Gloucester Road ( ; B325) is a street in the

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (often known by its initialism as RBKC) is an Inner London, Inner London borough with Royal borough, royal status. It is the List of English districts by area, smallest borough in London and the secon ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. It runs north–south between

Kensington Gardens Kensington Gardens, once the private gardens of Kensington Palace, are among the Royal Parks of London. The gardens are shared by the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and sit immediately to the west of Hyde Pa ...

(at which point it is known as

Palace Gate Palace Gate is a street south of Kensington Gardens in London, England. It was previously part of Gloucester Road, and was initially developed in the 1860s. 1a Palace Gate and 10 Palace Gate are both Grade II* listed buildings. The street is ...

) and

Old Brompton Road Old Brompton Road is a major street in the South Kensington district of The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London. It starts from South Kensington tube station, South Kensington Underground station and runs south-west, through a ma ...

. At its intersection with

Cromwell Road Cromwell Road is a major London road in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, designated as part of the A4 road (Great Britain), A4. It was created in the 19th century and is said to be named after Richard Cromwell, son of Oliver Cromwel ...

is Gloucester Road Underground station, close to which there are several

pubs A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...

, restaurants, and hotels. St Stephen's Church was built in 1867: one of its former churchwardens was the poet

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist and playwright.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biography''. New York: Oxford University ...

History

The road is named after

Maria, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh Maria, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh (née Walpole; 10 July 1736 – 22 August 1807) was a member of the British royal family. She was the Countess Waldegrave from 1759 to 1766, as a result of her first marriage to James Waldegrave, 2nd ...

who had a new house, Gloucester Lodge, built there by 1805. The road was earlier called Hog Moore Lane (1612), that is 'lane through marshy ground where hogs are kept', a name that was still used until about 1850. Gloucester Lodge was built by William Tyler, on the site of the former Florida Gardens, which the Duchess had acquired in 1797. The site is opposite the present day tube station. The Duchess, who had been widowed in 1805, lived at Gloucester Lodge with her unmarried daughter, Princess Sophia. The Duchess died in 1807. By 1809, Princess Sophia had sold Gloucester Lodge to

George Canning George Canning (; 11 April 17708 August 1827) was a British Tory statesman. He held various senior cabinet positions under numerous prime ministers, including two important terms as foreign secretary, finally becoming Prime Minister of the U ...

. It later became known as Canning Villa. The house was demolished in about 1851. Gloucester Road, between Kynance Place and Canning Place, formed one boundary of the emerging Kensington New Town, built between 1837 and about 1843. The western section of Gloucester Road between Kynance Place and Southwell Gardens, was developed from 1862 to 1879. Stabling for the houses was provided in mews, including Kynance Mews, whose arched entrance from Gloucester Road remains as a listed building. A majority of the freeholds adjacent to Gloucester Road, south of the Cromwell Road, were owned by the Campbell family: Lord George and Lady Sybil Campbell (son and daughter-in-law of

George Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll George John Douglas Campbell, 8th and 1st Duke of Argyll (30 April 1823 – 24 April 1900; styled Marquess of Lorne until 1847), was a Scottish people, Scottish polymath and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal statesman. He made a significant geological ...

) held the estates in the early twentieth century. Their only son, Ivar Campbell, was killed in action in World War I. The Campbell estates were sold in the early 1960s, following the deaths of his sisters, to satisfy inheritance taxes. File:Gloucester Road November 2011.JPG, Looking north along Gloucester Road from near its intersection with Elvaston Place File:Gloucester Road Post Office 2016.jpg, Gloucester Road Post Office File:St Stephens South Ken 2016.jpg, St Stephen's, Gloucester Road

Other Gloucester Roads in London

There are 21 other streets in London with the name "Gloucester Road". Addresses at these streets need to be distinguished by

area Area is the measure of a region's size on a surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an open surface or the boundary of a three-di ...

names or

postcodes A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, included in a postal ...

. * Gloucester Road, Acton * Gloucester Road, Belvedere * Gloucester Road, Clay Hill * Gloucester Road,

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

* Gloucester Road,

Ealing Ealing () is a district in west London (sub-region), west London, England, west of Charing Cross in the London Borough of Ealing. It is the administrative centre of the borough and is identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Pl ...

* Gloucester Road,

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

* Gloucester Road,

Feltham Feltham () is a town in West London, England, from Charing Cross. Historically part of Middlesex, it became part of the London Borough of Hounslow in 1965. The parliamentary constituency of Feltham and Heston (UK Parliament constituency), Felt ...

* Gloucester Road, Hampton * Gloucester Road,

Hounslow Hounslow ( ) is a large suburban district of West London, England, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 14 metropolitan cen ...

* Gloucester Road,

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is ...

* Gloucester Road,

Leyton Leyton ( ) is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the Ri ...

* Gloucester Road, Little Ilford * Gloucester Road,

New Barnet New Barnet is a neighbourhood on the north east side of the London Borough of Barnet. It is a largely residential North London suburb located east of Chipping Barnet, west of Cockfosters, south of the village of Monken Hadley and north of Oaklei ...

* Gloucester Road,

Norbiton Norbiton is an area within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, London. It lies approximately east of Kingston upon Thames town centre, and from Charing Cross. Its main landmarks include Kingston Hospital, Kingsmeadow football stad ...

* Gloucester Road,

North Harrow North Harrow is a suburban area of North West London, situated north-west of central Harrow, London, Harrow within the London Borough of Harrow. Its residential roads have expanded from North Harrow tube station, a station on the Metropolitan ...

* Gloucester Road,

Romford Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...

* Gloucester Road,

Teddington Teddington is an affluent suburb of London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Historically an Civil parish#ancient parishes, ancient parish in the county of Middlesex and situated close to the border with Surrey, the district became ...

* Gloucester Road,

Tottenham Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...

* Gloucester Road,

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a town within the London Borough of Waltham Forest in east London. The town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and South Woodford to the east, Leyton and Leytonstone to the south, and Tottenham to the west. At ...

* Gloucester Road,

Wanstead Wanstead () is an area in East London, England, in the London Borough of Redbridge. It borders South Woodford to the north, Redbridge to the east and Manor Park to the south, with Leytonstone and Walthamstow to the west. It is located 8 m ...

* Gloucester Road, Whitton

References

{{coord, 51.4948, -0.1827, type:landmark_region:GB-KEC, display=title 1805 establishments in England Houses completed in 1805 1851 disestablishments in England Buildings and structures demolished in 1851 Streets in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea George Canning