Wells Street is a street in the
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a city and 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 central Greater London, including most of the West En ...
. It runs from
Riding House Street
Riding House Street is a street in central London in the City of Westminster.
History
Riding House Street (originally Lane) started off as a straight and narrow connection between Edward Street in the west and Great Titchfield Street in the east ...
in the north to
Oxford Street
Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and as ...
in the south. It is crossed by
Mortimer Street and
Eastcastle Street. It is joined on its western side by
Marylebone Passage and on the eastern side by Booth's Place and Wells Mews.
St Andrew's church
Wells Street was once the location of St Andrew's, a
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...
, completed to designs by
Samuel Daukes
Samuel Whitfield Daukes (1811–1880) was an English architect, based in Gloucester and London.
Family background
Daukes was born in London in 1811, the son of Samuel Whitfield Daukes, a businessman with coal mining and brewery interests, who b ...
in 1847, which was deconstructed and rebuilt in its entirety in
Kingsbury, Middlesex, in 1933–34.
[St Andrew’s Church, formerly in Wells Street, now at Kingsbury, Middlesex.](_blank)
Survey of London,University College London, 1 April 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2017. The site was then vacant and used as a car park before offices were built on it which are now occupied by the University of Westminster. Flats known as St Andrew's Chambers were built adjacent to the site around 1900.
St Andrew's was said to have the best parish church choir in London. In February 1864, the choir, directed by
Joseph Barnby
Sir Joseph Barnby (12 August 183828 January 1896) was an English composer and conductor.
Life
Barnby was born at York, as a son of Thomas Barnby, who was an organist. Joseph was a chorister at York Minster from the age of seven, was educated ...
, performed two
anthem
An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short s ...
s by
Alice Mary Smith; this is believed to be the first time that
liturgical music
Liturgical music originated as a part of religious ceremony, and includes a number of traditions, both ancient and modern. Liturgical music is well known as a part of Catholic Mass, the Anglican Holy Communion service (or Eucharist) and Evensong ...
composed by a woman was performed in the
Church of England.
The actress
Sarah Bernhardt
Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 or 23 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including '' La Dame Aux Camel ...
married
Aristide Damala at St Andrew's in 1882.
In 1890
Count Alexander Munster's marriage to Lady Muriel Hay at St Andrew's was depicted on the front page of ''
The Illustrated London News
''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication in ...
''.
[''The Illustrated London News'', No. 2669, Vol. XCVI, 14 June 1890, p. 1.]
Businesses
The
Susan Small fashion business was based at number 76.
It is also home to
the Cartoon museum
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
, home to
Britains cartoon and comic art heritage.
Notable buildings
It contains listed buildings:
*
The Champion public house.
*St Margaret's House.
References
External links
*
Survey of London: Wells Street', Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London.
Streets in the City of Westminster
Fitzrovia
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