Westbourne Terrace is a street in the
Paddington
Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...
district of 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 ...
in west London. The street runs between
Westbourne Bridge
Westbourne Bridge is a grade II listed road bridge in the City of Westminster, London. It was built some time after 1909 for the Great Western Railway.
It carries road traffic over the railway lines in and out of Paddington Station and is joined ...
in the north and the junction of
Westbourne Crescent and
Sussex Gardens
Sussex Gardens is located in Paddington in Central London. It is a street that runs runs westwards from the Edgeware Road, for most of the way as a broad Avenue (landscape), avenue until it reaches an area near Lancaster Gate where it becomes a ...
in the south and was developed between 1839 and the late 1850s. It has been described as the "most spacious and dignified avenue" in
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 ...
and "unrivalled in its class in London or even Great Britain".
The street is not to be confused with
Westbourne Terrace Road
Westbourne Terrace Road runs between Blomfield Road in the north and Westbourne Bridge in the south. The north part of the road is a bridge over the Paddington branch of the Grand Union Canal in Little Venice known as Westbourne Terrace Road brid ...
which runs north from Westbourne Bridge into
Little Venice
Little Venice is a district in West London, England, around the junction of the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal, the Regent's Canal, and the entrance to Paddington Basin. The junction forms a triangular shape basin. Many of the buildi ...
, and a large number of other Westbourne streets in the area.
History
Westbourne Terrace is named after the local
River Westbourne
The Westbourne or Kilburn is a culverted small River Thames tributary in London, rising in Hampstead and Brondesbury Park and which as a drain unites and flows southward through Kilburn and Bayswater (west end of Paddington) to skirt underne ...
, a tributary of 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 ...
, and is one of a large number of Westbourne streets in the area. In 1868,
Cusack Roney
Patrick Cusack Roney or Rooney (bapt. 2 April 1781 – 26 August 1849) Cameron, Sir Charles A. (1886''History of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, and of the Irish Schools of Medicine &c''Dublin: Fannin & Co. pp. 368-370. was an Irish phys ...
wrote in ''Rambles on Railways'', that there were 19 "Westbourne" streets listed in the London ''Postal Guide''.
The street was developed between 1839 and the late 1850s. Architects working in the area included
Matthew Wyatt,
George Ledwell Taylor
George Ledwell Taylor (31 March 1788 – 1 May 1873) was an architect and landowner who lived in London.
Life
Taylor was born on 31 March 1788 and educated at Rawes's academy, Bromley. He became a pupil of the architect James Burton, and on ...
, and
Thomas Marsh Nelson
Thomas Marsh Nelson (c. 1817 - 24 February 1884) was an English architect who worked principally in London. He was particularly active in the development of Westbourne Terrace in the 1840s on behalf of the builder William Kingdom.
Early life and ...
who was particularly active in Westbourne Terrace in the 1840s on behalf of the builder
William Kingdom.
Buildings
Westbourne Terrace is a long tree-lined avenue, almost wholly made up of four storey
stucco
Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...
-fronted terraced houses divided by the cross streets, Bishop's Bridge Road,
Cleveland Terrace (formerly James Street),
Chilworth Street, and
Craven Road
Craven may refer to:
* Craven in the Domesday Book, an area of Yorkshire, England, larger area than the district
** Craven District, a local government district of North Yorkshire formed in 1974
Places
* Craven, New South Wales, Australia, see ...
. The street has more modern buildings north of Bishop's Bridge Road, including the Enterprise House at numbers 167–169, which is occupied by Network Rail. Westbourne Terrace Mews runs north from Cleveland Terrace but does not join Westbourne Terrace. Each terrace has its own private access road at the front. According to
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...
, the architecture of Westbourne Terrace shows the transition from the
classical style
Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the works of the Roman architect V ...
to the Italianate.
[
Originally occupied by wealthy merchants, admirals, governors, and statesmen, the terrace has been home to many renowned people. The exterior of the great majority of the buildings is still intact, though most houses have been converted into flats, and in some instances, hotels or offices. The original buildings in the terrace are ]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 ...
and fall within the Bayswater Conservation Area.
