Category: Victoria Hinshaw

A Visit to Regency London

Victoria here, inviting you to come with me to Regency London! Do not forget to don your special eyeglasses, the ones that will eliminate all evidence of city development after 1820 or so, including Victorian remodeling, post-Blitz reconstruction, contemporary skyscrapers, autos and buses, and modern clothing.

Substitute for horns, diesel engines and ever-present sirens the clip clop of hooves, the squeaking of cart-wheels and the cries of peddlers and hawkers of milk, eel pies, fresh buns: “Who will buy my ….” 

We shall start at the old address, No. 1 London (above), the site of Apsley House, home of the Duke of Wellington. The original Adam house was re-faced in Bath stone; the Duke entertained here, particularly at the Battle of Waterloo annual anniversary banquet, beginning in the appropriately named Waterloo Gallery.

I will not go into raptures over Apsley and its treasures — we have done that before on this blog. In fact, several times, and you’ll find the website here. But keep in mind that neither the exterior nor the interior are original. While the exterior was remodeled before 1820, the interiors reflect more of the tastes from the Victorian era.

Here is the entrance, as it was refaced in Bath Stone after the Duke purchased Apsley House from his brother Richard, Marquess of Wellesley, in 1817. Originally the house was smaller and finished in red brick.

The map below shows the route we will take on this visit to Regency London.  We start at Apsley House, approximately at A on the map, which is the tube stop just outside of Apsley House. The layout of the streets in 2011 is quite different from 1811. Today the broad boulevard of Park Lane (in green) connects with Piccadilly and other streets in a dizzying traffic circle. Apsley House is entirely cut off from the other streets, and the buildings that stood beside it were long ago demolished. The rather dark picture above shows how Apsley House stands isolated behind all the traffic.

Today it sits in the eastern most part of Hyde Park.  From Apsley, we will walk in a generally easterly direction toward B on the map, which is Piccadilly Circus, also non-existent in 1811.  Along Piccadilly, we will see a few remnants of the Regency Era and just before we get lost in Piccadilly Circus, we will retrace our steps to the top of St. James Street (on the map a tiny bit to the right of the Green Park tube sign) and walk down (southerly) St. James Street until it ends at — what else? — St. James Palace, beyond Pall Mall.

On the south,  or right side of Piccadilly (as you head toward today’s Piccadilly Circus) is Green Park, open space which resembles the way it looked in 1811. On the north, or left hand side of Piccadilly are solid banks of buildings most dating from later than the early 19th century, with a few exceptions.  Gone is Devonshire House which once welcomed London’s aristocracy and royalty. It was demolished in 1924. Below is a picture from The Queen in 1896.
Above is a photo from Wikipedia taken in 2010, more recent than any of mine, of the gates of Devonshire House which now serve as an entrance to Green Park, almost across Piccadilly from their original location.

Above is a building variously known as Cambridge House and the former In and Out Club. This imposing house was built in the mid 18th c. for the 2nd Earl of Egremont. It was later owned by the 1st Marquess of  Cholmondeley and then by Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge.  From 1855 to 1865, it was known as Palmerston House, where Lord Palmerston, Prime Minister, and his wife, Emily, Lady Palmerston (nee Lamb, formerly Countess Cowper) entertained and conducted much of the business of the government.  In the 20th century, it became the Naval and Military Club, often called the In and Out Club, after the large signs on the pillars in front of the courtyard. In 1996, the Naval and Military Club moved to different premises in St. James Square.  The building then stood empty and sadly neglected until last year, when construction began on what will be yet another hotel. In fact, the whole of the area around Apsley House will soon be comprised of hotels before too much longer.  

Moving eastward, and also on the north side of the street, we arrive at Burlington House, now the home of the Royal Academy of Art.  There are remnants of the Regency era building here, but the exterior and much of the interior are greatly altered, not to mention the artwork in the courtyard.

The house and its grounds were remodeled by the same Lord Burlington that designed and built Chiswick House in grand Palladian Style.  Like many of the mansions on Piccadilly and in Mayfair, it used to have gardens, extensive courtyards, stable blocks, all the accouterments of country mansions — which they once were. As the West End became more and more desirable, these gardens and most of the courtyards were built over.

