On the site of the Langham Hotel originally stood Foley House, built by the Duke of Foley. In his lease with the Duke of Portland it was expressly stipulated that no other house should be built to block the view northward. Thus, when Portland Place was built, it was made of the present enormous width in consequence of this stipulation. Foley House was demolished in 1820, and part of the site was bought by Sir James Langham, whose name is preserved in the adjacent street. The well-known architect, Nash, was employed by him to build a house, but Sir James was dissatisfied with the construction. It is said that Nash, then employed in carrying out Langham Place, made it curve, to spite his employer, instead of carrying it on in a continuous line to Portland Place, as was at first designed.
All Souls' Church is also Nash's work. This church was built 1822-24, and is of a curious design with a circular portico surrounding a circular tower surmounted by a spire. The altar-piece is by Westall, R.A. The church was restored in 1876. Dr. Thomson, late Archbishop of York, and Bishop Baring of Durham, were among the former incumbents.
Queen's Hall, close by, is used for concerts and entertainments.
The London Crystal Palace, erected in 1858, stood formerly on the site of a great drapery establishment at the north-east corner of Regent Circus.
Halfway down the part of Regent Street above the Circus is the Polytechnic Young Men's Christian Institute and Day Schools, also the Polytechnic School of Art, founded in 1838, and enlarged ten years later. It was originally intended for the exhibition of novelties in the Arts and practical Sciences, especially agriculture and other branches of industry. Exhibitions were held here and lectures and classes established, but in 1881 the building was sold, and is now used as above indicated.
Margaret Street was named after Margaret, heiress of the Newcastle and Oxford families. In it is All Saints' Church, a decorative building which has been described as the most beautiful church in the Metropolis. It was built by W. Butterfield, and the first stone was laid by Dr. Pusey on All Saints' Day, November 1, 1850. The whole of the interior is covered by mural decorations. The frescoes in the chancel were executed by W. Dyce, R.A. The style is Early English, and the spire reaches a height of 227 feet.
The church stands on the site of a chapel which is said to have been the cradle of the High Church Movement in the Metropolis. It is curious to read that in the eighteenth century this chapel was an isolated building, and that a shady lovers' walk led from it to Manchester Square, and another walk through the fields to Paddington!
In No. 204, Great Portland Street is the London Throat Hospital. The Jews' Central Synagogue, a large and imposing building in the Byzantine style, is just to the north of New Cavendish Street. In Portland Place there was formerly a well-known tavern, the Jew's Harp, where Onslow, Speaker to the House in George II.'s reign, used to resort incognito. St. Paul's (episcopal) Chapel stands to the north of Langham Street. This was formerly Portland Chapel, and was erected 1766 on the site of Marylebone Basin, which had for some time formed the reservoir of a water-supply. The chapel was not consecrated until 1831, when it received its present name. This name recalls a market begun here in 1721 by Edward, Earl of Oxford, but not opened till 1731, owing to the opposition of Lord Craven. The market had a central vane, with date of foundation and the initials of Lord Harley, Earl of Oxford, and his wife. He obtained a grant "authorizing himself, his lady, and their heirs to hold a market on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays for the sale of flesh, fish, fowl, herbs, and all other provisions." It does not seem, however, to have answered his expectations, for the central room was afterwards used as a pay-office for Chelsea out-pensioners. On the site of this Oxford Mansions now stands.
Titchfield Street was built about the end of the eighteenth century. Loutherbourg, R.A., lived here, and W. Collins, R.A., was born in this street in 1787.
All the rest of this district is very dreary. There are various chapels and charitable institutions scattered about in the streets; but it seems likely before long that land in such an advantageous position will be required for buildings of a better class, which will bring in more rent than the present ones.
Wells Street chiefly consists of large manufacturing premises. St. Andrew's Church has been opened out by the demolition of adjoining houses. It is celebrated for its choir.
Nollekens the sculptor's studio was at No. 9 in Mortimer Street. The Middlesex Hospital stands back from the street, with two wings enclosing a cement courtyard. This hospital was instituted in 1745 for sick and lame patients. It was first situated in Windmill Street, Tottenham Court Road, but was removed to Marylebone Fields, as the present site was then called in 1755. The site was obtained from Charles Berners on lease for the term of 999 years, and the first stone of the building was laid by the Duke of Northumberland. The building of the wings was completed in 1775, and they were extended in 1834. Various additions were made to the hospital, and improvements carried out in the interior arrangements, but it was not until 1836 that a charter of incorporation was obtained.
At the end of the eighteenth century several of the wards not then required were opened for the reception of the French refugees as a temporary shelter.
And with this we bring our "Circuit Walk" to an end, having found therein many things interesting, and not a few curious, even in a district usually accounted by no means exceptional in these respects.
