloane Square and Cadogan Place, some of the residences have remained as whole houses. Properties in this area have sold in early 2007 for in excess of £2,500 per square foot on long leases.

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All Saints, Margaret Street

World > United Kingdom > England > London > City of Westminster > All Saints, Margaret Street

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Location: All Saints, Margaret Street, City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom (51°31′02.10″N 00°08′20.64″W)

Website: http://www.allsaintsmargaretstreet.org.uk

All Saints, Margaret Street:  

All Saints, Margaret Street

All Saints, Margaret Street, is an Anglican church in London built in the High Victorian Gothic style by the architect William Butterfield and completed in 1859.

The church is situated on the north side of Margaret Street in Fitzrovia, near Oxford Street, within a small courtyard. Two other buildings face onto this courtyard: one is the vicarage and the other (formerly a choir school) now houses the parish room and flats for assistant priests.

All Saints is noted for its architecture, style of worship and musical tradition.

History of All Saints, Margaret Street:

All Saints had its origins in the Margaret Street Chapel which had "proceeded upwards through the various gradations of Dissent and Low-Churchism" until 1829, when the Tractarian William Dodsworth became its incumbent. Dodsworth later converted to Roman Catholicism, as did one of his successors, Frederick Oakeley. Before his resignation from the post, Oakeley, who was later to describe the chapel as "a complete paragon of ugliness" had conceived the idea of rebuilding the chapel in what he considered a correct ecclesiastical style, and had collected a sum of almost £30,000 for the purpose. He was succeeded at the chapel by his assistant William Upton Richards, who decided to carry on with the scheme.

In 1845, Alexander Beresford Hope realised that this scheme could be combined with the project of the Cambridge Camden Society to found a model church. His proposal met with the approval of Upton Richards, George Chandler, rector of All Souls, and Charles Blomfield, the Bishop of London. It was decided that the architectural and ecclesiological aspects of the project would be put entirely under the control of the Cambridge Camden Society, who appointed Sir Stephen Glynne and Beresford Hope to oversee the work. In the event, Glynne was unable to take an active part, and Beresford Hope took sole charge.

William Butterfield was selected as the architect and the site in Margaret Street purchased for £14,500. The last service at the old chapel was held on Easter Monday, 1850, and the foundation stone of the new building was laid on All Saints' Day of that year by Edward Bouverie Pusey. Services were held in a temporary chapel in Titchfield Street for the next nine years, until the new church was finally consecrated on 28 May 1859. The total cost of the church, including the site and endowments was around £70,000; several large individual donations helped to fund it.

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Downing Street

World > United Kingdom > England > London > City of Westminster > Downing Street

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Location: Downing Street, City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom

Website: http://www.number10.gov.uk

Downing Street:  

Downing Street

10 Downing Street, colloquially known in the United Kingdom as "Number 10", is the headquarters of Her Majesty's Government and the official residence and office of the First Lord of the Treasury, an office now invariably held by the Prime Minister.

Situated in Downing Street in the City of Westminster, London, Number 10 is one of the most famous addresses in the world. Over three hundred years old, the building contains about one hundred rooms. There is a private residence on the third floor and a kitchen in the basement. The other floors contain offices and numerous conference, reception, sitting and dining rooms where the Prime Minister works, and where government ministers, national leaders and foreign dignitaries are met and entertained. There is an interior courtyard and, in the back, a terrace overlooking a garden of 0.5 acres (2,000 m2). Adjacent to St. James's Park, Number 10 is near to Buckingham Palace, the official London residence of the British monarch, and the Palace of Westminster, the meeting place of both houses of parliament.

Originally three houses, Number 10 was offered to Sir Robert Walpole by George II in 1732. Walpole accepted on the condition that they be a gift to the office of First Lord of the Treasury rather than to him personally. Walpole commissioned William Kent to join the three houses together. It is this larger house that is known today as "Number 10 Downing Street".

The arrangement was not an immediate success. Despite its size and convenient location near to Parliament, few early Prime Ministers lived there. Costly to maintain, neglected, and run-down, Number 10 was close to being razed several times. Nevertheless, the property survived and became linked with many statesmen and events in British history. In 1985 Margaret Thatcher said Number 10 had become "one of the most precious jewels in the national heritage."

