Saturday, August 30, 2008

Halkin Mews , Belgravia





Halkin Mews runs south off Motcomb Street, opposite The Turk's Head Pub.
A narrow entrance leads into a cobbled courtyard.
It is a delightful Belgravia backwater.
No. 3 was built to a quirky design. There are interesting carvings of a Madonna and Child on the façade at ground floor level. There is an interesting false window at second floor level, concealing a roof terrace.
No. 15 is an unassuming brick-faced house made very attractive by a profusion of potted flowers and shrubs in front.

Halkin Place , Belgravia





Halkin Place is a very small and quiet street running between Belgrave Mews West and Belgrave Square.
It is conveniently close to the new Waitrose shop in West Halkin Street, which is about one minute's walk away.
Seth Smith was responsible for some of the houses.
No. 7 on the south side is small but particularly imposing. It is only two storeys but it has a classical balustrade at roof level which adds a touch of grandeur, and trees on either side.
The street ends with an arch leading to Belgrave Mews West.

Kinnerton Place North , Belgravia




You make your way through a passage from Kinnerton Street, 30 ft long and 3 ft wide and find yourself in a little courtyard with two-storey cottages on the south side.
The facades of the cottages are each painted in different colours. On the north side of the passage are the backs of some larger buildings in the adjoining streets.
Seth Smith built much of Kinnerton Street in about 1826 so he may have had a hand here too.
Kinnerton was the name of a village close to Eaton Hall in Cheshire, the traditional family seat of the Grosvenors

Kinnerton Place South , Belgravia






Kinnerton Place South is a cul-de-sac off Kinnerton Street. This began life as stables in the 1880s. The narrow entrances at either end were wide enough for horses but you couldn't get a car through. So nowadays the courtyard is pedestrian-only.
You enter Kinnerton Place South on foot, through a gated entrance and a long narrow passageway, which eventually opens out into a courtyard. There is a two-storey building over the passageway itself.
In the courtyard itself, there are a variety of attractive and individual two-storey cottages.
At the far end of the courtyard is the Judith Blacklock Flower School, which has a terrace and balconies above which in Summer are covered in an attractive profusion of flowers and creepers. There are attractive flats at the upper level. Otherwise, there are mainly businesses here.
Another small passage then leads out of the courtyard into Bowland Yard beyond.

Kinnerton Street , Belgravia






Kinnerton Street is a delightfully quiet part of Belgravia with a distinctly village air about it. It leads to a series of quaint mews and courtyards containing a mixture of old and new cottages.
Kinnerton Street runs north from Motcomb Street leading to a small access in the north-eastern side of Wilton Place. Despite being quite close to Knightsbridge, it is an attractive and quiet backwater with many small mews and courtyards leading off it. Many of the houses were created by Seth Smith. '1826' is inscribed on the outside of the nearby Wilton Arms so that was probably the date of these houses.
Salloos, a Pakistani restaurant, is up the Wilton Place end of the street. Further south is St Paul's Hall, which is linked (not physically) to the nearby St Paul's Church.
The Wilton Arms is a pretty public house with flower displays outside and 1826 painted on the wall - presumably the date it was built. So it precedes most of the Belgravia development.
Jay's Village Store is a very attractive corner shop/newsagent which looks just like the traditional village shop.
The Nag's Head is a charming and unique public house, with small areas on different levels.
There is no single house style in Kinnerton Street.
At the Motcomb Street end there are some luxurious modern blocks of flats constructed in the late 1960s and early 1970s adjacent to a modern arcade of shops.
Kinnerton was the name of a village close to Eaton Hall in Cheshire, the traditional family seat of the Grosvenors.

Kinnerton Yard , Belgravia





Kinnerton Yard was named after a village near Eaton Hall in Cheshire, the traditional family seat of the Grosvenors.
Kinnerton Yard is a cul-de-sac entered through a passage from Kinnerton Street. It contains mainly modern houses on the south side. There is a very unusual and attractive tree in the middle of the yard.
No. 31 at the entrance is an interesting design. It was apparently remodelled in 1980 by Chapman Taylor Partners, who are responsible for many Belgravia properties. There are flats upstairs which are reached by using a spiral staircase hidden in a brick cylinder.

Little Chester Street , Belgravia







Little Chester Street runs between Wilton Mews and Chester Mews.
(The name comes from the town of Chester, which is near the historic home of the Dukes of Westminster at Eaton Hall in Cheshire.)
On the north side there are Georgian houses on three storeys built by Seth Smith in the 1830.
On the south side the cottages at Nos. 14-26 look to be original, but they are a neo-Georgian terrace by Stone Toms and Partners built in the 1960s . They are mainly double-fronted brick cottages comprising three storeys and a basement.
Nos. 4-10 on the other side are original. They were built by Seth Smith in 1827.