INDEX
- Aberdeen Place, 72
- Aiken, Miss, 30
- Akenside, Mark, 19
- Aldborough House, 97
- Aldred Road, 37
- Alford, Dr., 80
- Alvanley, Lord, 35
- Anderson, Mary, 29
- Apple Village, 79
- Arbuthnot, Dr., 19, 30
- Arne, Dr., 93
- Arundel, Earls of, 57
- Atye, Sir Arthur, 40
- Austen, Sir John, 58
- Austin, John, 75
- Avenue Road, 53
- Bacon, 52
- Baillie, Joanna, 28, 30
- Baker Street, 83
- Baker Street Bazaar, 83
- Banqueting House, 96
- Barbauld, Mrs., 25, 30
- Baring, Bishop, 102
- Barrow Hill, 63
- Bedford College, 83
- Belmont House, 23
- Belsize Avenue, 46
- Belsize Crescent, 46
- Belsize Lane, 45
- Belsize Manor, 2, 44
- Belsize Park Gardens, 46
- Berkeleys, 57
- Bingley, Lord, 100
- Bird in Hand, The, 25
- Blandford Square, 69
- Blennerhasset, John, 59
- Bolton House, 28
- Bonomi, 86
- Booth, 29
- Botanical Gardens, 67
- Brabazon, Sir Roger de, 2
- Branch Hill, 26, 27
- Branch Hill Lodge, 27
- Brawne, Fanny, 22
- Browning, Robert, 90
- Bryanston Square, 79
- Bryanston Street, 80
- Buckland Crescent, 46
- Bull and Bush, The, 9
- Burgh House, 19
- Burney, Fanny, 17, 19
- Burton, Decimus, 65
- Butler, Bishop, 23
- Buxton, Sir Fowell, 10
- Byron, Lord, 27, 89, 100
- Caenwood House, 12
- Cannon Hall, 15
- Capland Street, 72
- Carlisle House, 23
- Carlisle Street, 72
- Cato Street, 79
- Cavendish Square, 99
- Cemetery, 85
- Chalcots, 47, 54
- Chalk Farm, 54
- Chandos, Duke of, 99
- Chandos House, 100
- Chapels:
- Charity, 88
- Charles, Mrs. Rundle, 33
- Chatham, Earl of, 10
- Chicken House, 22
- Chinese Embassy, 101
- Cholmeley, Sir Roger, 40
- Christian Union Almshouses, 75
- Christ Church Road, 15
- Churches:
- All Saints', 61, 103
- All Souls', 53, 102
- Annunciation, 80
- St. Barnabas, 71
- Christ, 15, 71
- St. Cuthbert's, 41
- St. Cyprian's, 70
- Emanuel, 72
- St. John's Wood, 62
- St. Luke's, 79
- St. Mark's, 61, 75
- St. Mary's, 44, 78
- St. Mary the Virgin, 53
- Marylebone, 87
- Marylebone, New, 89
- Marylebone Presbyterian, 80
- St. Matthew's, 72
- Parish, 30
- St. Paul's, 53
- St. Peter's, 46, 97
- St. Saviour's, 47
- St. Stephen's, 49
- St. Stephen the Martyr's, 63
- St. Thomas's, 84
- Trinity, 39
- Church Lane, 25, 29
- Church Row, 30
- Church Street, 72
- Cibber, Colley, 29
- City Conduit Estate, 59
- Clarke, Sir Thomas, 27
- Clock House, 26
- College Road, 47
- Colleges:
- Collins, R. A., 104
- Collins, Wilkie, 10, 52
- Colosseum, 66
- Conduit Fields, 35
- Constable, 20, 27, 30
- Constitutional Club, 28
- Cornwall Terrace, 65
- Court House, 95
- Craik, Mrs., 10
- D'Arblay, Madame, 17
- Davy, Sir Humphrey, 67
- Dawes, 65
- De Clyf, Sir William, 58
- De Insula, William, 57
- De Mortimer, Roger, 74
- De Vere, Robert, 57
- Devonshire Street, 92
- Dibdin, 78
- Dickens, 13
- Dorset Square, 69
- Downshire Hill, 21
- Du Maurier, 26
- Earl Street, 71
- Edgware Road, 73
- England's Lane, 47
- Erskine House, 11
- Erskine, Lord, 30
- Esterhazy, Prince, 9, 97
- Eton Avenue, 46
- Eton Road, 47
- Evelina, 17
- Eyre Estate, 61
- Eyre, Samuel, 59
- Fellows Road, 47
- Fenton House, 26
- Ferns, The, 34
- Finchley Road Station, 39
- Fitz John's Avenue, 30
- Flagstaff, 13
- Fleet Road, 52
- Foley House, 101
- Foote, 9
- Forset, Edward, 58
- Fortune Green, 36
- Fortune Green Lane, 38
- Free Library Reading Room, 25
