Gower Street is a two-way street in
Bloomsbury
Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions.
Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest ...
,
central London
Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...
, running from
Euston Road
Euston Road is a road in Central London that runs from Marylebone Road to King's Cross. The route is part of the London Inner Ring Road and forms part of the London congestion charge zone boundary. It is named after Euston Hall, the family s ...
at the north to Montague Place in the south. The street is continued from North Gower Street north of Euston Road. To the south, it becomes Bloomsbury Street.
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
(UCL) and the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) are located along Gower Street as is part of
University College Hospital
University College Hospital (UCH) is a teaching hospital in the Fitzrovia area of the London Borough of Camden, England. The hospital, which was founded as the North London Hospital in 1834, is closely associated with University College Lon ...
. UCL maintains two student residences along the street: the Arthur Tattersall and John Tovell Houses. Of the many UCL buildings along Gower Street, the Cruciform Building is especially notable, both for its striking red exterior and its obvious form, even when viewed from the road. Old boys of
University College School are known as "
Old Gowers" after the street where it was founded and co-located with UCL.
Euston Square Underground station is located at the north end of Gower Street, at the corner of Euston Road.
History
Gower Street is named after Lady Gertrude Leveson-Gower, daughter of
John Leveson-Gower, and who in 1737 became the second wife of Bloomsbury landowner
Lord John Russell.
Gower Street was originally the name only of the southern part of the street, from the south end northwards to the junctions with Francis Street (on the west side) and Torrington Place (on the east side). The northern part of the street was called Upper Gower Street, except for the western side north of Grafton Way, which was called Gower Street North (not to be confused with North Gower Street, which was on the other side of Euston Road). The sequence of house numbers in Upper Gower Street proceeded on the east side from south to north, up to no. 27, and then on the west side from north to south, from no. 28. Gower Street North was numbered independently, from no. 1 (on the northern corner of Grafton Way and Gower Street) to approx. no. 15 (adjacent to Euston Road). In the 1860s this confusing situation came to an end when all three streets (Gower Street, Upper Gower Street, and Gower Street North) were renumbered in one continuous sequence and called Gower Street. This re-numbering proceeded from south to north on both sides of the street: the east side now contained even-numbered houses, ending in no. 142 adjacent to Euston Road, and the west side contained odd-numbered houses, from no. 87, adjacent to Francis Street, up to no. 163 adjacent to Euston Road.
Residents
Notable residents of Gower Street are listed in the Survey of London. They have included the architect
George Dance the Younger, painter
William De Morgan,
[Crawford, Alan (2004) 'Morgan, William Frend De (1839–1917)', '']Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
'', Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...
br>
Retrieved on 20 April 2008. and the Shaws.
John Shaw Sr., and
John Shaw Jr., formed a famous 19th-century architectural partnership. Thomas Budd Shaw was a professor of English literature to the grand dukes of Russia.
The painter
John Everett Millais
Sir John Everett Millais, 1st Baronet, ( , ; 8 June 1829 – 13 August 1896) was an English painter and illustrator who was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was a child prodigy who, aged eleven, became the youngest ...
had a studio here. North Gower Street was also the birthplace and childhood home of the artist
Philip Zec and his eleven other siblings, although that was when it was still called George Street.
On 26 March 1835, the Rev
William Agutter died here.
In March 1837,
Giuseppe Mazzini (Italian politician, journalist and activist for the unification of Italy) moved to 187 North Gower Street (at the time, 9 George Street, and now used for the filming of ''
Sherlock'') together with Italian poet and patriot
Giovanni Ruffini, his brother Agostino Ruffini and Angelo Usiglio, living there for three years until 1840.
On 29 December 1838,
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended ...
took the let of the furnished property at 12 Upper Gower Street (later 110 Gower Street), and wrote to tell his fiancée
Emma Wedgwood of his delight at being the "possessor of Macaw Cottage".
As their daughter
Etty later recalled, "He used to laugh over the ugliness of their house in Gower St, and the furniture in the drawing-room, which he said combined all the colours of the macaw in hideous discord", and Darwin had christened the house "Macaw Cottage" in "allusion to the gaudy colours of the walls and furniture." He moved in on 31 December, and with Emma moved in on the day of their marriage, 29 January 1839. The
development of Darwin's theory of
natural selection
Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Cha ...
made progress in this house, and their children
William Erasmus Darwin and
Anne Darwin were born there. In 1842 the family moved to
Down House
Down House is the former home of the English naturalist Charles Darwin and his family. It was in this house and garden that Darwin worked on his theory of evolution by natural selection, which he had conceived in London before moving to Down ...
in the
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
countryside, and the Gower Street house became part of the warehouse system of
James Shoolbred and Company. On 13 December 1904 a
London County Council
London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kn ...
blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term ...
was put up, to "Charles Darwin Naturalist". The house suffered from bomb damage in 1941 during
the Blitz
The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'.