East side
Numbers 1 to 31 were built by Robert Palmer Browne
Robert Palmer Browne (30 January 1803 – 18 December 1872) was a British architect who was closely associated with the General Steam Navigation Company in the mid-nineteenth century but who also designed residential, church and public buildings, ...
by 1849.[ They are Grade II listed.] Irish painter Patrick Swift Patrick may refer to:
*Patrick (given name), list of people and fictional characters with this name
*Patrick (surname), list of people with this name
People
*Saint Patrick (c. 385–c. 461), Christian saint
*Gilla Pátraic (died 1084), Patrick or ...
lived at number nine in the mid-twentieth century. Canadian author Elizabeth Smart
Elizabeth Ann Gilmour (née Smart; born November 3, 1987) is an American child safety activist and commentator for ABC News. She gained national attention at age 14 when she was abducted from her home in Salt Lake City by Brian David Mitchell. ...
also lived at number nine, in a different flat. John Constable, eldest son of the painter, resided at number 17, which was the first house to be completed. Roseate House London, a luxury boutique hotel, occupies numbers 3–5.
Numbers 33–77 were developed by William Kingdom, whose architect was Thomas Marsh Nelson.[ They are Grade II listed.] Admiral Charles Bethune lived at number 53. The Chilworth, a boutique hotel, occupies numbers 55–61.
The terrace of 79–119 was built around 1840, probably by William King and William Kingdom. It is Grade II listed. Augustus Prevost
Sir Augustus Prevost, 1st Baronet (21 May 1837 – 6 December 1913) was Governor of the Bank of England from 1901 to 1903.
He was the son of banker George Prevost of Geneva, who moved in 1838 from Liverpool to London, where Augustus studied at Uni ...
, Governor of the Bank of England from 1901 to 1903, lived at number 79, and in 1902 he was made Baronet Prevost of Westbourne Terrace, London in recognition of his services as Governor of the Bank of England during the Boer War. George William Anderson
George William Anderson (1791 – 12 March 1857) was the officiating governor of Bombay during the British Raj from 28 April 1841 to 9 June 1842.
Anderson entered the Bombay Civil Service in 1806. He was responsible for drawing up the Bombay Ci ...
, a colonial governor, lived at number 99 from 1947 till 1957. Joshua Walmsley
Sir Joshua Walmsley (1794–1871) was an English businessman and Liberal Party politician.
Life
The son of John Walmsley, an architect, builder and marble mason, he was born in Liverpool on 29 September 1794, and educated at Knowsley, Lancash ...
, an English businessman and Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
politician, lived at number 101. Richard Cobden
Richard Cobden (3 June 1804 – 2 April 1865) was an English Radical and Liberal politician, manufacturer, and a campaigner for free trade and peace. He was associated with the Anti-Corn Law League and the Cobden–Chevalier Treaty.
As a young ...
, an English politician and social reformer best known for his successful fight for repeal of the Corn Laws
The Corn Laws were tariffs and other trade restrictions on imported food and corn enforced in the United Kingdom between 1815 and 1846. The word ''corn'' in British English denotes all cereal grains, including wheat, oats and barley. They were ...
and his defense of free trade, lived at number 103 from June 1848 to 1856. John Benjamin Smith
John Benjamin Smith (7 February 1794 – 15 September 1879) was an English Liberal Party politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1847 to 1874.
Life
Smith was the son of Benjamin Smith, a merchant of Manchester. He was himself a merchant ...
, an English Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
politician, lived at number 105. Walmsley, Cobden, and Smith were next-door neighbours, living in three adjoining houses at Westbourne Terrace, and hence numbers 101, 103, and 105 Westbourne Terrace came to be known as “Radical Row.”
Numbers 121 to 141, later the Dorland Hotel, and now offices of WPP and Ogilvy, is Grade II listed. The terrace was built around 1840, probably by William King and William Kingdom.
Author Aldous Huxley
Aldous Leonard Huxley (26 July 1894 – 22 November 1963) was an English writer and philosopher. He wrote nearly 50 books, both novels and non-fiction works, as well as wide-ranging essays, narratives, and poems.
Born into the prominent Huxley ...
lived at number 155 in 1921–2. Brewer's Court, a residential building, and Enterprise House currently occupy the northern end of Westbourne Terrace between Bishop's Bridge Road and Westbourne Bridge. Enterprise House, located at numbers 167–169, is an irregularly shaped building designed by P A Culverhouse and constructed between 1932 and 1935 close to the former Parcel Depot (Building 3), just south of the tracks, by the Westbourne Bridge. It is concrete framed and of six storeys, with facade towards the road and the tracks in the same restrained Art Deco style that Culverhouse employed on the arrival side offices. The top two floors were a hostel for woman staff, mostly employed in Paddington's refreshment rooms, and Culverhouse provided them with a spacious roof-top terrace. It is currently occupied by Network Rail.
