WALTER PATER - 12 Earls Terrace Kensington London W8 6LP

Earls Terrace is a street in

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, W8. It has houses on one side only, a terrace of 25 Georgian houses, built in 1800–1810, all of which are

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. Numbers 1 and 25, at the ends of the terrace, are converted into flats. The street overlooks

Kensington High Street Kensington High Street is the main shopping street in Kensington, London, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Kensington High Street is the continuation of Kensington Road and part ...

, with a grass and garden in front, and backs onto

Edwardes Square Edwardes Square is a garden square in Kensington, London, W8. The square was built between 1811 and 1820. 1–23 and 25–48 Edwardes Square are listed Grade II for their architectural merit. Gardens The communal gardens were laid out in 1820 a ...

. The entire terrace of 23 houses was redeveloped by Northacre, adding underground parking and "leisure facilities" that include swimming pools. The communal garden is in size, and is not open to the public.

Notable residents

The pop singer

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

once rented there, and children's author

J. K. Rowling Joanne Rowling ( "rolling"; born 31 July 1965), also known by her pen name J. K. Rowling, is a British author and Philanthropy, philanthropist. She wrote ''Harry Potter'', a seven-volume children's fantasy series published from 1997 to ...

had a home there in 2001. The former KGB spy

Alexander Lebedev Alexander Yevgenievich Lebedev ( rus, Александр Евгеньевич Лебедев, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr jɪvˈɡʲenʲjɪvʲɪtɕ ˈlʲebʲɪdʲɪf; born 16 December 1959) is a Russian businessman, and has been referred to as one of t ...

and his son

Evgeny Lebedev Evgeny Alexandrovich Lebedev, Baron Lebedev ( rus, Евгений Александрович Лебедев, Evgeniy Aleksandrovich Lebedev, ; born 8 May 1980), is a Russian-British businessman, who owns Lebedev Holdings Ltd, which in turn own ...

lived in one of the houses in the terrace. * No. 1: Actors

Peter Wyngarde Peter Paul Wyngarde (born Cyril Goldbert, 23 August 1927 – 15 January 2018) was a British television, stage and film actor from the late 1940s to the mid 1990s. He was best known for portraying the character Jason King, a bestselling novelist ...

and

Alan Bates Sir Alan Arthur Bates (17 February 1934 – 27 December 2003) was an English actor who came to prominence in the 1960s, when he appeared in films ranging from the popular children's story '' Whistle Down the Wind'' to the " kitchen sink" dram ...

shared a flat at no. 1 for some years in the 1960s.London Electoral Register 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965

Elizabeth Inchbald Elizabeth Inchbald (née Simpson, 15 October 1753 – 1 August 1821) was an English novelist, actress, dramatist, and translator. Her two novels, '' A Simple Story'' and '' Nature and Art'', have received particular critical attention. Life Bo ...

, English dramatist and novelist, also lived at No. 1. * No. 10:

George Ledwell Taylor George Ledwell Taylor (31 March 1788 – 1 May 1873) was an architect and landowner who lived in London. Life Taylor was born on 31 March 1788 and educated at Rawes's academy, Bromley. He became a pupil of the architect James Burton, and on ...

, English architect, lived here in 1819–1820. * No. 11:

William Haseldine Pepys William Haseldine Pepys Geological Society of London, FGS Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (23 March 1775 – 17 August 1856) (or William Hasledine Pepys - both versions were used during his lifetime) was an English scientist and founder of learne ...

, founder of the

London Institution The London Institution was an educational institution founded in London in 1806 (not to be confused with the British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom founded the previous year, with which it shared some founders). It ...

, lived here in 1836–1856. * No. 12:

Walter Pater Walter Horatio Pater (4 August 1839 – 30 July 1894) was an English essayist, art critic and literary critic, and fiction writer, regarded as one of the great stylists. His first and most often reprinted book, ''Studies in the History of the Re ...

(1839—1894), essayist, literary and art critic, and writer of fiction, lived at no. 12 from 1885 to 1893.

George du Maurier George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurier (6 March 1834 – 8 October 1896) was a Franco-British cartoonist and writer known for work in ''Punch'' and a Gothic novel ''Trilby'', featuring the character Svengali. His son was the actor Sir Gerald d ...

, English novelist, author of the 1894 novel ''

Trilby A trilby is a narrow-brimmed type of hat. The trilby was once viewed as the rich man's favored hat; it is sometimes called the "brown trilby" in Britain Roetzel, Bernhard (1999). ''Gentleman's Guide to Grooming and Style''. Barnes & Noble. and ...

'' and cartoonist for ''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

'', also lived here in 1867–1870.

George MacDonald George MacDonald (10 December 1824 – 18 September 1905) was a Scottish author, poet and Christian Congregational minister. He was a pioneering figure in the field of modern fantasy literature and the mentor of fellow writer Lewis Carroll. I ...

(1824–1905), Scottish author, poet, Christian minister, lived here from September 1863 to 1867. Amongst his many guests were

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English writer, philosopher, art critic and polymath of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature, education, botany and politi ...

and

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (; 27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet and mathematician. His most notable works are ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (1865) and its sequel ...

. MacDonald's family had already read a draft of
Alice’s Adventures Under Ground
' and encouraged Carroll to publish it as he records in his Diary for May 9, 1863. In 1865 ''

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (commonly ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English novel by Lewis Carroll. It details the story of a young girl named Alice (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland), Alice who falls through a rabbit hole into a ...

'' was finally published. * No. 14:

Thomas Daniell Thomas Daniell (174919 March 1840) was an English landscape painter who also painted Orientalist themes. He spent seven years in India, accompanied by his nephew William, also an artist, and published several series of aquatints of the countr ...

(1749–1840), English landscape painter, lived and died at no. 14. * No. 20:

George Thomas Robinson George Thomas Robinson FSA (c.1827 - 6 May 1897) was an English architect who started in Wolverhampton, moved to Manchester, Leamington Spa and later to London. Life He was a pupil of John R. Hamilton and James Medland. He started his own practi ...

(1827–1897), architect, lived and died at no. 20. *

Francis Ludlow Holt Francis Ludlow Holt (1780 – 29 September 1844) was a legal and dramatic author. Life Francis Ludlow is cited as born in 1780, the son of the Rev. Ludlow Holt, LL.D., of Watford, Hertfordshire, the author of some sermons published in 1780–1. ...

(1780–1844), legal and dramatic author, died at Earls Terrace. * Joseph Hirst Lupton (1836–1905), schoolmaster, cleric and writer, died at Earls Terrace. * Googie Withers and John McCallum, and their daughter Joanna McCallum lived here in 1971–1992.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Earls Terrace Gardens in London Kensington Streets in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Communal gardens