Lower Belgrave Street , Belgravia







Like Belgravia itself, Lower Belgrave Street was named after Belgrave, a village near Leicester owned by the Grosvenor family.
Lower Belgrave Street is fairly busy as you would expect so close to Victoria Station. It's a one-way street taking traffic south. There are some nice looking houses with brick facades.
The 'Plumbers' Arms' pub was built by Thomas Cubitt along with the surrounding houses. It was the first place Lady Lucan ran to on a wet November night in 1974 when she was attacked in her nearby home by an intruder and discovered the dead nanny, supposedly killed by her vanished husband.


Lowndes Close , Belgravia







Lowndes Close is a cobbled mews which runs east off Lowndes Place, through an arched entrance with the Grosvenor crest. It is a cul-de-sac. The Spanish Embassy backs onto it.
No. 11 on the north side is particularly pretty, with an unusual middle window on the first floor.
The Lowndes estate, which was just to the east of the Grosvenor Estate, was owned by the Lowndes family, who were originally from Buckinghamshire.
The creator of the estate was William Lowndes, who became Secretary of the Treasury. He bought the land in 1723. In the 1820s, his grandson, William Lowndes, was spurred into developing the land by the developments the Grosvenors were carrying out to the east and south.
In Mediaeval times this land had belonged to the Abbots of Westminster and it was a small wood where the monks cut their firewood. By the time of Charles II, it was a public garden, visited by Pepys.


Lowndes Place , Belgravia











Lowndes Place has to be one of the nicest streets in Belgravia. It runs north to south off Chesham Place and contains several magnificent houses.
No. 2 on the west side has an attractive yard in front of it, with small trees and plants.
Opposite stands Lowndes House, a very imposing mansion with a porticoed entrance and elaborate carvings on the façade.
No. 6 on the east side is very pretty. It has a small box hedge in front. It is built on two storeys with a basement. The second floor has an attractive slate facing.
Nos. 8 and 10 comprise a semi-detached building on two storeys, with a raised ground floor over a basement, and an exceptionally wide frontage. No. 8 is known as Lowndes Cottage. It is notable for its two sets of curved steps up to the front door.
The Lowndes estate, which was just to the east of the Grosvenor Estate, was owned by the Lowndes family, who were originally from Buckinghamshire. The creator of the estate was William Lowndes, who became Secretary of the Treasury. He bought the land in 1723. In the 1820s, his grandson, William Lowndes, was spurred into developing the land by the developments the Grosvenors were carrying out to the east and south.
In Mediaeval times this land had belonged to the Abbots of Westminster and it was a small wood where the monks cut their firewood. By the time of Charles II, it was a public garden, visited by Pepys.




Lyall Mews , Belgravia







Lyall Mews is a cobbled street - or rather a collection of streets - entered through an arched entrance from the side of Lyall Street.
The north-east corner contains a new development of mews houses There is a parallel road and two connecting roads. the south leg of the mews is particularly attractive and contains original houses mainly on 2 or 3 storeys. The facades are mainly painted, and in different colours.
No. 49 has a particularly attractive cantilevered window at second floor level.
Lyall Street was built on land which formed part of the Lowndes estate. One of the trustees of that estate at the time was Charles Lyall, who gave his name to Charles Street and Lyall Street.


Lyall Mews West , Belgravia





Lyall Mews West is a cobbled mews entered through an arched entrance from Lyall Street. On the north side are mainly tall buildings. On the south side, the houses are generally about two storeys high.
The mews was built on land which formed part of the Lowndes estate. One of the trustees of that estate at the time was Charles Lyall, who gave his name to Charles Street and Lyall Street.

Lyall Street , Belgravia







Lyall Street is quite a busy road with traffic going one way from north to south.
It was built on land which formed part of the Lowndes estate. One of the trustees of that estate at the time was Charles Lyall, who gave his name to Charles Street and Lyall Street.
On the east side of the street there are imposing houses on either side of the entrance to Eaton Mews.
No. 9 is particularly imposing, with a wide frontage on three floors. In fact, it is so wide that there are six windows at each floor level.
Many of the houses have pretty window boxes.
The street was laid out in the late 1830s and Thomas Cubitt was involved in the development that the majority of the buildings were not finished until after his death in 1855.
Cubitt was based at Nos. 3 and 4 for the last few years of his life.