Buckingham Palace Road is a street that runs through

Victoria, London Victoria is an area of Central London in the City of Westminster. It is named after Victoria Station, which is a major transport hub. The station was named after the nearby Victoria Street. The name is used to describe streets adjoining or n ...

, from the south side of

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

towards

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, forming the

A3214 road A3, A03 or A.III may refer to: * A3 paper, a paper size defined by ISO 216 Biology * A3 regulatory sequence, a sequence for the insulin gene * Adenosine A3 receptor, a human gene * Annexin A3, a human gene * ATC code A03 ''Drugs for functi ...

. It is dominated by Victoria Station.

History

In the 18th century, the road was known as Chelsea Road and was often frequented by

highwaymen A highwayman was a robber who stole from travellers. This type of thief usually travelled and robbed by horse as compared to a footpad who travelled and robbed on foot; mounted highwaymen were widely considered to be socially superior to fo ...

. A

reward Reward may refer to: Places * Reward (Shelltown, Maryland), a historic home in Shelltown Maryland * Reward, California (disambiguation) * Reward-Tilden's Farm, a historic home in Chestertown Maryland Arts, entertainment, and media * "Rewa ...

of £10 was offered in 1752 for the capture of one of the worst offenders. Towards the southern end, Victoria Station was opened in 1866 and the adjacent

Victoria Coach Station Victoria Coach Station is the largest coach station in London, located in the central district of Victoria in the City of Westminster. It serves as a terminus for many medium- and long-distance coach services in the United Kingdom, and is al ...

was built in 1932 in the

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 ...

style. In 1938, the Empire Terminal of

Imperial Airways Imperial Airways was the early British commercial long-range airline, operating from 1924 to 1939 and principally serving the British Empire routes to South Africa, India, Australia and the Far East, including Malaya and Hong Kong. Passengers ...

opened opposite the coach station, designed by Albert Lakeman, also in the Art Deco style. It allowed passengers to

check-in Check-in is the process whereby people announce their arrival at an office, hotel, airport, hospital, seaport or event. Office check-in Many offices have a reception or front office area near the entrance to greet or assist visitors arriving to a ...

before boarding special trains from Victoria Station to

Croydon Airport Croydon Airport (former ICAO code: EGCR) was the UK's only international airport during the interwar period. Located in Croydon, South London, England, it opened in 1920, built in a Neoclassical style, and was developed as Britain's main air ...

Southampton Docks The Port of Southampton is a passenger and cargo port in the central part of the south coast of England. The modern era in the history of the Port of Southampton began when the first dock was inaugurated in 1843. The port has been owned and op ...

for the

flying boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fusela ...

service. The terminal continued in service until the end of the 1970s, by which time there were dedicated rail or bus connections to

Gatwick Gatwick Airport (), also known as London Gatwick , is a major international airport near Crawley, West Sussex, England, south of Central London. In 2021, Gatwick was the third-busiest airport by total passenger traffic in the UK, after H ...

and

Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others be ...

s. It is now the headquarters of the National Audit Office.

Landmarks

Royal Mews, Queen's Gallery

The entrances to the

Royal Mews The Royal Mews is a mews, or collection of equestrian stables, of the British Royal Family. In London these stables and stable-hands' quarters have occupied two main sites in turn, being located at first on the north side of Charing Cross, and ...

and

Queen's Gallery The Queen's Gallery is the main public art gallery of Buckingham Palace, home of the British monarch, in London. It exhibits works of art from the Royal Collection (the bulk of which works have since its opening been regularly displayed, s ...

are in Buckingham Palace Road.

Scouts and Girl Guides

In June 1917, the Imperial Headquarters of the Boy Scouts' Association (since 1967,

The Scout Association The Scout Association is the largest Scouting organisation in the United Kingdom and is the World Organization of the Scout Movement's recognised member for the United Kingdom. Following the origin of Scouting in 1907, the association was form ...

) moved to 25 Buckingham Palace Road from its previous office at 116 Victoria Street. It was in that building that the Boy Scouts' International Bureau (now the

World Scout Bureau The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM ) is the largest international Scouting organization. WOSM has 173 members. These members are recognized national Scout organizations, which collectively have around 43 million participants. WOSM ...

) was inaugurated in 1920. The UK Scout Headquarters remained at that address until December 1974, when it moved to

Baden-Powell House Queen's Gate House, still commonly known by its previous name of Baden-Powell House, is a conference centre in South Kensington, London. It was built as a tribute to Lord Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting, and has served as the headquarters ...

. The Girl Guides Association (now Girlguiding) rented offices within Scout Headquarters until 1929, when there was no longer storage space for the Association's records. Following a national fundraising campaign called "Save Our Stuff", the Guides were able to move into their own purpose-built headquarters at 17–19 Buckingham Palace Road, which they still occupy today.

Gallery

A3214 Buckingham Palace Road - geograph.org.uk - 999285.jpg, 50 Buckingham Palace Road on the left 8-24 Buckingham Palace Road (geograph 4753177).jpg, 8–24 Buckingham Palace Road 20110530 London 3.JPG, Victoria Station File:157-167 Buckingham Palace Road (geograph 4753186).jpg, 157-167 Buckingham Palace Road, originally the Imperial Airways Empire Terminal File:Victoria Coach Station (London, UK).jpg, Victoria Coach Station File:Victoria Library (5081895158).jpg, The Victoria Public Library, opened in 1894

References

{{Authority control Streets in the City of Westminster Odonyms referring to a building