Ebury Street
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Ebury Street () is a street in
Belgravia Belgravia () is a district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' during the Tudor Period, and became a dangerous pla ...
,
City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a London borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Greater London, England. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It contains a large par ...
, London. It runs from a Grosvenor Gardens junction south-westwards to Pimlico Road. It was built mostly in the period 1815 to 1860. Odd numbers 19 to 231 are on the south-east side; the others, 16 to 230, are opposite. Numbers 2 to 14 have largely been replaced by a renamed terrace of eight houses known as Lygon Place, recessed behind a small green.


History

A local estate, "Eia", is mentioned in the ''
Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
''. The surviving houses 180–188 were called "Fivefields Row" when Mozart stayed there for a very short time in 1764. Cundy St flats on the south-east side are interesting 1950s mid-rise apartments set back from the road, mainly replacing sections damaged by bombing in the
London Blitz London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Tha ...
. These are due for demolition. This is where
Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...
spent the night with
Camilla Parker Bowles Camilla (born Camilla Rosemary Shand, later Parker Bowles, 17 July 1947) is Queen of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms as the wife of King Charles III. Camilla was raised in East Sussex and South Kensington in E ...
just before his wedding to Diana Spencer 22b Ebury Street was built in 1830 as a Baptist church. It was divided into flats in the 20th century. Immediately following
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, number 42 was the workplace or head office of the "Soldiers' Embroidery Industry". Textile bags and workboxes were so-labelled, adding the words "Made by the Totally Disabled", i.e. disabled veterans doing rehabilitation work. The street contains a number of
blue plaques A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom, and certain other countries and territories, to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving a ...
to commemorate former residents.


Notable buildings

Mozart Terrace was in the late 18th century known as Fivefields Row. It can also be numerically addressed as Ebury Street.


Niche restaurants

La Poule au Pot is an expensive restaurant leased from Grosvenor Estates, below social housing managed by Peabody. Ken Lo's Memories of China is a restaurant established in 1981 by
Ken Lo Kenneth Lo Wai-Kwong (born 17 March 1959), professionally known as Ken Lo, is a Cambodian-Hong Kong actor, martial artist, and stuntman. He is known for his martial arts and stunt work as a former member of the Jackie Chan Stunt Team, most nota ...
(d. 2001).


Other uses

Where Ebury Street meets Pimlico Road is a triangular public paved area with seating and a bronze statue of Mozart (aged 8) by Philip Jackson. The triangle was known for many years as "Pimlico Green" (and still is by older residents) but was renamed Orange Square due to the local pub nearby being called The Orange, the latter reflecting the localised misnomer of "squares" in two notable instances: a very thin rectangle grid with a main road running through its longer bisection forms
Eaton Square Eaton Square is a rectangular, residential garden square in London's Belgravia district. It is the largest Squares in London, square in London. It is one of the three squares built by the landowning Grosvenor family when they developed the main ...
and Chester Square is likewise more street than green. A minority of houses have been converted to hotels. Buildings dating from the mid to late 20th century front parts of the street toward either end: Coleshill Flats, Kylestrome House, Kilmuir House (a conversion), and Belgravia Court. Numbers 2 to 14 have largely been replaced by a renamed terrace of eight houses known as Lygon Place, recessed behind a small green (see below).


Notable residents

*
Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer, best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., and his ...
lived from 1934 to 1945 at 22b.Affixed with a blue plaque (blue plaque) * In 1847
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (; 6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of ...
lived at number 42. *
Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...
kept a room at number 111 which his parents had run as a lodging house. * Isaac Gompertz lived in and died at number 45. * George Moore lived and died at number 121. (blue plaque) *
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...
lived at "Fivefields Row" from 5 August to 24 September 1764, approximately number 180. (plaque) *
Vita Sackville-West Victoria Mary, Lady Nicolson, Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (née Sackville-West; 9 March 1892 – 2 June 1962), usually known as Vita Sackville-West, was an English author and garden designer. Sackville-West was a successful nov ...
lived with her husband,
Harold Nicolson Sir Harold George Nicolson (21 November 1886 – 1 May 1968) was a British politician, writer, broadcaster and gardener. His wife was Vita Sackville-West. Early life and education Nicolson was born in Tehran, Persia, the youngest son of dipl ...
, at number 182. Their son Nigel was born here. (plaque) * William Downey, photographer (1829–1915), had studios at numbers 57 and 61. * The photographer Mabel Sophia Clerke, operating as M. Shadwell Clerke, had a studio at 117 Ebury Street in the early 20th century."Photograph portrait of Mr Harry Lauder"
National Archives at Kew. Also see the stamp o
Dora-Ohlfsen-Bagge, 1908
Art Gallery of New South Wales. * Sid Halley, a fictional character created by author
Dick Francis Richard Stanley Francis (31 October 1920 – 14 February 2010) was a British steeplechase jockey and crime writer whose novels centre on horse racing in England. After wartime service in the RAF, Francis became a full-time jump-jockey, winn ...
, lives in Ebury Street in ''Come to Grief'' (1995). *The actress Dame Edith Evans lived at number 109. (blue plaque)


Lygon Place

Lygon Place is a terrace of initial-category (Grade II-) listed buildings recessed by a small green and facing the street. The terrace dates from about 1900 and is an
Arts and Crafts The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...
-influenced design, by Eustace Balfour and Hugh Thackeray Turner. Notable former residents include Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon. Number 5 was a residence of the Italian Air Attaché. Institutions based here included the Margarine and Shortening Manufacturers' Association; the Lion Services Club; and the Institution of Highways and Transportation.


Gallery

Statue of Mozart, Orange Square SW1.JPG, Bronze statue of Mozart WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART 1756-1791 composed his first symphony here in 1764 (cropped).JPG, Plaque to
Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...
Brown plaque Vita Sackville-West and Harold Nicolson.jpg, Plaque to
Vita Sackville-West Victoria Mary, Lady Nicolson, Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (née Sackville-West; 9 March 1892 – 2 June 1962), usually known as Vita Sackville-West, was an English author and garden designer. Sackville-West was a successful nov ...
and
Harold Nicolson Sir Harold George Nicolson (21 November 1886 – 1 May 1968) was a British politician, writer, broadcaster and gardener. His wife was Vita Sackville-West. Early life and education Nicolson was born in Tehran, Persia, the youngest son of dipl ...


References

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