 

Above are the John Madejski Fine Rooms in the Royal Academy, which have been restored close to their appearance in the 18th century.  These rooms are often open without charge to visitors and display portraits of RA members such as Reynolds and Gainsborough. The other galleries have been greatly altered from the original and house changing exhibitions.

Next door, we find Albany where so many famous Regency gentlemen (not to mention numerous fictional heroes) lived. The house was once the home of Lord and Lady Melbourne, then the Duke of York, before it was converted to apartments.  Byron had rooms here, as did (much later) Georgette Heyer.  Below, two views of Albany, from the front and the side.  Across Piccadilly is Hatchard’s Book Shop.

 

Hatchards Book Store, 187 Piccadilly, Est. 1797

 

A bit farther east on Piccadilly (assuming you can tear yourself away from all the tempting titles at Hatchards) is St. James Church, 197 Piccadilly, built in 1684 and designed by Sir Christopher Wren. Its interior has many carvings by Grinling Gibbons, and despite some renovations in the 19th and 20th centuries, it is much as it appeared during the Regency.

Now retrace your steps past Hatchards and walk to Fortnum and Mason, on the corner of Piccadilly and Duke Street.  Although it began in 1707 in St. James Market, the large building  is modern. Nevertheless, you may want to sample one of the restaurants or at least take home a catalogue of their mail-order wares.  Visit the website here.

Fortnum and Mason, 181 Piccadilly, est. 1707

Proceed westerly to the corner of St. James Street and turn left, or south.  At the bottom, you will see St. James Palace, as I photographed it from a distance.

Charming print of cherry seller outside St. James Palace, c. 1811
Today’s view of St. James


From Ackermann’s Microcosm of London, the scene at a drawing room in St. James Palace in 1808.  St. James Palace was the official residence of the King. Even today, foreign ambassadors serve at the Court of St. James, though they are received by the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

On your walk from Piccadilly to St. James Palace, most of the buildings you pass were constructed later than the Regency, but not all, for here are several of the famous men’s clubs of St. James and several shops with roots in the era.

Whites Club
Brooks Club

 

Boodles Club
Berry Bros. and Rudd, Wine Merchants, est. 1698

 

Lock and Co. Hatters, est.1676

 

 

A walk around Regency London with tour guide Kristine Hughes is included on the itinerary for Number One London’s Town & Country House tour in May 2024. Complete itinerary and details can be found here.

 

The Queen’s Masterpieces on Exhibit

by Victoria Hinshaw

Opening December 4, 2020, sixty-five of the greatest paintings in the Royal Collection will hang in the Queen’s Gallery in Buckingham Palace until January, 2022. That gives us a year to get to London and binge on the Real Thing, usually seen only inside the Palace where the very nice but firm guards keep the crowd moving right along.

Recently, as part of the program to renovate the Palace and update its outmoded systems, the Picture Gallery was vacated and the contents put into storage, except for the masterpieces chosen to be exhibited for the next thirteen months while this portion of the building undergoes its share  of the Reservicing Program,  a ten-year period of repairs.

Rembrandt’s portrait of Agatha Bas, 1641

The Picture Gallery was added to the Palace in the 1820’s by George IV to house his art collection. Architect John Nash, the King’s favorite, designed the room, also used for state receptions. It has been updated several times most recently in the 1950’s.

Vermeer, Lady at the Virginals with a Gentleman, early 1660s

One of only 34 known Vermeer paintings, this canvas was acquired by George III in 1762.  The relative simplicity of the scene concentrates the observer’s view on the figures and perhaps invites speculation on the relationship of the two. The delicacy of the light is a signature quality of Vermeer’s style and composition.

Claude Lorrain, Harbour Scene at Sunset, 1643

According to the description of the painting, “Claude was captivated by the effect of light in the landscape…we are transported directly into the scene.” This painting was probably acquired by Frederick, Prince of Wales, father of George III.

Guido Reni, Cleopatra with the Asp, 1628

The description states “Reni dramatically conveys the foreboding of her passage from life to death…a shift from flesh and blood to cold marble.”

Titian, Madonna and Child in a Landscape with Tobias and the Angel, c. 1535-40

This painting was presented to Charles II in 1660 by the States of Holland and West Friesland upon his restoration to the throne. Titan stands as a giant of Italian painting for his realism, use of color and dramatic structure.