The Germa ...
, and was not repaired. In 1961 the site became part of the Biological Sciences building of
University College London
, mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £143 million (2020)
, budget = ...
, with a new plaque. The long thin garden which backed onto Gower Mews North (later Malet Place) was incorporated into Foster Court car park in 1978.
The
etymologist and
philologist
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined ...
Hensleigh Wedgwood
Hensleigh Wedgwood (21 January 1803 – 2 June 1891) was a British etymologist, philologist and barrister, author of '' A Dictionary of English Etymology''. He was a cousin of Charles Darwin, whom his sister Emma married in 1839.
Early life
We ...
, who was Charles Darwin's cousin and brother-in-law, lived at 94 Gower Street; he died there in 1891.
From 1869 to 1892, 102 Gower Street was the home of the barrister
William Belt who was best known for his erratic behaviour in later life which was widely reported by popular newspapapers for the amusement of their readers.
On the wall of the
University College
In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...
building, an elaborate wall plaque carries the legend: ''"Close to this place
Richard Trevithick (Born 1771 - Died 1833) Pioneer of High Pressure Steam ran in the year 1808 the first steam locomotive to draw passengers."'' It was erected by "The Trevithick Centenary Memorial Committee".
In 1823
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 er ...
(aged 11) lived at 4 Gower Street North when his mother opened a school there. The building was later re-numbered 147 Gower Street; the site was occupied from 2005 by the Accident and Emergency department of
University College Hospital
University College Hospital (UCH) is a teaching hospital in the Fitzrovia area of the London Borough of Camden, England. The hospital, which was founded as the North London Hospital in 1834, is closely associated with University College Lon ...
.
The
Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood
The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (later known as the Pre-Raphaelites) was a group of English painters, poets, and art critics, founded in 1848 by William Holman Hunt, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Michael Rossetti, Jame ...
was founded in the
Millais family house on Gower Street in the winter of 1848–49.
Millicent Fawcett, a leading figure in the constitutional wing of the British
women's suffrage
Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...
movement, lived at No. 2 Gower Street (and died there in 1929).
The
Walloon (
Belgian) poet
Henri Michaux briefly resided in Gower Street in February 1931.
From 1976 until 1995 the headquarters of
MI5 was an anonymous grey office block at 140 Gower Street, adjacent to Euston Road.
[John O'Connell]
London's espionage locations revealed
''Time Out
Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to:
Time
* Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team
* Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken
* Timeout (computing), an engine ...
'', 17 July 1993 Since 2004 the site has been occupied by the western end of the
Wellcome Trust
The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of one of the predecessors of Glaxo ...
's Gibbs Building.
Many of the Georgian houses on Gower Street have been converted into small hotels.
File:Darwin Gower.jpg, Charles Darwin plaque
File:George Dance plaque.jpg, George Dance plaque
File:First Anaesthetic plaque.jpg, Plaque on Bonham-Carter House
File: Millicent Garrett Fawcett Plaque, Gower Street, London.jpg, Millicent Garrett Fawcett plaque
North Gower Street
North Gower Street, the northern continuation of Gower Street beyond Euston Road, is not accessible from Gower Street at street level for vehicles or pedestrians. For pedestrians, the most direct access is via a subway along the concourse of Euston Square station.
From Euston Road, North Gower Street continues past Drummond Street and then ends, with a footpath continuing north to connect with the
Hampstead Road. It is lined mostly with Georgian terraced houses now mostly converted into hotels and student accommodation or rebuilt, and council housing.
The
BBC crime drama ''
Sherlock'' has used 187 North Gower Street, posing as
221B Baker Street, for many external shots of
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
's flat. The location is instantly recognisable by the adjacent Speedy's cafe and sandwich shop which is also shown in most external shots in the series. The
blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term ...
for former resident
Giuseppe Mazzini, clearly visible on
Google Street View, is covered by a fake lamp for filming.
See also
*
Paternoster Row
Paternoster Row was a street in the City of London that was a centre of the London publishing trade, with booksellers operating from the street. Paternoster Row was described as "almost synonymous" with the book trade. It was part of an area ca ...
References
*
*
External links
LondonTown.com information
{{University College London, university
Streets in the London Borough of Camden
University College London
Bloomsbury