- Frognal, 34
- Frognal Gardens, 35
- Frognal Hall, 35
- Frognal Park, 30
- Frognal Priory, 35
- Frognal Rise, 27
- Fuseli, 101
- Gainsborough, Earl of, 2, 17
- Gainsborough Gardens, 18
- Garrick, 9
- Gayton Road, 21
- Gayton Street, 24
- George Street, 83
- Godfrey, Sir Edmondbury, 54
- Golden Square, 26
- Gordon Riots, 12
- Goulburn, Dr., 80
- Governesses' Home and Registration Office, 98
- Great Central Hotel, 78
- Great Central Railway, 60
- Great Central Station, 78
- Great Cumberland Place, 80
- Great James Street, 71
- Great Portland Street, 103
- Green Man Lane, 15
- Grove Road, 71, 72
- Grove, The, 20
- Hampstead Cemetery, 38
- Hampstead Conservatoire of Music, 48
- Hampstead Green, 49
- Hampstead Ponds, 21
- Hampstead Square, 15
- Hampstead Public Library, 39
- Hanover Terrace, 70
- Harcourt, Earl of, 100
- Harcourt Street, 76
- Harleian Collection, 58, 91
- Harley, Edward, 58
- Harley Street, 98
- Harlowe, Clarissa, 14
- Haverstock Hill, 5, 49
- Heath, The, 6, 8
- Heath, East, 8
- Heath Street, 5, 25
- Heath, West, 5
- Heathfield House, 15
- Hendon, 30
- Henrietta Street, 97
- Hertford House, 85
- Hertford, Marquis of, 65, 85
- Hickes, Sir Baptist, 2
- High Street, 5, 24, 62
- Hill Street, 70
- Hill, Sir Rowland, 50
- Hinde, 65
- Hobson, Thomas, 58
- Hogarth, 9
- Holford House, 66
- Holles, John, Duke of Newcastle, 58
- Holles Street, 100
- Hollybush Hill, 27
- Hollybush Tavern, 28
- Holy Maid of Kent, 74
- Homer Row, 76
- Homes:
- Honourable Artillery Company, 68
- Hood, 39
- Horace Street, 79
- Hospitals:
- House of Mercy, 69
- Howards, 57
- Hunt, Leigh, 8
- Irving, Edward, 52
- Jack Straw's Castle, 12
- Jew's Harp, 103
- Johnson, Dr., 30
- Johnson, Mrs., 19
- John Street, 21
- Judge's Walk, 26
- Kean, 82
- Keats, John, 20, 22
- Kidderpore Hall, 40
- Kilburn, 41
- Kilburn Mill, 37
- Kilburn Priory, 41
- Kilburn Wells, 43
- King Street, 83
- Kit Kat Club, 14
- Landon, L. E., 78
- Langham Hotel, 101
- Langham Place, 102
- Langhorne, Sir William, 2
- Lawn Bank, 22
- Lever, Sir Assheton, 68
- Linnell, 10
- Little George Street, 83
- Little Queen Street, 80
- Long Room, 17
- Lord's Cricket Ground, 59
- Loudoun Road, 53
- Loutherbourg, R.A., 104
- Lower Seymour Street, 84
- Lower Terrace, 27
- Lyllestone Manor, 58
- Lyon, John, 59
- Lyons Place, 72
- Macclesfield, Lord Chancellor, 27
- Manchester House, 85
- Manchester Square, 84
- Manor House, 34, 91
- Marylebone Gardens, 92
- Marylebone Lane, 95
- Marylebone Park, 64
- Marylebone Road, 70, 75
- Marylebone Theatre, 71
- Maryon, Mrs. Margaret, 2
- Maurice, Rev. F. D., 97, 98
- Meteyard, Eliza, 10
- Mill Lane, 36
- Montagu House, 27, 82
- Montagu, Mrs., 82
- Montagu Square, 79
- Mortimer Street, 105
- Mount Vernon, 28
- Nash, 64, 101
- Nasmyth, James, 77
- Nevilles, 57
- New End, 15
- Nightingale, Miss Florence, 35
- Nollekens, 105
- North End, 9
- North Hall, 48
- North Street, 72, 85
- Northumberland Street, 86
- Nutford Place, 79
- Oakhill Park, 35
- Old Vane House, 23
- Onslow, 103
- Oppidans Road, 47
- Orchardson, R.A., W. L., 52
- Orchard Street, 83, 84
- Oriel Place, 29
- Osborne, Sir Sydney Godolphin, 52
- Oxford, Earl of, 58
- Oxford House, 91
- Oxford Market, 104
- Oxford Street, 80, 81
- Paddington Street, 86
- Palgrave, Sir Francis, 52