Canaletto. The Bacino di San Marco on Ascension Day, c. 1733-34

Canaletto is a favorite of the English, for both his Italian and his English scenes, all grand in scope but intricately detailed.  George III acquired this painting in 1762 as part of the collection of Joseph Smith, British Consul in Venice. It portrays a celebration of the city’s Marriage with the Sea.

The Queen’s Gallery

All these masterworks and more will be on view in the Queen’s Gallery long enough for us to get there, I hope! Once they are rehung inside the Palace Picture Gallery, more exhibitions from the Royal Collection will be mounted in the Queen’s Gallery. I have visited displays of Fabergé items, Leonardo drawings and artifacts, the Art and Love of Victoria and Albert, treasures from the courts of the first two Georges, and many more.  All together they represent only a fraction of the total Royal Collection of 7,000 paintings, 500,000 prints, and 30,000 watercolors and drawings, plus sculptures, jewels, ceramics, photos, and manuscripts valued at well over $13 billion, according to Smithsonian Magazine.

Hope I meet you there!

The Sculptor Chantrey

by Victoria Hinshaw

For those of us who love to poke around in British palaces, castles, stately homes, museums and all sorts of historical sites (that’s probably all of us), with a special interest in the Georgian and Victorian periods (most of us??), sooner or later we will begin to notice the recurring name of Francis Chantrey, a sculptor whose works are simply all over the place.

 

Sir Francis Legatt Chantrey, by Thomas Phillips, 1818 (NPG)

Sir Francis Legatt Chantrey (1781-1841) was not only a renowned and prolific artist, but also a philanthropist who left a bequest for the purchase of artwork for the nation.  The income from investing the £105,000 from his legacy has been used to purchase hundreds of artworks by British artists for the nation’s museums and continues to this day.

 

Chantrey self portrait, 1810, Tate Britain

 

The UK’s National Portrait Gallery has hundreds of works by Chantrey himself, from sketches executed as preparation for his sculptures, to marble busts of leading men of his generation.

Drawings Chantrey made of Sir John Soane, preparatory work for the bust Chantrey sculpted which today can be seen in Sir John Soane’s Museum, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London, below.

Close-up of the bust of Sir John Soane
Last year, at the Yale Center for British Art, Diane Gaston, a well-known Regency author, and Victoria posed with a Chantrey bust of George IV.
As so often in Georgian-era portraits, the subject is wearing a Roman-style toga.  And without being unrealistic, somehow the expression on the King’s face seems to me quite representative of his character.  Unlike the overly flattering pictures by others, particularly Sir Thomas Lawrence, this Chantrey bust gives us a hint of the dichotomy in George IV: one the one hand selfish, narcissistic and extravagant — but on the other hand, a great builder and  connoisseur of the arts.
This Chantrey bust is one of several similar versions he and his studio produced, dated 1827.
Chantrey’s equestrian statue of George IV
George IV and the royal family were frequent patrons of Chantrey.  His bronze state of Geogbe IV on horseback can be found in Trafalgar Square, as above. Below is George IV in the center of the Grand Vestibule of Windsor Castle’s State Rooms, flanked by mounted knights.
The magnificent statue of the mounted Duke of Wellington by Chantrey stands outside the Royal Exchange in the City of London.

Below, a sketch of the pedestal made by Chantrey for the Wellington statue.

 

 

Chantrey’s sketch of the Duke of Wellington for a bust.

 

Born near Sheffield, Francis Chantrey was the son of a carpenter and became an apprentice to a woodcarver.  His skill and talentset him apart, and he was given lessons in painting.  He was a able to earn enough as a portrait painter to move to London, where by 1804, he was included in exhibitions at the Royal Academy
Chantrey Self-Portrait, NPG
 In a few years, he devoted himself mainly to sculpture.  He married in 1807, and soon was doing commissions for naval officers and the Greenwich Hospital.  He visited Italy in 1819 and associated with the leading artists of his day.  He was knighted in 1835 by William IV.  When he died, he was buried in a tomb he had constructed for himself in St. James Church, near Sheffield.

Above, the Marble Hall at Holkham Hall in Norfolk, the estate of the earls of Leicester.   On either side of the staircase (on the right behind the piano) are two busts by Sir Francis Legatt Chantrey.