History of  Downing Street:

Number 10 Downing Street was originally three houses: a mansion overlooking St. James's Park (called "the House at the Back"), a townhouse behind it and a cottage. The townhouse, from which the modern building gets its name, was one of several built by Sir George Downing between 1682 and 1684.

Downing, a notorious spy for Oliver Cromwell and later Charles II, invested in properties and acquired considerable wealth.[2][3][4] In 1654, he purchased the lease on land south of Saint James's Park, adjacent to the House at the Back, and within walking distance of Parliament. Downing planned to build a row of townhouses designed "for persons of good quality to inhabit in ..." The street on which he built these homes now bears his name, and the largest became part of today's Number 10 Downing Street.

Straightforward as this investment seemed, it proved otherwise. There was another claim to the land: the Hampden family had a lease that they refused to relinquish. Downing fought this claim, but failed and consequently had to wait thirty years before he could build his houses.[6] When the Hampden lease expired, Downing received permission to build further west to take advantage of recent real estate developments. The new warrant issued in 1682 reads: "Sir George Downing ... [is authorised] to build new and more houses ... subject to the proviso that it be not built any nearer than 14 feet of the wall of the said Park at the West end thereof."[5] Between 1682 and 1684, Downing built a cul-de-sac of two-storey townhomes complete with coach-houses, stables and views of St. James's Park. Over the years, the addresses changed several times. In 1787 Number 5 became "Number 10".

Downing employed Sir Christopher Wren to design his houses. Although large, they were put up quickly and cheaply on soft soil with shallow foundations. The fronts, for example, were facades with lines painted on the surface imitating brick mortar. Winston Churchill wrote that Number 10 was "shaky and lightly built by the profiteering contractor whose name they bear."

The upper end of the Downing Street cul-de-sac closed off access to St. James's Park, making the street quiet and private. An advertisement in 1720 described it as: "... a pretty open Place, especially at the upper end, where are four or five very large and well-built Houses, fit for Persons of Honour and Quality; each House having a pleasant Prospect into St. James's Park, with a Tarras Walk." They had several distinguished residents: the Countess of Yarmouth lived at Number 10 between 1688 and 1689, Lord Lansdowne from 1692 to 1696 and the Earl of Grantham from 1699 to 1703.

Downing did not live in his townhouses.] In 1675 he retired to Cambridge, where he died in 1684, a few months after building was completed. Downing's portrait now hangs in the entrance foyer of the modern Number 10 Downing Street..........Wikipedia >>

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Royal Albert Hall

World > United Kingdom > England > London > City of Westminster > Royal Albert Hall

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Location: Royal Albert Hall, City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom

Website: http://www.royalalberthall.com

Royal Albert Hall:  

The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, in the City of

Royal Albert Hall

Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941. It has a capacity (depending on configuration of the event) of up to 5272 seats, however standing areas and stage specifications can increase or decrease this. The Hall is a registered charity held in trust for the nation and receives no public or central and local government funding. Since its opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from several performance genres have appeared on its stage and it has become one of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings. Each year it hosts more than 350 events including classical concerts, rock and pop, ballet and opera, sports, award ceremonies, school and community events, charity performances and banquets.

The Hall was originally supposed to have been called The Central Hall of Arts and Sciences, but the name was changed by Queen Victoria to Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences when laying the foundation stone, as a dedication to her deceased husband and consort Prince Albert. It forms the practical part of a national memorial to the Prince Consort – the decorative part is the Albert Memorial directly to the north in Kensington Gardens, now separated from the Hall by the road Kensington Gore.

History of Royal Albert Hall:

In 1851, the Great Exhibition was held in Hyde Park, London, for which the Crystal Palace was built. The exhibition was a great success and led Prince Albert, the Prince Consort, to propose the creation of a permanent series of facilities for the enlightenment of the public in the area, which came to be known as Albertopolis. The Exhibition's Royal Commission bought Gore House and its grounds (on which the Hall now stands) on the advice of the Prince. Progress on the scheme was slow and in 1861 Prince Albert died, without having seen his ideas come to fruition. However, a memorial was proposed for Hyde Park, with a Great Hall opposite.

