Mason's Yard is a street in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

SW1,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Overview

Mason's Yard is a cul-de-sac east off Duke Street in the

St James's St James's is a central district in the City of Westminster, London, forming part of the West End. In the 17th century the area developed as a residential location for the British aristocracy, and around the 19th century was the focus of the d ...

area of London in the City of Westminster. White Cube St James's 1

White Cube has one of its two London galleries locations here, which opened in September 2006 at 25–26 Mason's Yard. The plot was previously occupied by an electricity substation. London Library back 4

The

London Library The London Library is an independent lending library in London, established in 1841. It was founded on the initiative of Thomas Carlyle, who was dissatisfied with some of the policies at the British Museum Library. It is located at 14 St James' ...

is to the south and the Cavendish Hotel to the north on the corner of Duke Street and

Jermyn Street Jermyn Street is a one-way street in the St James's area of the City of Westminster in London, England. It is to the south of, parallel, and adjacent to Piccadilly. Jermyn Street is known as a street for gentlemen's-clothing retailers. Hist ...

History

The original Ormond Yard was laid out as a 200 feet square plot. It was designed to be a

stableyard A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...

. It was also formerly known as West Stable Yard. By 1740, the yard was known as Mason's Yard, probably because the owner of the two houses fronting onto both the yard itself and Duke Street was called Henry Mason, a

victualler A victualler is traditionally a person who supplies food, beverages and other provisions for the crew of a vessel at sea. There are a number of other more particular uses of the term, such as: * The official supplier of food to the Royal Navy in ...

The

Indica Gallery Indica Gallery was a counterculture art gallery in Mason's Yard (off Duke Street), St James's, London from 1965 to 1967, in the basement of the Indica Bookshop. John Dunbar, Peter Asher, and Barry Miles owned it, and Paul McCartney supporte ...

was a counterculture art gallery at 6 Mason's Yard during 1965 to 1967, in the basement of the Indica Bookshop. John Dunbar,

Peter Asher Peter Asher, (born 22 June 1944) is an English guitarist, singer, manager and record producer. He came to prominence in the 1960s as a member of the pop music vocal duo Peter and Gordon before going on to a successful career as a manager and r ...

, and

Barry Miles Barry Miles (born 21 February 1943) is an English author known for his participation in and writing on the subjects of the 1960s London underground and counterculture. He is the author of numerous books and his work has also regularly appeare ...

owned the gallery.

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

supported it and hosted a show of

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono ( ; ja, 小野洋子, Ono Yōko, usually spelled in katakana ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up i ...

's work in November 1966, at which Ono met

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

. The Scotch of St. James is a nightclub and music venue, originally established in 1965 at 13 Mason's Yard. Jimi Hendrix performed here on the night of his arrival in

on 24 September 1966 and met Kathy Etchingham, who became his girlfriend.

Gered Mankowitz Gered Mankowitz (born 3 August 1946) is an English photographer who focused his career in the music industry. He has worked with a range of artists from The Rolling Stones to Jimi Hendrix, and in other divisions of the photography industry, i ...

photographed Jimi Hendrix in his studio at 9 Mason's Yard in 1967. The Matthiesen Gallery, a leading dealership in Italian French and Spanish old master pictures, occupied No.6 dorm from 1978–1980, during which time they were involved in the development of the adjoining site, Nos 7–8, which was vacant. The resulting building was the first purpose built specialised private art gallery since WWII and was the location of numerous exhibitions from 1981 to 2009. The Gallery still occupies the site. The

Paisnel Gallery The Nine British Art is a private art gallery in St James's, central London, England. The gallery specializes in British art, with a focus on works from the St Ives group and the post-war period. Overview The gallery covers 20th and 21st centu ...

was previously located at 22 Mason's Yard, moving here from

Fulham Road Fulham Road is a street in London, England, which comprises the A304 and part of the A308. Overview Fulham Road ( the A219) runs from Putney Bridge as "Fulham High Street" and then eastward to Fulham Broadway, in the London Borough of Hamme ...

in the early 1990s. The site is now occupied by Alan Wheatley Art.

References

External links

* Streets in the City of Westminster St James's Art gallery districts {{London-geo-stub