Adelphi (; from the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
ἀδελφοί ''adelphoi'', meaning "brothers") is a district of the
City of Westminster in London.
[Mills, A., ''Oxford Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001)] The small district includes the streets of ''Adelphi Terrace'', ''Robert Street'' and ''John Adam Street''.
[ Of rare use colloquially, Adelphi is grouped with ]Aldwych
Aldwych (pronounced ) is a street and the name of the area immediately surrounding it in central London, England, within the City of Westminster. The street starts east-northeast of Charing Cross, the conventional map centre-point of the city ...
as the greater Strand
Strand may refer to:
Topography
*The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a:
** Beach
** Shoreline
* Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida
Places Africa
* Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa
* Strand Street ...
district (a main street of London between the two areas and those immediately adjoining) which for many decades formed a parliamentary constituency
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...
and civil registration district.
Adelphi Buildings
The district is named after the Adelphi Buildings, a block of 24 unified neoclassical terrace house
In architecture and city planning, a terrace or terraced house ( UK) or townhouse ( US) is a form of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, whereby a row of attached dwellings share side walls. In the United Sta ...
s that occupied the land between The Strand and the River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
in the parish of St Martin in the Fields, which also included a headquarters building for the "Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce" (now generally known as the Royal Society of Arts). They were built between 1768 and 1772 by the Adam brothers (John, Robert, James and William Adam), to whom the buildings' Greek-derived name refers. The ruins of Durham House on the site were demolished for their construction.
Robert Adam was influenced by his extensive visit to Diocletian's Palace
Diocletian's Palace ( hr, Dioklecijanova palača, ) is an ancient palace built for the Roman emperor Diocletian at the turn of the fourth century AD, which today forms about half the old town of Split, Croatia. While it is referred to as a "pala ...
in Split
Split(s) or The Split may refer to:
Places
* Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia
* Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay
* Split Island, Falkland Islands
* Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua
Arts, entertai ...
, Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
(previously Dalmatia), and he applied some of this influence to the design of the neoclassical Adelphi Buildings. The nearby Adelphi Theatre
The Adelphi Theatre is a West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster, central London. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiv ...
is named after the Adelphi Buildings.
Many of the Adelphi Buildings were demolished in the early 1930s and replaced with the New Adelphi, a monumental Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
building designed by the firm of Collcutt & Hamp. Buildings remaining from the old Adelphi include 11 Adelphi Terrace (formerly occupied by numismatic specialists A.H. Baldwin & Sons Ltd) and the Royal Society of Arts headquarters (which has expanded to incorporate two of the former houses). Benjamin Pollock's Toy Shop
Benjamin Pollock's Toy Shop is a shop selling vintage and retro toys in London's Covent Garden. One of the oldest toy shops in London, it had its origins in Hoxton in 1851 before being taken over in 1877 by Benjamin Pollock, who ran it until his ...
was located here in the 1940s.
Notable residents
South Australian Colonization Commission
The South Australian Colonization Commission (1834–1843) had their offices at 6 Adelphi Terrace in 1840. Rowland Hill was secretary to this body, and it was during this period that he devised his penny postage The Penny Post is any one of several postal systems in which normal letters could be sent for one penny. Five such schemes existed in the United Kingdom while the United States initiated at least three such simple fixed rate postal arrangements.
U ...
scheme.
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...
(LSE) held its first classes in October 1895, in rooms at 9 John Street, Adelphi, before setting up more permanent operations in Number 10 Adelphi Terrace. By 1920, the LSE had moved a few blocks east, to its current Clare Market
Clare Market is a historic area in central London located within the parish of St Clement Danes to the west of Lincoln's Inn Fields, between the Strand and Drury Lane, with Vere Street adjoining its western side. It was named after the food ma ...
address. While in Adelphi, the LSE’s scholars and students were active in the surrounding neighbourhood and community.
Street name etymologies
Adelphi has no formally defined boundaries, though they are generally agreed to be: Strand to the north, Lancaster Place to the east, Victoria Embankment to the south and Charing Cross station to the west. The small set of streets east of Northumberland Avenue are included here for convenience.
Several streets are or were named using the words ''George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham'' after the first Duke, 17th century courtier, who acquired York House which formerly stood on this site; his son sold the area to developers on condition that his father and titles were commemorated on the new streets.