The proposal was approved and the site was purchased with some of the profits from the Exhibition. Once the remaining funds had been raised, in April 1867 Queen Victoria signed the Royal Charter of the Corporation of the Hall of Arts and Sciences which was to operate the Hall and on 20 May, laid the foundation stone.[2] The Hall was designed by civil engineers Captain Francis Fowke and Major-General Henry Y.D. Scott of the Royal Engineers and built by Lucas Brothers. The designers were heavily influenced by ancient amphitheatres, but had also been exposed to the ideas of Gottfried Semper while he was working at the South Kensington Museum. The recently opened Cirque d'Hiver in Paris was seen in the contemporary press as the design to outdo. The Hall was constructed mainly of Fareham Red brick, with terra cotta block decoration made by Gibbs and Canning Limited of Tamworth. The dome (designed by Rowland Mason Ordish) on top was made of wrought iron and glazed. There was a trial assembly made of the iron framework of the dome in Manchester, then it was taken apart again and transported to London via horse and cart. When the time came for the supporting structure to be removed from the dome after re-assembly in situ, only volunteers remained on site in case the structure dropped. It did drop – but only by five-sixteenths of an inch. The Hall was scheduled to be completed by Christmas Day 1870 and the Queen visited a few weeks beforehand to inspect.

The official opening ceremony of the Hall was on 29 March 1871. A welcoming speech was given by Edward, the Prince of Wales; Queen Victoria was too overcome to speak although she did comment that it reminded her of the British constitution.

A concert followed, when the Hall's acoustic problems became immediately apparent. Engineers first attempted to solve the strong echo by suspending a canvas awning below the dome. This helped and also sheltered concertgoers from the sun, but the problem was not solved: it used to be jokingly said that the Hall was "the only place where a British composer could be sure of hearing his work twice".

Initially lit by gas, the Hall contained a special system where its thousands of gas jets were lit within ten seconds. Though it was demonstrated as early as 1873 in the Hall,[6] full electric lighting was not installed until 1888. During an early trial when a partial installation was made, one disgruntled patron wrote to The Times newspaper declaring it to be "a very ghastly and unpleasant innovation".

In 1936, the Hall was the scene of a giant rally celebrating the British Empire, the occasion being the centenary of Joseph Chamberlain's birth. In October 1942, the Hall suffered minor damage during World War II bombing but was left mostly untouched as German pilots used the distinctive structure as a landmark.

In 1949 the canvas awning was removed and replaced with fluted aluminium panels below the glass roof, in a new attempt to solve the echo; but the acoustics were not properly tackled until 1969 when a series of large fibreglass acoustic diffusing discs (commonly referred to as "mushrooms" or "flying saucers") was installed below the ceiling.........Wikipedia >>

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Carnaby Street

World > United Kingdom > England > London > City of Westminster > Carnaby Street

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Location: Carnaby Street, City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom

Coordinates: 51°30′48″N 0°08′20″W

Date opened: 1685

Carnaby Street

Carnaby Street:  

Carnaby Street is a pedestrianised shopping street in the City of Westminster, London, located in the Soho district, near Oxford Street and Regent Street. It is home to numerous fashion and lifestyle retailers, including a large number of independent fashion boutiques. Streets intersecting, or meeting with, Carnaby Street are, from south to north, Beak Street, Broadwick Street, Kingly Court, Ganton Street, Marlborough Court, Lowndes Court, Fouberts Place, Little Marlborough Street and Great Marlborough Street. The nearest London Underground station is Oxford Circus tube station (on the Bakerloo, Central and Victoria lines).

History of Carnaby Street:

Historically, Carnaby Street derives its name from Karnaby House, located to its east and originally erected in 1683. It is not known anymore why the house was called this. The street was probably laid out in 1685 or 1686. First appearing in the ratebooks in 1687, the street was almost completely built up by 1690 with small houses. A market was developed in the 1820s; in his novel, Sybil (1845), Benjamin Disraeli refers to "a carcase-butcher famous in Carnaby-market".

