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South Audley Street is a major shopping street in
Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...
, London.'South Audley Street: Introduction', in Survey of London: Volume 40, the Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair, Part 2 (The Buildings), ed. F H W Sheppard (London, 1980), pp. 290–291. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol40/pt2/pp290-291 ccessed 26 October 2019/ref> It runs north to south from the southwest corner of
Grosvenor Square Grosvenor Square is a large garden square in the Mayfair district of London. It is the centrepiece of the Mayfair property of the Duke of Westminster, and takes its name from the duke's surname "Grosvenor". It was developed for fashionable re ...
to
Curzon Street Curzon Street is located within the Mayfair district of London. The street is located entirely within the W1J postcode district; the eastern end is north-east of Green Park underground station. It is within the City of Westminster, running ap ...
.


History

The street is named after Hugh Audley, whose heirs acquired the land following Sir Thomas Grosvenor's marriage to Mary Davies in 1677. Construction of properties along the street began in 1720, initially with small houses at the north end and larger family residences to the south. This reflected a social convention that was common at this time. Audley Square was a short abutment at the south end of the street. Unlike other significant squares in Mayfair, it was three sided and had no garden. The first
multistorey car park A multistorey car park (British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck or indoor parking, is a build ...
in the City of Westminster opened here in 1962.
Caroline of Brunswick Caroline of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (Caroline Amelia Elizabeth; 17 May 1768 – 7 August 1821) was Queen of the United Kingdom and Hanover from 29 January 1820 until her death in 1821, being the estranged wife of King George IV. She was Pri ...
(consort of
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 ...
) briefly stayed at No. 77 South Audley Street after returning from Italy in 1820. She was considered a popular queen and appeared at the balcony of the house to cheering crowds. South Audley Street was redeveloped between 1875 and 1900, when most of the smaller buildings to the north were demolished and rebuilt as shops with residences above them. However, several buildings (Nos. 9–16 and 71–75 consecutive) all survive from the 1730s.


Properties

The
Grosvenor Chapel Grosvenor Chapel is an Anglican church in what is now the City of Westminster, in England, built in the 1730s. It inspired many churches in New England. It is situated on South Audley Street in Mayfair. History The foundation stone of the Grosven ...
is a Grade II* listed chapel on South Audley Street, and the only remaining original property on the north part of the street. It was built by Benjamin Timbrell in 1730, and became a
chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ease is deliberately bu ...
for
St George's Hanover Square Church St George's, Hanover Square, is an Anglican church, the parish church of Mayfair in the City of Westminster, central London, built in the early eighteenth century as part of a project to build fifty new churches around London (the Queen Anne C ...
in 1831. During World War II it was used by American armed forces. The parents of Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington are buried in the church. Chesterfield House was a grand house on South Audley Street built by
Isaac Ware Isaac Ware (1704—1766) was an English architect and translator of Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio. Early life Ware was born to a life of poverty, living as a street urchin and working as a chimney sweep, until he was adopted by ...
for
Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield, (22 September 169424 March 1773) was a British statesman, diplomat, and man of letters, and an acclaimed wit of his time. Early life He was born in London to Philip Stanhope, 3rd Earl of Che ...
between 1747 and 1750. It was demolished in 1937.
Leconfield House Leconfield House is a building in Mayfair, London. It was the headquarters of the Security Service (MI5) from 1945 to 1976. History Early history The site at the junction of South Audley Street and Curzon Street was occupied in the second half ...
is at the corner of South Audley Street and Curzon Street. It is best known for being the former headquarters of
MI5 The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Go ...
. Thomas Goode's tableware shop was first established in 1844 at No. 17. It gradually expanded throughout the 19th century; the current premises at Nos. 17–22 was constructed between 1875 and 1891 by Ernest George. The Qatari embassy is at No 1. It has been
Grade II listed 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 ...
since 1970. Gunsmiths James Purdey & Sons was established at Nos. 57–60 in 1881. The private member's dining club Harry's Bar was established at No. 26 in 1979.


References

Citations Sources *


External links

* {{Coord, 51, 30, 31, N, 00, 09, 05, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Mayfair Streets in the City of Westminster