- Paradise Street, 85
- Park Road, 51
- Park Street, 70
- Patmore, Coventry, 10
- Pepys, 93
- Perceval, Hon. Sir Spencer, 45
- Philip, Earl of Chesterfield, 3
- Pilgrim Place, 22
- Polytechnic, 102
- Pope, 14
- Portland, Duke of, 97
- Portland, Earl of, 58
- Portland House, 100
- Portland Place, 101
- Portman, Chief Justice, 59
- Portman Market, 72
- Portman Square, 82
- Primrose Hill, 53, 63
- Primrose Hill Road, 53
- Prince Arthur Road, 24
- Princess's Theatre, 82
- Priory Road, 44
- Prospect Walk, 26
- Provost Road, 47
- Pryors, The, 15
- Pump Room, 18, 20
- Queen Anne Street, 101
- Queen's Bazaar, 82
- Queen's College, 98
- Queen Elizabeth, 91
- Queen's Hall, 102
- Quex Road, 44
- Racecourse, 13
- Raffles, Sir Stamford, 67
- 'Rake's Progress,' 88
- Ramsay, Allan, 89
- Rathbone Place, 81
- Regent's Canal, 66, 72
- Regent's Park, 64
- Regent's Park Baptist College, 66
- Regent Street, 102
- Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 9
- Richardson, 14
- Richmond Street, 72
- Riou, Stephen, 86
- Romney, 27
- Rosslyn, Earl of, 27
- Rosslyn Hill, 5, 22
- Rosslyn House, 36
- Russian Embassy, 98
- Rysbach, J. Michael, 89
- Salisbury Street, 72
- Savage, Dr., 77
- Schools:
- Scott, Sir G., 27
- Seymour Place, 78
- Seymour Street, 77
- Shepherd's Fields, 35
- Sheppard, Jack, 75
- Sherlock, Dr., 30
- Shoot-up-Hill, 40
- Shoot-up-Hill Lane, 37
- Siddons, Mrs., 27, 70
- Sion Chapel, 18
- South Villa, 65
- Southwell, Robert, 74
- Spaniards, The, 11
- Squires Mount, 15
- St. Alban's, Duke of, 97
- Stanfield, Clarkson, 25
- Stanfield House, 25
- St. Dunstan's Villa, 65
- Steele Road, 47
- Steele, Sir Richard, 14, 47, 51
- Steevens, George, 14
- Steinway Hall, 84
- Sterne, 9
- St. John's Wood Road, 60
- St. John's Wood Terrace, 62
- St. Marylebone Almshouses, 62
- St. Marylebone County Court, 77
- St. Marylebone Public Baths and Wash-houses, 77
- Stratford Place, 96
- Strode, Sir G., 64
- Sussex Grove, 71
- Sussex Place, 70
- Swiss Cottage, 39
- Synagogues:
- Talleyrand, Prince, 52
- Teulon, 52
- Thayer Street, 95
- Thistlewood, 79
- Thomson, Dr., 102
- Titchfield Street, 104
- Toxophilite Society, 68
- Turkish Embassy, 79
- Turner, Mrs., 74
- Turner, R.A., 101
- Turnpike, The, 75
- Tussaud's Exhibition, Madame, 70
- Tyburn Gallows, 74
- Tyburn Manor, 57
- Tyburn Road, 81
- Tyburn, The, 57
- Upper Avenue Road, 48
- Upper Baker Street, 70
- Upper Berkeley Street, 80
- Upper Bryanston Street, 74
- Upper Flask Tavern, 14
- Upper George Street, 80
- Upper Terrace, 27
- Wallace, Sir Richard, 85
- Wandesford, J., 64
- Warbeck, Perkin, 74
- Wards Field, 79
- Ware, Isaac, 35
- Watling Street, 43
- Wedderburn, Alexander, 36
- Welbeck Hall, 98
- Welbeck Street, 97
- Weller, Mrs., 2
- Wells and Campden Charities, 33
- Wells Street, 104
- Wells Tavern, 20
- Well Walk, 17
- Wentworth House, 22
- Wesley, Rev. Charles, 89
- West End, 36
- West End Hall, 37
- West End Lane, 35
- Whitestone Pond, 13
- Wigmore Street, 98
- Wildwoods, 10
- Wilkes, 29
- Willoughby Road, 25
- Wilson, Sir Thomas Maryon, 2, 7
- Wilson, Sir Thomas Spencer, 2
- Wimpole Street, 98
- Winchester Road, 48
- Windmill Hill, 28
- 'Woodlands,' 36
- Woronzow, Count, 62
- Wotton, Lord, 3, 59
- Wychcomb, 48
- Wyndham Place, 78
- Zoological Gardens, 67