In 1934, Amy Ashwood Garvey and Sam Manning opened the Florence Mills Social Club, a jazz club which became a gathering spot for supporters of Pan-Africanism.

1958 saw the first boutique, His Clothes, opened in Carnaby Street by John Stephen (after his shop in Beak Street burned down) and was soon followed by I Was Lord Kitchener's Valet, Kleptomania, Mates, Ravel, and others.

By the 1960s, Carnaby Street proved popular for followers of both the Mod and hippie styles. Many independent fashion boutiques, and designers such as Mary Quant, Marion Foale and Sally Tuffin,[6] Lord John, Merc, Take Six, and Irvine Sellars were located in Carnaby Street as well as various underground music bars such as the Roaring Twenties in the surrounding streets. With bands such as Small Faces, The Who, and Rolling Stones appearing in the area to work (with the legendary Marquee Club located round the corner in Wardour Street), shop, and socialize, it became one of the coolest destinations associated with the Swinging London of the 1960s.

The Carnaby Street contingent of Swinging London stormed into North American and international awareness with the April 15, 1966 publication of Time magazine's cover and article that extolled this street's role:

“              Perhaps nothing illustrates the new swinging London better than narrow, three-block-long Carnaby Street, which is crammed with a cluster of the 'gear' boutiques where the girls and boys buy each other clothing.

In October 1973, the Greater London Council pedestrianised Carnaby Street. Vehicular access is restricted between 11 am and 8 pm. A comparison of before and after number of pedestrians entering the pedestrianised area indicated a 30% increase in pedestrian flows into Carnaby Street as a result of the pedestrianisation. A campaign commenced early in 2010 to call for a similar exercise to be undertaken in the adjacent area of Soho.

There are two Westminster City Council green plaques on Carnaby Street: the first can be found at 1 Carnaby Street and is dedicated to fashion entrepreneur John Stephen, who was responsible for beginning the Mod fashion revolution here. The second plaque, located at 52/55 Carnaby Street, is dedicated to the Mod pop group The Small Faces and their manager Don Arden.........Wikipedia >>

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Upper Belgrave Street

World > United Kingdom > England > London > City of Westminster > Belgravia > Upper Belgrave Street

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Upper Belgrave Street

Address: Belgravia, City of Westminster, London, United Kingdom.

Upper Belgrave Street:  

Upper Belgrave Street in City of Westminster. Below we present a selection of upcoming events, local attractions and great places to eat and shop.

Upper Belgrave Street

The nearest station to Upper Belgrave Street is Hyde Park Corner Tube Station which is about 6 minutes to the North West.

Upper Belgrave Street is in the London area of Belgravia......Wikipedia >>

History of Upper Belgrave Street:

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Wych Street

World > United Kingdom > England > London > City of Westminster > Aldwych > Wych Street

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A 1901 postcard of Wych Street,

Address: Aldwych

City: Westminster, London

Coordinates: 51°30′47″N 0°6′59″W

Wych Street:  

Wych Street was a street in London, roughly where Australia House now stands on Aldwych. It ran west from the church of St Clement Danes on the Strand to a point towards the southern end of Drury Lane. The

street was demolished by the London County Council in around 1901, as part of the redevelopment that created the Kingsway and Aldwych.

History of Wych Street:

The area around Drury Lane was not affected by the Great Fire of London, and contained decrepit Elizabethan houses, with projecting wooden jetties. The Angel Inn public house was at the bottom of Wych Street, by the Strand. To the west, about halfway along on the north side, was the New Inn, an Inn of Chancery where Sir Thomas More received his early legal education, and, to the south, Lyon's Inn, another Inn of Chancery where Sir Edward Coke was a reader in 1578, which was replaced by a Globe Theatre and the Opera Comique in c.1863.

At the western end was Drury House, the house of Sir Robert Drury, from which Drury Lane took its name, later rebuilt as Craven House by Lord Craven, and finally turned into a public house, the "Queen of Bohemia", named after Lord Craven's mistress, Elizabeth of Bohemia, the daughter of James I. This building was later demolished, and replaced by the first Olympic Theatre.

