Lowndes Square is a residential garden square at the north-west end of Belgravia,

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 ...

, SW1. It is formed of archetypal grand terraces of light stucco houses, cream or white. The length of the central rectangular garden is parallel with Sloane Street to the west; visible from the north-west corner is a corner of the Harvey Nichols store, beyond which is Knightsbridge tube station. Ecclesiastically (that is, in the Anglican church), it remains in a northern projection of one of the parishes of Chelsea, save its east side, in the very small parish of St Paul, Knightsbridge, a division which is mirrored secularly by the boundaries of two London Boroughs (Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea).

Ownership and building design

The square has the highest percentage of highly anonymous (shell company) ownership in the UK, accounting for 40% of the houses. Its houses are valued in excess of £10 million and so are mainly internally converted into apartments, some of which are multi-level. Locally

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

status for most of the buildings means the façades and exterior structure above ground must remain little changed. No.s 11 and 12 have higher, main statutory-level protection. As with

Belgrave Square Belgrave Square is a large 19th-century garden square in London. It is the centrepiece of Belgravia, and its architecture resembles the original scheme of property contractor Thomas Cubitt who engaged George Basevi for all of the terraces fo ...

George Basevi Elias George Basevi FRS (1 April 1794 – 16 October 1845) was a British architect who worked in both Neoclassical and Gothic Revival styles. A pupil of Sir John Soane, his designs included Belgrave Square in London, and the Fitzwilliam Mus ...

designed most of the houses. Lowndes Court, a classical apartment block, takes up the south side bar No. 34 (former numbers 28–33); the north side (former numbers of 50 and possibly more) is the Park Tower (Hotel) which fronts Knightsbridge, an arterial road on the other side. The Pakistan High Commission takes up an interior conversion of No.s 35–36.

Context and central garden

On the other side of Sloane Street are

Wilton Crescent Wilton Crescent is a street in central London, comprising a sweeping elegant terrace of Georgian houses and the private communal gardens that the semi-circle looks out upon. The houses were built in the early 19th century and are now Grade I ...

and

, notable garden squares of London which are also showcases Basevi's designs. The private communal garden is and contains

plane trees ''Platanus'' is a genus consisting of a small number of tree species native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae. All mature members of ''Platanus'' are tall, reaching in height. All except ...

and shrubs.

In film, fiction and the media

This was a setting in the

Edward Frederic Benson Edward Frederic Benson (24 July 1867 – 29 February 1940) was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, archaeologist and short story writer. Early life E.F. Benson was born at Wellington College in Berkshire, the fifth child of the head ...

novel '' The Countess of Lowndes Square''. In

Alan Hollinghurst Alan James Hollinghurst (born 26 May 1954) is an English novelist, poet, short story writer and translator. He won the 1989 Somerset Maugham Award, the 1994 James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the 2004 Booker Prize. Early life and education H ...

's novel ''

The Line of Beauty ''The Line of Beauty'' is a 2004 Man Booker Prize-winning novel by Alan Hollinghurst. Plot The novel is set in Britain in three parts, taking place in 1983, 1986 and 1987. The story surrounds the young gay protagonist, Nick Guest. Nick is midd ...

'', the Ouradi family live on the square.

Nicolas Roeg Nicolas Jack Roeg (; 15 August 1928 – 23 November 2018) was an English film director and cinematographer, best known for directing ''Performance'' (1970), '' Walkabout'' (1971), '' Don't Look Now'' (1973), '' The Man Who Fell to Earth'' (197 ...

and

Donald Cammell Donald Seton Cammell (17 January 1934 – 24 April 1996) was a Scottish painter, screenwriter, and film director. He has a cult reputation largely due to his debut film ''Performance'', which he wrote the screenplay for and co-directed wi ...

's 1970 film ''

Performance A performance is an act of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function. Management science In the work place ...

'', starring

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

and

James Fox William Fox (born 19 May 1939), known professionally as James Fox, is an English actor. He appeared in several notable films of the 1960s and early 1970s, including '' King Rat'', '' The Servant'', ''Thoroughly Modern Millie'' and ''Performan ...

