Queen Anne's Mansions was a

block of flats An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are man ...

in Petty France,

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

, London, at . In 1873, Henry Alers Hankey acquired a site between

St James's Park St James's Park is a park in the City of Westminster, central London. It is at the southernmost tip of the St James's area, which was named after a leper hospital dedicated to St James the Less. It is the most easterly of a near-continuous c ...

and St James's Park Underground station. Acting as his own architect, and employing his own labour, he proceeded to erect the first stage of the block. At twelve storeys, later increased to fourteen, it was the loftiest residential building in Britain. The

Court Circular The Court Circular (CC) is the official record that lists the engagements carried out by the monarch of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms; the Royal Family; and appointments to their staff and to the court. It is issued by St Ja ...

for January 1897 describes it as "a stupendous pile which, for solidity, comfort and general convenience, sets all rivals at defiance, although twenty years have elapsed and imitations have been legion."

History

Hankey further extended the flats in 1874 and 1877 to the south and west. There were objections to the height of the flats, not least from

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

who could no longer view the

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from

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

, but existing legislation did not explicitly prohibit building over 100 feet in height, and thus the authorities could not stop Hankey. However, the London Building Act passed in 1894, and its 80-ft height limit was a direct result of "Hankey's Mansions". It may have been legal complications that led him, for the remainder of the work, to employ an architect, E. R. Robson. Robson continued the mansions around the central courtyard, leaving Queen Anne's Lodge as the sole survivor of the residential properties that had formerly stood on the site. Just before the turn of the century, however, Hankey ran into financial difficulties and the property passed into the hands of the Official Receiver. Under new management, the west block became a hotel and the remainder was let as flats and service suites. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the entire building was requisitioned as Government offices, and it was decided to construct a shelter. A long room in the west block, originally a theatre, had supporting piers built up from the foundation, and a stout reinforced concrete slab was laid to give head cover. This was a wise decision as two direct bomb-hits caused debris to overload the upper floors, causing a vertical gash through the entire building. Queen Anne's Mansions was home to the Medical Department of the Royal Navy (

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

) and the

Women's Royal Naval Service The Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS; popularly and officially known as the Wrens) was the women's branch of the United Kingdom's Royal Navy. First formed in 1917 for the First World War, it was disbanded in 1919, then revived in 1939 at the ...

during the Second World War. In 1947, the Ministry of Works retained the building on a 21-year lease. It was used as an Admiralty headquarters building, housing the

Second Sea Lord The Second Sea Lord and Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (formerly Second Sea Lord) is deputy to the First Sea Lord and the second highest-ranking officer to currently serve in the Royal Navy and is responsible for personnel and naval shore establish ...

's or Naval Personnel departments. Queen Anne's Mansions was demolished in 1973, and later replaced by 50 Queen Anne's Gate. The tall superstructures on British battleships constructed or rebuilt from the 1920s onwards, beginning with the ''Nelson''-class, were colloquially referred to as 'Queen Anne's Mansions'.

Facilities

A typical unit of accommodation was a living room, about 23 ft by 14 ft, a bedroom and a bathroom. In the corner blocks were some more commodious suites. Notwithstanding the prejudice against the building, no difficulty was found in letting the flats at high rents to tenants of the 'highest respectability'. A floor containing six rooms, without any grounds, commanded £300 per annum, and two rooms £60 per annum. The principal novelty of the building was the installation of hydraulic passenger lifts, at that time without precedent in domestic buildings in London. Fire control was also provided for by 98 hydrants, supplied from tanks storing 70,000 gallons on the roofs.

Famous residents

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

(composer): "Elgar took a London flat in Queen Anne's Mansions so as to be able to concentrate on the concerto" *

Augusta, Lady Gregory Isabella Augusta, Lady Gregory (''née'' Persse; 15 March 1852 – 22 May 1932) was an Irish dramatist, folklorist and theatre manager. With William Butler Yeats and Edward Martyn, she co-founded the Irish Literary Theatre and the Abbey Theatre, ...

(Irish dramatist and folklorist): "AG had given up her rooms in Queen Anne's Mansions before leaving for Italy on 17 Mar," ... "she leased new rooms in Queen's Anne's Mansions at the beginning of 1902" *

Harry Johnston Sir Henry Hamilton Johnston (12 June 1858 – 31 July 1927), known as Harry Johnston, was a British explorer, botanist, artist, colonial administrator, and linguist who travelled widely in Africa and spoke many African languages. He publishe ...

(British explorer): "Arrived in London toward the end of June 1888, I established myself at Queen Anne's Mansions, in a small but comfortable flat on the sixth floor" *

Eliza Lynn Linton Eliza Lynn Linton (10 February 1822 – 14 July 1898) was the first female salaried journalist in Britain and the author of over 20 novels. Despite her path-breaking role as an independent woman, many of her essays took a strong anti-feminist s ...

(British novelist, essayist, and journalist) *

Frederic Hervey Foster Quin Frederic Hervey Foster Quin (12 February 1799 – 24 November 1878) was the first homeopathic physician in England. Early life and education Quin's place of birth has been concluded, based on recent research, to have been Ireland; although per ...

(medical doctor who first established

homeopathy Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a dis ...

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

): "Quin died of bronchitis at the Garden Mansions, Queen Anne's Gate, Westminster, on 24 November 1878" * Sir John Fowler (civil engineer) who had lodgings on the site prior to the building of the mansions. "Sir John Fowler retained in the reconstructed buildings an office which is still known as 2, Queen Square Place. There is no number one, nor any other house in the 'Place'". Fowler's insistence in keeping his old address confused many of his clients, who would regularly end up in other parts of London. His working partner, Benjamin Baker, tried in vain to get him to accept the change of address, but Fowler "asked his partner to yield to the foible of an old man."McKay, Thomas, ''The Life of Sir John Fowler, Engineer''. John Murray, 1900

History

Facilities

Famous residents

References

Further reading