Jack Sheppard, the infamous thief, was apprenticed to a carpenter, Mr. Wood, on Wych Street; one of Sheppard's haunts, the White Lion tavern, was also on Wych Street. The music hall performer Arthur Lloyd lived at 39 Wych Street in 1892.

Around 1780, the brothers George and John Jacob Astor, who later became America's first multimillionaire, ran an instrument store in 26 Wych Street.......Wikipedia >>

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52-54 Lime Street

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Construction started: Late 2013 (expected)

Estimated completion: 2017

Address: 52 Lime St, London, Greater London EC3M 7NP, UK ‎ 11 ft N, 51.513258°N 0.081453°W

Floor count: 38

Website: www.theleadenhallbuilding.com

52-54 Lime Street:

52-54 Lime Street is the address of a skyscraper approved for construction on Lime Street in London's main financial district, the City of London. Although it has no official or formal name yet, it has been

nicknamed the Scalpel because of its distinctive angular design. Upon completion in 2017 the building will be 190 m (620 ft) tall, with 38 storeys. It was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox, who were also the architects of the nearby Heron Tower, the City's tallest building.

The site is on the corner of Lime Street and Leadenhall Street, opposite the Lloyd's building and adjacent to the Willis Building. The skyscraper is being built for global insurance company W. R. Berkley and will be its new European headquarters, occupying one-quarter of the proposed 59,269 square metres (638,000 sq ft) of floor space. A small proportion of that space will be occupied by a retail shop at street-level and a basement restaurant on the Leadenhall Street frontage, and by a café at the Lime Street entrance.........Wikipedia >>

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20 Fenchurch Street

World > United Kingdom > England > London > City of London > 20 Fenchurch Street

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Address: 20, Fenchurch Street, London, United Kingdom, 51°30′41″N 0°05′01″W

Floor count: 34 (plus three-storey 'sky gardens')

20 Fenchurch Street

Construction started: 2009

Estimated completion: 2014

20 Fenchurch Street:

20 Fenchurch Street is a 37-storey skyscraper under construction on Fenchurch Street in London. It has been nicknamed the Walkie-Talkie and the Pint because of its distinctive shape. Upon completion in 2014 the building will be 160 m (525 ft) tall.

Costing over £200 million, it is designed by architect Rafael Viñoly and will feature a highly distinctive, top-

heavy form which appears to burst upward and outward. A large viewing deck and 'sky gardens' will be included on the top three floors; these will be open to the public.

The tower was originally proposed at nearly 200 metres tall, but was scaled down after concerns about its visual impact on the nearby St Paul's Cathedral and Tower of London. It was subsequently approved in November 2006. Even after the height reduction there were continued concerns from heritage groups about its impact on the surrounding area. The project was subsequently the subject of a public inquiry. In July 2007, this ruled in the developers' favour, and the building was granted full planning permission.

In their preliminary results for 2007, developers Land Securities and Canary Wharf Group said 20 Fenchurch Street would be completed in 2011, however in 2009 this date was pushed back to 2014.

It is one of a number of new tall buildings for the City of London financial area, others include The Pinnacle, the Leadenhall Building, and 52-54 Lime Street. Several insurance companies have agreed to become tenants of 20 Fenchurch Street upon its completion.

History of 20 Fenchurch Street:

The previous building at 20 Fenchurch Street was 91 m (299 ft) tall with 25 storeys and was built in 1968 by Land Securities. The architect was William H. Rogers.

The building was formerly occupied by Dresdner Kleinwort and was notable for being one of the first tall buildings in the City of London, and for its distinctive roof. It was one of the towers nearest to the River Thames when viewed from the southern end of London Bridge.

In 2007, one of the upper floors was used in the drama series Party Animals.

Demolition of the building was completed in 2008. Despite the top-down method of construction, the old building was not demolished from the bottom-up, as a temporary structure was built, allowing Keltbray, the demolition contractor, to demolish the building from the top down........Wikipedia >>

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