, used interiors of

Leonard Plugge Captain Leonard Frank Plugge (21 September 1889 – 19 February 1981) was a British radio entrepreneur and Conservative Party politician. Early years and political life Plugge was born at Walworth, only son of Frank Plugge (1864–1946), a co ...

's Lowndes Square house.

Notable residents

Jomo Kenyatta Jomo Kenyatta (22 August 1978) was a Kenyan anti-colonial activist and politician who governed Kenya as its Prime Minister from 1963 to 1964 and then as its first President from 1964 to his death in 1978. He was the country's first indigeno ...

(1892–1978), first president of Kenya * William Lowndes (1652–1724), politician *

Lord Alan Spencer-Churchill Lord Alan Spencer-Churchill DL (b. 25 July 1825 – 19 April 1873) was an officer in the British Army, Deputy Lieutenant of Oxfordshire, a lieutenant in the Oxfordshire Yeomanry and a businessman. He was a great uncle of Sir Winston Chur ...

(1825–1873), businessman and great-uncle of Winston Churchill * Lord Haliburton (1832–1907), civil servant, at No. 57. *

Claude Bowes-Lyon, 14th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne Claude George Bowes-Lyon, 14th and 1st Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne, (14 March 1855 – 7 November 1944), styled as Lord Glamis from 1865 to 1904, was a British peer and landowner who was the father of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, t ...

(1855–1944), landowner and maternal grandfather of

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

* Geoffrey Lubbock (1873–1932),

High Sheriff of the County of London Below is a list of sheriffs of the County of London, from the creation of the county in 1889 to its abolition in 1965: *1889–1890: Alfred de Rothschild, of Senmore Place *1890–1891: Sir James Whitehead, Bart, of Highlield House, Ca ...

H.D. Hilda Doolittle (September 10, 1886 – September 27, 1961) was an American modernist poet, novelist, and memoirist who wrote under the name H.D. throughout her life. Her career began in 1911 after she moved to London and co-founded the ...

(1886–1961), American poet *

(1889–1981), radio entrepreneur and Conservative MP for Chatham (1935–1945) * Margaret Lowenfeld (1890–1973), child psychologist *

Oswald Mosley Sir Oswald Ernald Mosley, 6th Baronet (16 November 1896 – 3 December 1980) was a British politician during the 1920s and 1930s who rose to fame when, having become disillusioned with mainstream politics, he turned to fascism. He was a member ...

(1896–1980), fascist party leader *

Eric Lubbock, 4th Baron Avebury Eric Reginald Lubbock, 4th Baron Avebury (29 September 1928 – 14 February 2016), was an English politician and human rights campaigner. He served as the Liberal Member of Parliament for Orpington from 1962 to 1970. He then served in the House o ...

(1928–2016), Liberal politician * Garland Anderson (1933–2001), American composer *

Roman Abramovich Roman Arkadyevich Abramovich (, ; he, רומן ארקדיביץ' אברמוביץ'; born 24 October 1966) is a Russian oligarch and politician. He is the former owner of Chelsea, a Premier League football club in London, England, and is the ...

(born 1966), Russian tycoon *

Alfred Mond, 1st Baron Melchett Alfred Moritz Mond, 1st Baron Melchett, PC, FRS, DL (23 October 1868 – 27 December 1930), known as Sir Alfred Mond, Bt between 1910 and 1928, was a British industrialist, financier and politician. In his later life he became an active Zio ...

, Parliamentarian (first Liberal and then Conservative), and

Violet Mond, Baroness Melchett Violet Florence Mabel Mond, Baroness Melchett, (''née'' Goetze; 27 December 1867 – 25 September 1945) was a British humanitarian and activist. Violet Goetze was the daughter of Rosina Hariet (née Bentley; died 1877) and James D. Goetze (di ...

, humanitarian, activist, and social hostess

References

{{LB Kensington and Chelsea Belgravia Garden squares in London Knightsbridge Squares in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Squares in the City of Westminster Communal gardens