Oakley Street is in the

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is an Inner London borough with royal status. It is the smallest borough in London and the second smallest district in England; it is one of the most densely populated administrative regions in the ...

, London. It runs roughly north to south from

King's Road King's Road or Kings Road (or sometimes the King's Road, especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents), is a major street stretching through Chelsea and Fulham, both ...

to the crossroads with

Cheyne Walk Cheyne Walk is an historic road in Chelsea, London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It runs parallel with the River Thames. Before the construction of Chelsea Embankment reduced the width of the Thames here, it fronted ...

and the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

, where it continues as the Albert Bridge and Albert Bridge Road. The street was named after Baron Cadogan of Oakley."Cadogan Estate"
in
At Home Inn Chelsea.

History

Oakley Street - Chelsea with Pier Hotel 1910

Much of the street is on the site of the former Winchester House, the one-time residence of the

Bishops of Winchester A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

in London who had bought the 17th-century part of Chelsea Place from Charles Cheyne in 1664 after the destruction of

Winchester Palace Winchester Palace was a 12th-century palace which served as the London townhouse of the Bishops of Winchester. It was located in the parish of Southwark in Surrey, on the south bank of the River Thames (opposite the City of London) on what i ...

in the English Civil War. In 1821, after the house fell into disrepair, the bishop successfully sought an Act that allowed him to sell the house and its ground of 2.5 acres to the trustees of the

Cadogan Estate Cadogan Group Limited and its subsidiaries, including Cadogan Estates Limited, are British property investment and management companies that are owned by the Cadogan family, one of the richest families in the United Kingdom, which also holds ...

. In 1825, the trustees obtained a further Act to demolish the property and build new houses on the site. Demolition was complete by 1836, but the site was still vacant in 1847. By 1850, there were ten houses at the northern end, and four at the southern by 1851.

Notable buildings

Numbers 1–11, 14–25, 26 and 27, 28–35 and 101–108 Oakley Street are listed grade II on the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, an ...

Notable residents

No. 2 was owned by John Samuel Phene, a noted property developer and local eccentric. No 9 was the home of pianist Angus Morrison, where he was visited in the 1920s by

Sergei Diaghilev Sergei Pavlovich Diaghilev ( ; rus, Серге́й Па́влович Дя́гилев, , sʲɪˈrɡʲej ˈpavləvʲɪdʑ ˈdʲæɡʲɪlʲɪf; 19 August 1929), usually referred to outside Russia as Serge Diaghilev, was a Russian art critic, pat ...

Constant Lambert Leonard Constant Lambert (23 August 190521 August 1951) was a British composer, conductor, and author. He was the founder and music director of the Royal Ballet, and (alongside Ninette de Valois and Frederick Ashton) he was a major figure in th ...

and

William Walton Sir William Turner Walton (29 March 19028 March 1983) was an English composer. During a sixty-year career, he wrote music in several classical genres and styles, from film scores to opera. His best-known works include ''Façade'', the cantat ...

to run through ballet scores. No. 29 was lived in by Donald Maclean, one of the

Cambridge Five The Cambridge Spy Ring was a ring of spies in the United Kingdom that passed information to the Soviet Union during World War II and was active from the 1930s until at least into the early 1950s. None of the known members were ever prosecuted for ...

spy ring, in the latter 1930s. No 33 was the home of ''The Times'' chief music critic Robin Legge during the 1920s and early 1930s. No. 42 was where

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

moved to with his wife

Rita Rita may refer to: People * Rita (given name) * Rita (Indian singer) (born 1984) * Rita (Israeli singer) (born 1962) * Rita (Japanese singer) * Eliza Humphreys (1850–1938), wrote under the pseudonym Rita Places * Djarrit, also known as Rita, ...

in January 1977, following an attempt on his life in Jamaica. No. 56 was the home of Antarctic explorer

Robert Falcon Scott Captain Robert Falcon Scott, , (6 June 1868 – c. 29 March 1912) was a British Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the ''Discovery'' expedition of 1901–1904 and the ill-fated ''Terra Nov ...

from 1904 to 1908, together with his mother and sister. No 59 was used in 1926 as lodgings by composer

, who rented out two rooms. No. 74 was home to actress Dame

Sybil Thorndike Dame Agnes Sybil Thorndike, Lady Casson (24 October 18829 June 1976) was an English actress whose stage career lasted from 1904 to 1969. Trained in her youth as a concert pianist, Thorndike turned to the stage when a medical problem with her ...

and her husband

Lewis Casson Sir Lewis Thomas Casson MC (26 October 187516 May 1969) was an English actor and theatre director, and the husband of actress Dame Sybil Thorndike.Devlin, DianaCasson, Sir Lewis Thomas (1875–1969) ''The Oxford Dictionary of National Biograph ...

in the 1930s. No. 87 was home to

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

and his mother

Jane Wilde Jane Francesca Agnes, Lady Wilde (née Elgee; 27 December 1821 – 3 February 1896) was an Irish poet under the pen name Speranza and supporter of the nationalist movement. Lady Wilde had a special interest in Irish folktales, which she help ...

, and many years later, the footballer

George Best George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United. A highly skilful dribbler, Best is regarded as one of the greatest p ...

. No. 89 was the home of

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

from 1973 to at least 1976. No. 93 was home to

suffragette A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...

s in 1911, who refused to complete the 1911 census on the grounds of "no vote no census". However, the enumerator was able to confirm from the neighbours that the head of the house was Mrs Alice Monck Mason, who lived there with her daughter, Winifred Alice Monck Mason (and others), an actress who went by the name of

Winifred Mayo Winifred Mayo born Winifred Monck Mason (8 November 1869 – 18 February 1967) was a British actor, director, translator and suffragette. She was a co-founder of the Actresses' Franchise League and the secretary of the Six Point Group which calle ...

Gallery

File:Winchester House, Chelsea.jpg, Winchester House by

Thomas Hosmer Shepherd Thomas Hosmer Shepherd (16 January 1793, France – 1864) was a British topographical watercolour artist well known for his architectural paintings. Life and work Thomas was the brother of topographical artist George "Sidney" Shepherd ...

File:Oakley Street, Chelsea, Ordnance Survey map 1868.jpg, 1868 Ordnance Survey mapOrdnance Survey map, 1868. Digimap. Retrieved 28 March 2018. File:Oakley Street, Chelsea c.1930.jpg, Oakley Street, c.1930. File:42 Oakley Street, Chelsea, May 2018 01.jpg, No. 42, briefly the home of

after an attempt on his life File:Robert Falcon Scott - 56 Oakley Street SW3.jpg, No. 56, former home of

File:87 Oakley Street, Chelsea, May 2018.jpg, No. 87, former home of

and later

File:89 Oakley Street, Chelsea, May 2018.jpg, No. 89, former home of

in the 1970s File:93 Oakley Street, Chelsea, May 2018 01.jpg, No. 93, where suffragettes refused to answer the census in 1911

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oakley Street, Chelsea Streets in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Chelsea, London Grade II listed houses in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea King's Road, Chelsea, London