Reproduction of a marble bust of Coke of Norfolk (1754-1842), by Chantrey, from 1829, which can be purchased from the estate at their website: http://www.holkhamsculpturereproductions.co.uk/
Coke of Norfolk, a great agricultural innovator, was the great nephew of Thomas Coke, and Coke of Norfolk was named 1st Earl of Leicester of the Seventh Creation in 1837.

Below, the reproduction of Chantrey’s marble copy of a bust of Thomas Coke, first Earl of Leicester (1697-1759) of the Sixth Creation. created by Louis Francoise Roubilliac (1705-1762).  Both busts were sculpted to stand among the large collection of classical busts acquired by Thomas Coke and displayed at Holkham.

 

Above, Sir Joseph Banks in the British Museum, Botanist, Trustee and Benefactor, by Sir Francis Chantey, dated 1826.

Also displayed in the British Museum, Chantrey’s bust of his collaborator and mentor, the famous 18th c. sculptor Joseph Nollekens (1737-1823).

Besides the dozens of busts Chantrey sculpted, which were highly prized and sought after, he did some touching works which displayed his skill in composition as well as compassion.

The Sleeping Children, 1817, above, in the Litchfield Cathedral, was commissioned by the widowed mother of the two dead girls, Mrs. Ellen-Jane Woodhouse Robinson.  Most observers find it the finest of Chantrey’s works.

The Royal Collection

The lovely portrayal of Dorothea Jordan was commissioned  from Chantrey by King William IV and completed in 1834. It has been displayed in Buckingham Palace since 1980.  Mrs. Jordan, a leading actress of her day, was the long-time mistress of William IV when he was Duke of Clarence and bore him ten children, known by the surname FitzClarence.

Bridgeman

This drawing of the anteroom of Chantrey’s sculpture gallery (30 Belgrave Place) shows its design by Sir John Soane for his friend, the sculptor.

 

Pen, Brush and Chisel: The Studio of Sir Francis Chantrey by artist Sir Edwin Landseer (1803-73), Royal Collection

This charming portrait of Mustard, Chantrey’s terrier, and his sculpting tools was presented to Queen Victoria by Lady Chantrey in 1842. According to the description in the Royal Collection, “The painting was commissioned in April 1835 by Chantrey, who sent Landseer a humorous letter, supposedly from Mustard. It was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1836 when it was admired by Queen Victoria.”  After Chantrey’s death, his widow presented the painting to the Queen.

 

Queen Victoria, marble, 1841, by Sir Francis Chantrey, Royal Collection
Chantrey created portraits of four British sovereigns.  Above, his last work, a bust of Queen Victoria,  was Prince Albert’s  favorite portrayal of his wife

Also in the Royal Collection is this watercolour on ivory by Andrew Robertson (1777-1845), dated 1800. Purchased  by Queen Victoria in 1880, it portrays Chantrey “Half-length, standing, facing slightly to the right, wearing a grey studio coat and dark blue waistcoat and holding a hammer, chisel and yellow dustcloth, beside his bust of George IV; grey-blue eyes, grey-brown hair; red curtains background.”

The painting above is The Burial of Sir Frances Chantrey  by artist Henry Perlee Parker, 1841. It was  badly damaged in a flood in 2007 at the Weston Park Museum, Sheffield, and had to be dried for more than a year before it was conserved.  Chantrey is buried in St. James Church, Sheffield, near the village of his birth.

New British Galleries at the Met

by Victoria Hinshaw

Just before closing for the covid 19 pandemic, New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art reopened the British Galleries after a total reinstallation. When  was last in NYC, I was disappointed not to visit favorite spots such as the Lansdowne House Dining Room, removed from the London structure and brought to the Met many years ago. But now that room and many other treasures have been restored, reinstalled, and reinterpreted.

The Lansdowne House Dining Room

I have not visited the new Galleries (the Met is scheduled to reopen in late August), but they have received widespread comments from art and cultural sources, enough to give us a pretty good idea of the new approaches.

