St Petersburgh Place is a street in the

Bayswater Bayswater is an area within the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

area of

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 ...

, located in the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and London boroughs, borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of cent ...

. It runs north to south from

Moscow Road Moscow Road is a street in the Bayswater area of London. Located in the City of Westminster, it runs eastwards from Queensway, London, Queensway to Pembridge Square. It was developed by the painter, publisher, and property pioneer Edward Orme in ...

to Bayswater Road, close to the northwestern entrance to

Kensington Gardens Kensington Gardens, once the private gardens of Kensington Palace, are among the Royal Parks of London. The gardens are shared by the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and sit immediately to the west of Hyde P ...

. It was constructed by the property developer and

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

Edward Orme Edward Orme (1775-1848) was a British engraver, painter and publisher of illustrated books. He was also a property developer in Bayswater, where Orme Square was named after him. Early life Edward Orme was born in 1775 in Manchester. His father, ...

during the Regency. As with Moscow Road its name commemorates the visit of

Alexander I of Russia Alexander I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first King of Congress Poland from 1815, and the Grand Duke of Finland from 1809 to his death. He was the eldest son of Emperor Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. The son of ...

to London in 1814 as part of the Allied celebrations following the victory in the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

. It was originally known simply as Petersburgh Place, but this was later changed to St Petersburgh Place, an alternative spelling of

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, the then-capital of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

. In 1818 Orme constructed a Bayswater Chapel for the growing number of inhabitants. From 1823 to 1826 Orme also developed the nearby

Orme Square Orme Square is a square in Bayswater, London, England, off the north side of Bayswater Road and on the north-west corner of Hyde Park, overlooking Kensington Gardens. Origin of Name It is named after the British engraver, painter, publisher o ...

. Adjacent to the street is the smaller St Petersburgh Mews, which runs parallel northwards to Moscow Road. St Petersburgh Place is noted for its two places of worship, the

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

of St Matthew's, Bayswater, and the

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

New West End Synagogue The ‘’’New West End Synagogue’’’, located in St. Petersburgh Place, Bayswater, London, is one of the oldest synagogues in the United Kingdom still in use. It is one of two synagogues which have been awarded Grade I listed building ...

, both of which are listed buildings. The street also features Lancaster Close, a 1920s

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

apartment block. Unlike in Paris, St Petersburgh Place and Mews both kept their names throughout the twentieth century when the Russian city's name changed in 1914, 1924, and 1991.

References

Bibliography

* Cockburn, J. S., King, H. P. F. & McDonnell, K. G. T. & ''A History of the County of Middlesex''. Institute of Historical Research, 1989. * Mills, David Anthony. ''A Dictionary of London Place Names''. Oxford University Press, 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Petersburgh Place Streets in the City of Westminster Bayswater