St Petersburgh Place is a street in the

Bayswater Bayswater is an area in the City of Westminster in West London. It is a built-up district with a population density of 17,500 per square kilometre, and is located between Kensington Gardens to the south, Paddington to the north-east, and ...

area of

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, located in the

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 ...

. It runs north to south from

Moscow Road Moscow Road is a street in the Bayswater area of London. Located in the City of Westminster, it runs eastwards from Queensway, London, Queensway to Pembridge Square. It was developed by the painter, publisher, and property pioneer Edward Orme in ...

Bayswater Road Bayswater Road is the main road running along the northern edge of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park in London. Originally part of the A40 road in London, A40 road, it is now designated part of the A402 road. Route In the east, Bayswater Road ...

, close to the northwestern entrance to

Kensington Gardens Kensington Gardens, once the private gardens of Kensington Palace, are among the Royal Parks of London. The gardens are shared by the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and sit immediately to the west of Hyde Pa ...

. It was constructed by the

property developer Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw Real Estate, land and the sale of developed land or parce ...

and

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

Edward Orme Edward Orme (1775 – 28 September 1848) was a British engraver, painter and publisher of illustrated books. He was also a property developer in Bayswater, where Orme Square was named after him. Early life Edward Orme was born in 1775 in Ma ...

during the

Regency In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

. As with Moscow Road its name commemorates the visit of

Alexander I of Russia Alexander I (, ; – ), nicknamed "the Blessed", was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first king of Congress Poland from 1815, and the grand duke of Finland from 1809 to his death in 1825. He ruled Russian Empire, Russia during the chaotic perio ...

to London in 1814 as part of the Allied celebrations following the victory in the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

. It was originally known simply as Petersburgh Place, but this was later changed to St Petersburgh Place, an alternative spelling of

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, the then-capital of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. In 1818 Orme constructed a Bayswater Chapel for the growing number of inhabitants. From 1823 to 1826 Orme also developed the nearby

Orme Square Orme Square is a private square in Bayswater, London, England, off the north side of Bayswater Road and on the north-west corner of Hyde Park, London, Hyde Park, overlooking Kensington Gardens whose Orme Gate entrance takes its name from the squ ...

. Adjacent to the street is the smaller St Petersburgh Mews, which runs parallel northwards to Moscow Road. St Petersburgh Place is noted for its two places of worship, the

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

of St Matthew's, Bayswater, and the

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

New West End Synagogue The New West End Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in St. Petersburgh Place, Bayswater, in the City of Westminster, London, England, in the United Kingdom. The congregation has been a member of United Synagogu ...

, both of which are listed buildings. The street also features Lancaster Close, a 1920s

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

apartment block. Unlike in Paris, St Petersburgh Place and Mews both kept their names throughout the twentieth century when the Russian city's name changed in 1914, 1924, and 1991.

References

Bibliography

* Cockburn, J. S., King, H. P. F. & McDonnell, K. G. T. & ''A History of the County of Middlesex''. Institute of Historical Research, 1989. * Mills, David Anthony. ''A Dictionary of London Place Names''. Oxford University Press, 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Petersburgh Place Streets in the City of Westminster Bayswater