* Adam Street – after John and Robert Adam, who built the Adelphi development in the 1760s[Bebbington, G. (1972) ''London Street Names'', p16]
* Adelphi Terrace – the area was developed by the brothers John and Robert Adam, in the 1760s, and was named after ''adelphos'', the Greek for 'brother'
* The Arches – presumably descriptive, after the railway arches here
* Buckingham Arcade and Buckingham Street – after George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham[Fairfield, S. ''The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins'', p47][Bebbington, G. (1972) ''London Street Names'', p62-3]
* Carting Lane – thought to be from the carts that brought good to and from the wharf formerly located here; until the 1830s it was called Dirty Lane[Bebbington, G. (1972) ''London Street Names'', p74]
* Charing Cross – after the Eleanor cross at Charing, from the Old English word "cierring", referring to a bend in the River Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
* Corner House Street – ''unknown''
* Craven Passage and Craven Street
Craven Street is a street in the City of Westminster, London, near Strand. A number of notable historical figures have lived in the street which was the home of Benjamin Franklin when he lived in London before the American Revolution.
History
Th ...
– after William Craven, 3rd Baron Craven, who owned the land when the street was built in the 1730s
* Durham House Street – this was the former site of Durham House, a palace belonging to the bishops of Durham in medieval times
* Embankment Place – after the Thames Embankment
The Thames Embankment is a work of 19th-century civil engineering that reclaimed marshy land next to the River Thames in central London. It consists of the Victoria Embankment and Chelsea Embankment.
History
There had been a long history of ...
, built in the Victorian era
* George Court – after George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
* Hungerford Lane – after the Hungerford family, who owned a house on this site in the 15th century, later sold due to debts to create Hungerford Market, before the building of Charing Cross station
* Ivybridge Lane – named after a former ivy-covered bridge that crossed an old watercourse on this spot; the bridge was demolished sometime before 1600
* John Adam Street – after John Adam, who built the Adelphi development with his brother Robert in the 1760s, a combination of the previous John Street and Duke Street with the latter named after the 1st ''Duke'' of Buckingham
* Lancaster Place – former site of the Savoy Palace
The Savoy Palace, considered the grandest nobleman's townhouse of medieval London, was the residence of prince John of Gaunt until it was destroyed during rioting in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. The palace was on the site of an estate given to ...
. It passed into the ownership of the earls of Lancaster in the 13th century, the most famous of which was John of Gaunt, who owned the palace at the times of its destruction in Peasant’s Revolt of 1381
*Northumberland Avenue
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 ...
and Northumberland Street – site of the former Northumberland House, built originally in the early 17th century for the earls of Northampton and later acquired by the earls of Northumberland
* Robert Street and Lower Robert Street – after Robert Adam, who built the Adelphi development with his brother John in the 1760s
* Savoy Buildings, Savoy Court, Savoy Hill, Savoy Place, Savoy Row, Savoy Steps, Savoy Street and Savoy Way – the former site of the Savoy Palace
The Savoy Palace, considered the grandest nobleman's townhouse of medieval London, was the residence of prince John of Gaunt until it was destroyed during rioting in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. The palace was on the site of an estate given to ...
, built for Peter II, Count of Savoy
Peter II (120315 May 1268), called the Little Charlemagne, held the Honour of Richmond, Yorkshire, England (but not the Earldom), from April 1240 until his death, holder of the Honour of l’Aigle, and was Count of Savoy (now part of France, Swit ...
in 1245
* Strand
Strand may refer to:
Topography
*The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a:
** Beach
** Shoreline
* Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida
Places Africa
* Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa
* Strand Street ...
and Strand Lane – from Old English 'stond', meaning the edge of a river; the river Thames formerly reached here prior to the building of the Thames Embankment
The Thames Embankment is a work of 19th-century civil engineering that reclaimed marshy land next to the River Thames in central London. It consists of the Victoria Embankment and Chelsea Embankment.
History
There had been a long history of ...
* Victoria Embankment
Victoria Embankment is part of the Thames Embankment, a road and river-walk along the north bank of the River Thames in London. It runs from the Palace of Westminster to Blackfriars Bridge in the City of London, and acts as a major thoroughfare ...
– after Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
, reigning queen at the time of the building of the Thames Embankment
The Thames Embankment is a work of 19th-century civil engineering that reclaimed marshy land next to the River Thames in central London. It consists of the Victoria Embankment and Chelsea Embankment.
History
There had been a long history of ...
* Villiers Street
Villiers Street is a street in London connecting the Strand with the Embankment. It is partly pedestrianised; traffic runs northbound only up to John Adam Street, where vehicles must turn right. It was built by Nicholas Barbon in the 1670s on th ...