West side
Numbers 2-30 were developed by William King in the 1840s.[ Numbers 6–30 are Grade II listed.] Art critic R. H. Wilenski was born at number 16 Upper Westbourne Terrace in 1887.[Wilenski, Reginald Howard.]
by Dennis Farr, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 23 September 2004. Retrieved 12 July 2018.
Numbers 32 to 68 were developed by William Kingdom, whose architect was Thomas Marsh Nelson.[ They are Grade II listed.] Susan Lawrence
Arabella Susan Lawrence (12 August 1871 – 24 October 1947) was a British Labour Party politician, one of the earliest female Labour MPs.
Early life
Lawrence was the youngest daughter of Nathaniel Tertius Lawrence, a wealthy solicitor, and ...
, one of the earliest female Labour MPs, lived at number 44. Civil engineer Charles Manby
Charles Manby, FRS FRSA (4 February 1804 – 31 July 1884) was Secretary of the Institution of Civil Engineers from November 1839 to 1856, and engineer of the first iron steamer to cross the English Channel. Fluent in French, he installed gas ...
(1804–1884) lived at number 60 during 1870–77. Uriah Maggs
Uriah Maggs (c. 1828 – September 1913) was the founder in 1853 of Maggs Bros Ltd, antiquarian booksellers in London.
Early life
Uriah Maggs was born in Midsomer Norton, Somerset circa 1828. In about 1850, he and his father left to start ...
opened his first bookshop at 44 Westbourne Terrace North in 1844. Admiral Baldwin Wake Walker
Admiral Sir Baldwin Wake Walker, 1st Baronet, (6 January 1802 – 12 February 1876) was Surveyor of the Navy from 1848 to 1861. and was responsible for the Royal Navy's warship construction programme during the 1850s naval arms race and at th ...
lived at number 66. Field-Marshal Sir William Robertson (1860–1933) lived at number 88 during his retirement.
Numbers 70–106 and 108 to 136 are Grade II listed. They were built around 1840, probably by William King and William Kingdom. Richard Bethell, later Lord Chancellor as Lord Westbury, lived at number 70. Number 124 was the location of the Austrian Centre, which was the most important social, cultural and political hub for Austrian exiles from the Nazis. Park Grand London Hyde Park hotel occupies numbers 78–82.
Holy Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...
church once stood on the north-west corner with Bishop's Road, now Bishop's Bridge Road. It was built in 1844–1846 to a design by Thomas Cundy.[The Church of the Holy trinity, Bishop's Road Paddington.]
Sanders of Oxford. Retrieved 28 July 2018. It was closed in 1971 after being declared unsafe, before being demolished in the 1980s. Trinity Court, a 6-storey block of 54 flats, was built on the site in 1986.
Brunel House, originally Trinity Lodge, an Italiante stucco villa at number 140 on the southern corner with Orsett Terrace
Orsett Terrace, originally known as Orsett Place, is a street in the Westbourne district of the City of Westminster, in London. It runs roughly east–west between Porchester Terrace in the west and the junction of Westbourne Bridge and Westbou ...
is Grade II listed. It was designed by George Ledwell Taylor
George Ledwell Taylor (31 March 1788 – 1 May 1873) was an architect and landowner who lived in London.
Life
Taylor was born on 31 March 1788 and educated at Rawes's academy, Bromley. He became a pupil of the architect James Burton, and on ...
in 1843–1848. Architect George Ledwell Taylor
George Ledwell Taylor (31 March 1788 – 1 May 1873) was an architect and landowner who lived in London.
Life
Taylor was born on 31 March 1788 and educated at Rawes's academy, Bromley. He became a pupil of the architect James Burton, and on ...
designed and lived briefly at no. 140 in 1852–3.
Westbourne Court is an eight-storey block of flats, dating from 1938, and it is located on the northern corner with Orsett Terrace at the north end of Westbourne Terrace.Westbourne Court.
Buildington. Retrieved 6 August 2018. It is typical of its period and is in red brick and stucco, with crittall windows.
See also
* Augustus Prevost
Sir Augustus Prevost, 1st Baronet (21 May 1837 – 6 December 1913) was Governor of the Bank of England from 1901 to 1903.
He was the son of banker George Prevost of Geneva, who moved in 1838 from Liverpool to London, where Augustus studied at Uni ...
, Baronet Prevost of Westbourne Terrace
References
External links
{{commons category-inline, Westbourne Terrace, London
Streets in the City of Westminster
Westbourne, London
Paddington