19th Century Gallery

From the Met’s press release last March, 2020: ‘The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s $22m reinstallation of its British galleries opens to the public on Monday with a stirring narrative on the anxious commercial striving that shaped the British decorative arts from 1500 to 1900. Featuring nearly 700 works in 10 rooms spanning 11,000 sq. ft, the galleries tell a warts-and-all story of empire in which dark elements like the slave trade emerge and cataclysmic events like the Great Fire of London in 1666 serve as dramatic punctuation points. Nearly a third of the works on view have been newly acquired, with a preponderance of those recent purchases in the 19th-century section.’

19th Century Gallery

In the above picture, a bust by Sir Francis Chantrey (1781-1841)  of Arthur Wellesley, lst Duke of Wellington (1769-1852), is at the left and below.  At right and below is a portrait of George (1762-1830), Prince of Wales, later George IV, by Sir William Beechey (1753-1839). Beneath the portrait is a red bench by Thomas Hope (1769-1831), before 1807.

Duke of Wellington, marble, 1823
George IV

Other than these familiar objects, the installation is very different than past representations of British Art. Again, quoting the Met’s press release:  ‘The Met’s British collection is the largest of its kind in the US. The opening, part of the Met’s 150th anniversary celebrations, crowns a seven-year effort that began with the notion that “these galleries needed some attention and refreshment,” says Wolf Burchard, the Met’s associate curator of British furniture and decorative arts. “The previous galleries were all about the individual objects in historic interiors, and there was no thread that went through it,” he explains. “The new galleries are all about the cross section between creativity and entrepreneurialism.”’

Pietro Torrigiano’s bust of Bishop John Fisher (1510-1515) Courtesy of Metropolitan Museum of Art
The newly conserved pine and elm staircase from Cassiobury Park, Herfordshire (around 1677-80) in the Metropolitan Museum of Art ‘s new British galleries Photo by Joseph Coscia, February 2020/Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met continues: ‘The first gallery, clad in paneling made for the merchant trader William Crowe, opens from the museum’s medieval sculpture hall, vaulting the viewer into the 16th-century Renaissance era. A wall text emphasizes how the House of Tudor competed to match the artistic splendors of papal Rome, the French courts and the Germanic centers of Hapsburg power, and how a new class of professionals with luxury appetites arose under the stable reign of Elizabeth I amid an expansion of global trade. Surveying the gallery from its perch is a polychrome terra cotta bust that is thought to depict Bishop John Fisher, who was executed for opposing Henry VIII’s decision to lead the Church of England away from Roman Catholicism and papal authority. Leading to a mezzanine is another highlight, the magnificently ornamented and newly conserved pine and elm staircase from Cassiobury Park, Herfordshire (around 1677-80), with its naturalistic acanthus leaves, acorns, birds and snakes.’

The Met continues: ‘A gallery titled “Tea, Trade and Empire” drives home how four commodities—tea, sugar, coffee, and cocoa—fuelled artistic innovation in Britain from the late 17th through the late 18th century. The museum has installed two towering semi-circular glass cases filled with a whimsical assortment of 100 teapots, underlining how that staple became a pivot point for social interaction in even modest British households and nurtured an enormous national ceramic industry. (The galleries are mindful not just of an aristocratic elite but of multiple layers of society.) At the same time, the 1789 title page of a slave’s memoir on the perimeter of the gallery alerts viewers to the exploitative nature of empire, with the trans-Atlantic slave trade rising in tandem with the spread of sugar plantations. “Much of the wealth of this period is built on the labor of enslaved Africans,” a wall text says simply.’

A gallery titled “Tea, Trade and Empire’ features two towering glass cases featuring 100 British teapots Photo by Joseph Coscia, February 2020/Courtesy of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
teapot in the form of a house, ca. 1775; Salt-glazed stoneware with enamel decoration
Staffordshire teapot, salt-glazed stoneware with enamel decoration, ca 1760
Staffordshire Teapot, ca. 1750-60
Hanging depicting a European conflict in South India, cotton, drawn & resist-dyed
Sugar Box, Silver, Ca. 1738, by Paul de Lamerie
Josiah Wedgwood, anti-slavery medallion, 1787

The Met continues: ‘Three galleries are devoted to the re-creation of striking 18th-century British interiors moved from Kirtlington Park (Oxfordshire), Croome Court (Worcestershire) and Lansdowne House (London). A wall text notes that the Lansdowne dining room, designed by Robert Adam and crowned by an intricately decorated ceiling, banished odor-absorbing textiles that would have retained “the smell of the victuals”.’

