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london-footprints.co.uk |
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london-footprints.co.uk |
[Lords] [Octavia Hill] [Department Store] [Theatre] [Cabmen's shelters] [Crocker's Folly] [mosque] [Sherlock Holmes] [Resources]
LORD’S CRICKET GROUND is the headquarters of the Marylebone
Cricket Club. This was founded in 1787 by Thomas Lord. Originally
in Dorset Square it moved to North Bank, St John’s Wood
around 1810 when rents were due to be increased. Five years later
it had to move again for the construction of the Regent’s
Canal to its present location. Its famous pavilion was built in
1890 and Michael Hopkins built new stands in the 1980s. Most
recently the Nat West Media Centre has been added.
Guided tours are available around the ground and museum on most
days. Telephone 020 7432 1033 for availablity and bookings. There
is an admission charge and dress code [website].
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OCTAVIA HILL As well as being a founder of the National Trust Octavia was much concerned with social reform especially in regard to housing. In 1859 she moved with her family to Milton (now Balcombe) Street and taught at the Portman Hall School. In 1885 the editor of the Pall Mall Gazette WT Stead wrote about how he had procured a 13 year old girl Eliza Armstrong from her parents in Charles Street for 5. His campaign succeeded in getting the age of consent raised to 16 but earned Stead a jail sentence of 3 months. Octavia managed to get the stigmatised slums cleared and replaced with the present Almond & St Botolphs cottages in 1895 in re-named Ranston Street. Eliza is thought to be the inspiration for Eliza Doolittle in Shaw's Pygmalion. |
DEPARTMENT
STORE
Spencer, Turner & Boldero began as a linen drapers, taking
over first numbers 60-74 Lisson Grove and later 75-93 to become a
department store and wholesale warehouse. It employed 300
assistants and 200 needlewomen and there were staff dining rooms
and a library & reading room. Beneath an ornate clocktower in
Duke Street were stables for the horse-drawn delivery carts. It
was demolished in 1970 and replaced by flats and a social
security office.
THEATRE
The Royal Pavilion West which opened in January 1831 was
constructed from two stableyards off Church Street. Seating 300
it put on pantomimes, farces, melodramas and dog-dramas. As an
unlicensed establishment it was unable to take money at the door
so people gained admission by buying a bun at the neighbouring
coffee house! It became the Portman Theatre and staged 'Muder in
the Red Barn' then continued unlicensed in 1836 as the Royal West
London Theatre. In 1837 it was purchased by John Loveridge and
was to remain in the same family until 1893. Loveridge purchased
and demolished a property in Church Street to provide a new
porticoed entrance. Renamed the Royal Marylebone Theatre and with
a music license it was able to perform Shakespeare & drama
and any play with a song. The seating capacity was increased to
2000 and in December 1842 it reopened as the New Theatre Royal,
Marylebone. The Shakespeare and drama were less successful and it
returned to comedies, melodramas and pantomime, often with a
local setting. Under the management of Joseph Cave in 1858
'fantastic illusions' were produced with one of the earliest uses
of electricity in the theatre. By 1896 it was known as the Royal
West London Theatre and in 1904 the young Charlie Chaplin played
Billy in 'Sherlock Holmes'. In 1906 there were exhibitions of
moving pictures which gradually replaced drama. The New Biograph
Trading Company took over in 1913 and renamed the West London
Cinema it showed films, wrestling and boxing. The theatre came to
an end in 1941 with bomb damage and was being used as a warehouse
when it was finally destroyed by fire in 1962. A plaque by the
library marks the site.
CABMEN’S SHELTERS – see [article]
CROCKER'S
FOLLY
This curiously named pub, with its sign depicting a train, was
built in 1898-9 by C H Worley for Frank Crocker as the Crown
Hotel. The lavish interior included a grand saloon and two-table
billard room. Crocker reckoned that the Great Central Railway
from the Midlands would terminate near his premises and bring him
lots of business but unfortunately Marylebone Station was built
about a mile away. Several sources allege he went bankrupt and
commited suicide by jumping from an upstairs window but he died a
natural death in 1904. In 1983 its new owners adopted its
nickname.
LONDON
CENTRAL MOSQUE
The Mosque, part of the Islamic Cultural Centre, was completed in
1977 and designed by Sir Frederick Gibberd. It is open daily
8:30am-11pm and visitors are welcome. There is a dress code which
includes the wearing of headscarves by women. website
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SHERLOCK HOLMES 221B Baker Street was the fictional address of Holmes, Dr Watson and Mrs Hudson. When Conan Doyle wrote the stories 221 did not exist - Baker Street north of Marylebone Road was Upper Baker Street. Many attempts have been made to identify the house using clues from the stories. 221 is now included in the Abbey National building. There is a small plaque and in the corner window a copy of the statue of Holmes which was set up outside Baker Street Station. Someone in the Abbey National office has to answer correspondence sent to Sherlock Holmes! To get a better idea of the style of Holmes' house have a look at number 239 which has been made into a Sherlock Holmes Museum [website] |
RESOURCES
This walk was compiled from information in the book ‘A
Prospect of Westminster’ by Tony Aldous which includes an
alternative route around the area.
An illustrated booklet 'Pineapples & Pantomimes - a history
of Church Street and Lisson Green' by Erica McDonald and David J
Smith is available to purchase at Westminster Archives (see
below).
Further information on the area is available at the WESTMINSTER ARCHIVES [more info] [website]
london-footprints.co.uk 2003
[route & what to see] [walks list]
