New Burlington Street (originally Little Burlington Street) is a street in central

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 ...

that is on land that was once part of the

Burlington Estate __NOTOC__ The Burlington Estate is an area in Mayfair to the north of Piccadilly in the West End of London, England. The street runs east–west from

Savile Row Savile Row (pronounced ) is a street in Mayfair, central London. Known principally for its traditional bespoke tailoring for men, the street has had a varied history that has included accommodating the headquarters of the Royal Geographical ...

Regent Street Regent Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London. It is named after George, the Prince Regent (later George IV) and was laid out under the direction of the architect John Nash and James Burton. It runs from Waterloo Place ...

History

New Burlington Street was the last street to be built on the Burlington Estate, in c. 1735–9. The street was intended, like other streets on the estate, for occupation principally by people of high social status and its first houses, many now demolished, were similar to those on

. Also like Savile Row, the street included commercial premises as well; number 11, for instance, was first occupied by Robert Fisher, who ran Burlington Coffee House (or Fisher's Coffee House) from the building.Cork Street and Savile Row Area: New Burlington Street
, ''Survey of London, Volumes 31 and 32: St James Westminster, Part 2.,'' 1963, pp. 490–495. british-history.ac.uk Retrieved 26 June 2014. According to ''Hughson's London'', it was in New Burlington Street in 1763 that the practice of placing brass name-plates on doors first started. The idea then spread to Hanover Square and from there was generally adopted. In 1771,

Sir Joseph Banks Sir Joseph Banks, 1st Baronet, (19 June 1820) was an English naturalist, botanist, and patron of the natural sciences. Banks made his name on the 1766 natural-history expedition to Newfoundland and Labrador. He took part in Captain James C ...

acquired a house in the street after his return from

Captain James Cook James Cook (7 November 1728 Old Style date: 27 October – 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy, famous for his three voyages between 1768 and 1779 in the Pacific Ocean and ...

's first great voyage (1768–1771), during which he visited Brazil, Tahiti, and Australia. Banks was President of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

for over 40 years. Number 5 was first occupied by the Dowager Viscountess Irwin, a member of the Howard family and daughter of the third

Earl of Carlisle Earl of Carlisle is a title that has been created three times in the Peerage of England. History The first creation came in 1322, when Andrew Harclay, 1st Baron Harclay, was made Earl of Carlisle. He had already been summoned to Parliame ...

, in 1735 or 1736. Between 1848 and 1869 the house was the headquarters of the

Royal Asiatic Society The Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, commonly known as the Royal Asiatic Society (RAS), was established, according to its royal charter of 11 August 1824, to further "the investigation of subjects connected with and for the en ...

Mary Boyle's "blue-stocking" parties

Mary Boyle, Countess of Cork and legendary

bluestocking ''Bluestocking'' is a term for an educated, intellectual woman, originally a member of the 18th-century Blue Stockings Society from England led by the hostess and critic Elizabeth Montagu (1718–1800), the "Queen of the Blues", including Eliz ...

, had a house in the street and died there in 1840. Her home was the site of numerous literary parties over more than fifty years, attended by figures such as Dr. Samuel Johnson,

Richard Brinsley Sheridan Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 17517 July 1816) was an Irish satirist, a politician, a playwright, poet, and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He is known for his plays such as ''The Rivals'', ''The Sc ...

King George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

, British Prime Minister

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 Unit ...

(who once practised his debating skills at the nearby Clifford Street Club), the actors

Sarah Siddons Sarah Siddons (''née'' Kemble; 5 July 1755 – 8 June 1831) was a Welsh actress, the best-known tragedienne of the 18th century. Contemporaneous critic William Hazlitt dubbed Siddons as "tragedy personified". She was the elder sister of John ...

and her brother John Kemble, and the poet

Lord Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...

. Her house was described as "most tastefully fitted for the reception of her illustrious guests: every part of it abounded in pretty things — ''objets'', as they are sometimes called, which her visitors were strictly forbidden to touch. Beyond her magnificent drawing-rooms appeared a boudoir, and beyond it a long rustic room, with a moss-covered floor, with plants and statues". Boyle's parties were of two kinds: "''fine-lady'' parties, which she called ''pink''; her ''blue-stocking'' parties, which she called ''blue''; and, more frequently, a mixture of both. At the last, she would assemble two or three fine ladies, two or three wits or poets, two or three noblemen and distinguished members of the House of Commons, and one or two of her own family, seldom exceeding ten or twelve, at a round table".

Listed buildings

Numbers 1 and 2 New Burlington Street have been accorded Grade II

listed building 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 ...

status by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

. They comprise a pair of terraced houses, built in 1717–20, that were part of Lord Burlington's early development of the area.

10 New Burlington Street

Number 10 is a new building, built by the Crown Estate and Examplar, and designed by the architects AHMM. There will be of retail space on three floors, plus of office space above. The retail space has been let in its entirety to the American clothing retailer

J.Crew J.Crew Group, Inc., is an American multi-brand, multi-channel, specialty retailer. The company offers an assortment of women's, men's, and children's apparel and accessories, including swimwear, outerwear, lounge-wear, bags, sweaters, denim, dr ...

, and it will be their first retail store in Europe. It was completed in June 2014, totals 195,000 sq ft of offices and retail, and was 80% let as of June 2014. It is the UK's first speculatively-built new building to be lit exclusively by

LEDs A light-emitting diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. The color of the light (cor ...

References

{{Coord, 51.5118, -0.1404, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Mayfair Streets in the City of Westminster Burlington Estate