Kirtlington Park; photo by Richard Lee
Croome Park room, after Robert Adam, 1763-71, photo by Joseph Coscia

Last year I was at the Met in July but I won’t make it this year. What a strange year 2020 is!

July, 2019, photo by Victoria Hinshaw
View from the Met roof, July 2019, photo by VH

WALKING LONDON: A ST. JAMES’S STROLL

by Victoria Hinshaw

Originally published after Number One London’s 2015 Duke of Wellington Tour, we’re re-running this post on our St. James’s Walk as we regularly include it on all our tours that begin or end in London. Our next is the Country House Tour, May 2021. Complete details can be found here. 

Kristine and Victoria led a walking tour of St. James’s London, beginning with a view of Buckingham Palace and the Victoria Monument from Green Park. Being a Sunday, the  traffic circle and the Mall were closed to vehicle traffic and open to pedestrians and bicycles.  Our weather was perfect – warm and sunny.

Lancaster House
Spencer House

We then headed up the pedestrian path on the east side of Green Park, past Lancaster House and Spencer House, before cutting  through the narrow Milkmaids Passage, a pedestrian tunnel that brings one out opposite the Stafford Hotel.

Stafford Hotel
The Stafford  Hotel (now much remodeled) was once the home of Sir William, 3rd Baronet Lyttelton, and his wife (1787-1870), the former Lady Sarah Spencer, niece of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire. After her husband’s death, Lady Lyttelton became a governess to the children of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.  During World War II, the Stafford was used as a club for American and Canadian officers, and the hotel remains known for its American Bar to this day.
The American Bar at the Stafford Hotel

Wandering around the maze of streets in this little corner of St. James’s, we found a mix of modern (often brutalist) office/apartment complexes and 18th century listed buildings. A post-war office complex now faces Spencer House and stands as evidence of the bomb that was dropped on the site during WWII, which also blew out most of the windows of Spencer House. Remarkably, no one was injured in the blast.

Above, and across from the Stafford, is the entrance facade to Spencer House in St. James’s Place. Built 1756-66 by architects John Vardy and James “Athenian” Stuart for John, 1st Earl Spencer, Spencer House is now owned by the Rothschild Enterprise’s RIT Capital Partners and open on most Sundays for a tour of the State Rooms.  The website is here and includes photos of both the exterior and interior.

A few doors down from Spencer House is this handsome brick house, once the residence of  Williams Huskisson (1770-1830). The blue plaque refers to him as a statesman; he was often a strong political opponent to the Duke of Wellington in Parliament.  Huskisson also became England’s first railroad fatality. During the inaugural run of the Manchester to Liverpool railroad, he was amongst the dignitaries invited to travel on one of two trains opening the route. When the trains stopped at a siding to take on water, Huskisson left his carriage and crossed the tracks to the second train, unaware that Stephenson’s train, the Rocket, was headed straight towards him on the middle track. Huskisson’s leg was crushed by the Rocket and he died a few hours later. Unfortunately, the accident was witnessed by several notables who were on the trip, including the Duke of Wellington.
Next door, No. 29 was once the residence of Winston Churchill.
No. 5  was the home of Sir Robert Walpole (1676-1745)
and his son Horace Walpole (1717-1797)
 
Duke’s Hotel is another elegant institution, located just off St. James’s Place.

St. James’s Place opens into St. James’s Street, famous for gentlemen’s clubs of the British variety and several very old and traditional merchants.  The numbering begins at the Palace and goes north up the east side of the street to Piccadilly then crosses to the west side and counts southward back to the Palace.

St. James’s Palace
A Grenadier Guard at St James’s Palace, built by Henry VIII
Entering St. James’s Street, we find many Georgian and Regency institutions, including Berry Bros. and Rudd, Ltd, Wine Merchants, at No. 3.
A Passage beside the wine store leads to Pickering Place, above.
This little space was once known as a spot for dueling, but it must have been pretty tight! Another plaque commemorates the location of the Texas legation 1842-1846.

Pickering Place,with a plaque of Lord Palmerston
Lock and Co. Hatters have served British dignitaries for more than 300 years.
Click here for their website..
Lobb and Co. Bootmakers

Closer to Piccadilly on the east side of the street are two famous Clubs

Boodle’s, #27  St. James’s Street

.