– after George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
* Watergate Walk – after a former watergate built in 1626 for George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham as an entrance for the former York House
* York Buildings and York Place – a house was built on this site in the 14th century for the bishops of Norwich
The Bishop of Norwich is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of the county of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. The bishop of Norwich is Graham Usher.
The see is in t ...
– in the reign of Queen Mary it was acquired by the archbishops of York
The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...
and named 'York House'; York Place was formerly 'Of Alley', after the 1st Duke ''of'' Buckingham
Notable residents
*Sir J. M. Barrie
Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succ ...
(1860–1937), playwright and novelist, author of ''Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...
'', at Adelphi Terrace
*Edward Litt Laman Blanchard
Edward Litt Leman Blanchard, often referred to as E. L. Blanchard (11 December 1820 – 4 September 1889), was an English writer who is best known for his contributions to the Drury Lane pantomime. He began writing plays and other literature to ...
, writer, lived in Adelphi Terrace from 1876 to 1889
* Charles Booth, shipyard owner, philanthropist and author
*Richard D'Oyly Carte
Richard D'Oyly Carte (; 3 May 1844 – 3 April 1901) was an English talent agent, theatrical impresario, composer, and hotelier during the latter half of the Victorian era. He built two of London's theatres and a hotel empire, while also establi ...
, Victorian impresario
* John Galsworthy, novelist, author of ''The Forsyte Saga
''The Forsyte Saga'', first published under that title in 1922, is a series of three novels and two interludes published between 1906 and 1921 by the English author John Galsworthy, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature. They chronicle the vici ...
''
* David Garrick lived for his final seven years, and died in 1779, in the centre house of the buildings (no. 5)
* James Graham, electrical quack sexologist, lived at 4 Adelphi Terrace from 1778 to 1781, opening his Temple of Health there in 1780
* Thomas Hardy, English novelist
* Thomas Monro, physician to George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
and art patron, owned a house in Adelphi Terrace
*George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
, Irish playwright, Fabian socialist, co-founder of the London School of Economics and Political Science
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...
(LSE)
In media
* David Copperfield
''David Copperfield'' Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work, see is a novel in the bildungsroman genre by Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from inf ...
, created by Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
, lived on Buckingham Street in Adelphi.
* Fictional detective Gideon Fell
Gideon (; ) also named Jerubbaal and Jerubbesheth, was a military leader, judge and prophet whose calling and victory over the Midianites are recounted in of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible.
Gideon was the son of Joash, from the Abiez ...
, created by John Dickson Carr
John Dickson Carr (November 30, 1906 – February 27, 1977) was an American author of detective stories, who also published using the pseudonyms Carter Dickson, Carr Dickson, and Roger Fairbairn.
He lived in England for a number of years, and is ...
, lived at no. 1, Adelphi Terrace.
* The 1930s Adelphi building was used for some scenes in ITV's ''Agatha Christie's Poirot
''Poirot'' (also known as ''Agatha Christie's Poirot'') is a British mystery drama television programme that aired on ITV from 8 January 1989 to 13 November 2013. David Suchet starred as the eponymous detective, Agatha Christie's fictional Her ...
'' episode "The Theft of the Royal Ruby", and in episode "The Plymouth Express".
* In an instalment of E.M. Delafield’s semi-autobiographical Diary of a Provincial Lady series, entitled ‘The Provincial Lady in Wartime, the eponymous protagonist works in the canteen of an air raid shelter located under the Adelphi during the Phoney War
The Phoney War (french: Drôle de guerre; german: Sitzkrieg) was an eight-month period at the start of World War II, during which there was only one limited military land operation on the Western Front, when French troops invaded Germa ...
. Much of the narrative is dedicated to describing the atmosphere and inhabitants of the building and the surrounding area, and many of the events of the book take place here.
See also
* List of demolished buildings and structures in London
This list of demolished buildings and structures in London includes buildings, structures and urban scenes of particular architectural and historical interest, scenic buildings which are preserved in old photographs, prints and paintings, but whic ...
References
Further reading
* Brereton, Austin.
The literary history of the Adelphi and its neighbourhood
' (New York: Duffield, 1909). Illustrated.
{{Areas of London
Housing in London
Buildings and structures in the City of Westminster
Robert Adam buildings
Areas of London
Districts of the City of Westminster
Georgian architecture in London
City of Westminster