Rathbone Place is a street in central

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

that runs roughly north-west from

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 ...

to Percy Street. it is joined on its eastern side by Percy Mews,

Gresse Street Gresse Street is a street in London that is on the border between the City of Westminster and the London Borough of Camden, the north and eastern sides being in Camden and the rest in Westminster. The street is joined by Rathbone Place, Stephe ...

, and Evelyn Yard. The street is mainly occupied by retail and office premises.

History

The street was originally known as Glanville Street.Rathbone Street
, ''Survey of London, Volume 21, The parish of St Pancras part 3: Tottenham Court Road & Neighbourhood''. 1949. British History Online. Retrieved 13 November 2014. It was renamed after Captain Thomas Rathbone, who had owned a house on the street since 1684.

Inhabitants

The essayist and critic

William Hazlitt William Hazlitt (10 April 177818 September 1830) was an English essayist, drama and literary critic, painter, social commentator, and philosopher. He is now considered one of the greatest critics and essayists in the history of the English lan ...

lived at No. 12 from 1802 to 1805, while the painter John Constable lived at No. 50 during this time. The sculptor

Gilbert Bayes Gilbert William Bayes (4 April 1872 – 10 July 1953) was an English sculptor. His art works varied in scale from medals to large architectural clocks, monuments and equestrian statues and he was also a designer of some note, creating chess piec ...

lived at No. 52 from 1899 to 1900. The music-hall publisher Henri D'Alcorn was based in Rathbone Place: at no. 22A in 1855–7, no. 18 in 1857–60 and no. 8 in 1860–67.

Buildings

On the east side, Number 11 was a grade II listed terraced house, built around 1718–20 and refronted in the nineteenth century. The ground floor was converted to commercial premises. It is now the home of Lazarides Gallery. The Wheatsheaf, Rathbone Place

On the same side is The Wheatsheaf

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

at number 25 which became one of the principal gathering-places of London's

bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

set before the Second World War and where customers included Dylan Thomas. On the western side of the street was the former Royal Mail depot, which is now

One Rathbone Square One Rathbone Square is a commercial building in London, and the UK headquarters of Facebook. History Rathbone Square is a development in central London. The site was bought from Royal Mail Group for £120m in September 2011; it was the former We ...

; it was redeveloped by

Great Portland Estates Great Portland Estates plc (branded as GPE) is a British property development and investment company. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. The firm switched to Real Estate Investment Trust status wh ...

into a mix of residential, office and retail units. A sign on a building for Rathbone Place is seen in the last scene of BBC's '' Sherlock'' series 4 finale. This is a nod to the actor Basil Rathbone and the building shown is not part of Rathbone Place.

References

References Citations * Streets in the City of Westminster Streets in the London Borough of Camden {{London-stub