The chemist’s shop, D. R. Harris, founded in
1790, is located at #29. The website is here.
White’s Club, #37/38 St. James’s Street, founded 1693

On the west side, heading back to St. James’s Palace, you will find Brook’s Club.

Brooks’s 60 St. James’s Street,  club founded in 1762
The headquarters of Justerini and Brooks Ltd. at 61 St. James Street,
across Park Place from Brooks’s.

 

The Carlton Club, #69 St. James’s Street, founded in 1832
#74 St. James’s Street, formerly the Conservative Club, completed in 1845
Returning to Piccadilly, we stopped for a welcome sit-down and a coffee or tea. Even on a Sunday morning, Piccadilly was busy, as usual an international mish-mash of tourists globe-wide. Great people watching!
Burlington Arcade
We walked east on Piccadilly past a number of famous sites:
on the north side of the street, Burlington Arcade.
And Burlington House, home of the Royal Academy of Arts.
Tucked almost beside Burlington House is the  famous residence, Albany, once the home of Lord Byron and more recently, Georgette Heyer.  Built originally as Melbourne House. it was traded by that family to the Duke of York and Albany (2nd son of George III) in exchange for what became Melbourne House in Whitehall, now the Scotland office just south of Horse Guards. Later it became prestigious bachelor quarters, eventually open to women as well.
Albany
On the South side of the street, that esteemed purveyor of all things delicious, Fortnum and Mason, established in 1707 in Duke Street, and supplier worldwide, including to the army in the Peninsular War in the early 19th century, right up to today’s British forces — not to mention picnickers, racegoers, opera lovers, and  foodies everywhere. To visit, click here.
Fortnum and Mason
Hatchards Bookstore, above, established 1797  Their website is here.
Soon, we arrive at the wonderful St James’s Church, Piccadilly.
Outside the church is a small but lively marketplace
Baptismal font

 

The famous wood carvings of Grinling Gibbons
Floris Perfumers on Jermyn Street
Nearby, a plaque marking the location of the residence of Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
Chequers Pub
Time for another pause that refreshes, this time at Chequers…a charming little pub in Duke street. At the rear of the building or accessible from a passage beside it is Mason’s Yard, another hidden collection of interesting sites, including the White Cube Gallery and the member’s entrance to the London Library.
William III in St. James’s Square
At last we came to St. James’s Square, still a leafy oasis, though a private park as so many of the squares in London are.
There are still a few of the buildings originally built here, though much remodeled, and many replaced.  At #4 is the Naval and Military Club, better known as the In and Out Club.
#4 St. James’s Square
The plaque honors Nancy Astor (1879-1964), first woman to sit in Parliament, who once lived here.
Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St. Albans, 1605-1684
Following the Restoration of King Charles II in 1660, Henry Jermyn was Lord Chancellor, and received a grant of land north of St. James’s Palace, which he had cleared and laid out for development. He is known as the Father of the West End.  He died shortly before the completion of St. James’s Church, just north of St. James’s Square.
At #10 St. James’s Square stands Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, site of many important multilateral events.  The building was once home to three Prime Ministers, William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham (1708-1778), Edward Geoffrey Stanley, Earl of Derby (1799-1869), and William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898).
Plaque honoring three Prime Ministers at #10 St. James’s Square

 

Ada, Countess of Lovelace (1815-52) at #12 St James’s Square
Ada Lovelace was the only legitimate child of Lord Byron and his wife, Anabella Millbanke.  She was a mathematician and a pioneer in computing.
London Library, #14 St. James’s Square
The private library, established in 1841, is a favorite of many British writers and historians. Kristine and Victoria returned here the week after the tour for a special viewing during London Open House Week.

#16 St. James’s Square, above, once the Boehm residence where the Prince Regent received the despatches of the Duke of Wellington after the Battle of Waterloo,now the East India Services Club.

By this time we were all ready for our tea, so we hiked back to Piccadilly and the wonderful Richoux Tea Room at #172.

Left to right: Kristine, Marilyn, Donna, Ki, Victoria and Diane

In 2018, the St. James’s Walk will be a part of our Georgian England Tour and our 1815: London to Waterloo Tour. Complete details on both Tours can be found here.