Argyll Street, W1F

Road in/near Soho, existing between 1736 and now.

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(51.5145 -0.14071, 51.514 -0.14) 
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FEBRUARY
26
2020
Argyll Street was named after John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll, owner of the land in the 18th century.

Sixty acres in the parish of St Martin in the Fields were granted in January 1560 by Queen Elizabeth to William Dodington. In 1622, Richard Wilson sold some 35 acres of them to William Maddox, a merchant taylor of London.

Maddox’s estate comprised 11½ acres called Millfield. Millfield, which took its name from Tyburn Mill, was on ’the east side of the highway from Charing Cross’ (i.e. Swallow Street).

The western portion of Millfield was bisected by a footpath leading from the north-west corner of the field to the gate on the north side of Six Acre Close. This footpath later became Kingly Street. Benjamin Maddox’s lease of Millfield to James Kendrick in 1670 marked the beginning of building development. Kendrick sub-let the ground to various tenants who began to build. At the end of the seventeenth century, Abraham Bridle and John James had a sub-lease of land fronting Tyburn Road, where they started building. Bridle gave his name to a passage on the east side of the footpath.

In 1706 John Campbell, second Duke of Argyll, became the inhabitant of a house on the east side of King (Kingly) Street which stood on the site now occupied by the western end of Little Argyll Street. Between 1706 and 1732 the Duke, in stages, acquired all the leasehold in the open land behind his house including two bowling greens. In February 1733 he purchased the freehold from Benjamin Pollen and three years later, he vacated his house. The estate was laid out for building.

A newspaper of 23 September 1736 described the situation: "Two rows of fine houses are building from the end of Great Marlborough-street through the waste ground and his grace the duke of Argyle’s gardens into Oxford-road, from the middle of which new building a fine street [Little Argyll Street] is to be made through his grace’s house, King-street, and Swallow-street … the middle of his grace’s house being pulled down for that purpose; and the two wings lately added to the house are to be the corners of the street which is now building."

On 6 March 1736 the Duke signed articles of agreement with Thomas Phillips and Roger Morris, whereby the three agreed jointly, "to build on the ground of the said Duke in Saint James Westminster … one New Street of dwelling Houses to be called Argyll Street".

Like Sackville Street, which was being laid out about this time on the Pulteney estate, the building of the houses seems to have been the work of individual craftsmen.

Two houses were occupied in 1738, about ten in 1739, and there were still two or three empty houses by 1745.

Little Argyll Street was formed in 1739–40, a year or two after Argyll Street

The Argyll estate appears never to have been a fashionable place of residence. The most notable occupants were professionals with soldiers and doctors being prominent in the latter part of the eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth centuries.

The formation of Regent Street greatly altered the layout of the estate. In 1820, 35 Argyll Street was demolished in order to open a way from Regent Street into Great Marlborough Street. This new opening was called Argyll Place. Argyll Place was widened in 1923, and in 1925 the name was abolished when it was designated as part of Great Marlborough Street.

The northern part of Kingly Street was closed and its site is now occupied by Regent Street and by the buildings on its east side.

The formation of Regent Street had the effect of separating the more fashionable streets to the west from those of less consequence to the east, and so far as the Argyll estate was concerned probably accelerated the social decline.


Main source: Survey of London | British History Online
Further citations and sources


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CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LOCALITY


Scott Hatton   
Added: 30 Jan 2023 11:28 GMT   

The Beatles on a London rooftop
The Beatles’ rooftop concert took place on the rooftop of the Apple Corps building in London. It was their final public performance as a band and was unannounced, attracting a crowd of onlookers. The concert lasted for 42 minutes and included nine songs. The concert is remembered as a seminal moment in the history of rock music and remains one of the most famous rock performances of all time.

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Jessie Doring   
Added: 22 Feb 2021 04:33 GMT   

Tisbury Court Jazz Bar
Jazz Bar opened in Tisbury Court by 2 Australians. Situated in underground basement. Can not remember how long it opened for.

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LATEST LONDON-WIDE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PROJECT

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Wendy    
Added: 22 Mar 2024 15:33 GMT   

Polygon Buildings
Following the demolition of the Polygon, and prior to the construction of Oakshott Court in 1974, 4 tenement type blocks of flats were built on the site at Clarendon Sq/Phoenix Rd called Polygon Buildings. These were primarily for people working for the Midland Railway and subsequently British Rail. My family lived for 5 years in Block C in the 1950s. It seems that very few photos exist of these buildings.

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Steve   
Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:42 GMT   

Road construction and houses completed
New Charleville Circus road layout shown on Stanford’s Library Map Of London And Its Suburbs 1879 with access via West Hill only.

Plans showing street numbering were recorded in 1888 so we can concluded the houses in Charleville Circus were built by this date.

Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London

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Steve   
Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:04 GMT   

Charleville Circus, Sydenham: One Place Study (OPS)
One Place Study’s (OPS) are a recent innovation to research and record historical facts/events/people focused on a single place �’ building, street, town etc.

I have created an open access OPS of Charleville Circus on WikiTree that has over a million members across the globe working on a single family tree for everyone to enjoy, for free, forever.

Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London

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Charles   
Added: 8 Mar 2024 20:45 GMT   

My House
I want to know who lived in my house in the 1860’s.

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NH   
Added: 7 Mar 2024 11:41 GMT   

Telephone House
Donald Hunter House, formerly Telephone House, was the BT Offices closed in 2000

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Paul Cox   
Added: 5 Mar 2024 22:18 GMT   

War damage reinstatement plans of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street
Whilst clearing my elderly Mothers house of general detritus, I’ve come across original plans (one on acetate) of No’s 11 & 13 Aldine Street. Might they be of interest or should I just dispose of them? There are 4 copies seemingly from the one single acetate example. Seems a shame to just junk them as the level of detail is exquisite. No worries if of no interest, but thought I’d put it out there.

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Diana   
Added: 28 Feb 2024 13:52 GMT   

New Inn Yard, E1
My great grandparents x 6 lived in New Inn Yard. On this date, their son was baptised in nearby St Leonard’s Church, Shoreditch

Source: BDM London, Cripplegate and Shoreditch registers written by church clerk.

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Vic Stanley   
Added: 24 Feb 2024 17:38 GMT   

Postcose
The postcode is SE15, NOT SE1

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LOCAL PHOTOS
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Transmission
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Get Back
Credit: Stable Diffusion
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’The Café Royal’ (1911) The huge variety of public leisure interiors – cafés, music halls and clubs among them – depicted by artists linked to the Camden Town Group reveal their enthusiasm for and direct engagement with the new entertainment and refreshment spaces of modern urban life. The leisure districts of early twentieth-century central London were safer, better lit and more easily accessible than they had been in the 1890s, and the expansion of the Underground network and the rise in motorised travel allowed many more people the opportunity to enjoy a daytrip to the city. Writing in 1902, the journalist George Sims imagined the ideal metropolitan excursion in an article entitled ‘A Country Cousin’s Day in Town’. Beginning with a trip to Madame Tussaud’s, a ride to Tower Hill on the Metropolitan Railway, and a refreshment stop at Pimm’s luncheon counter, the morning would end with a stroll around the Royal Aquarium, a visit to St James’s Hall in Piccadilly and to the nearby Egyptian Hall. The evening would commence with dinner in the artists’ room at Pagani’s, a visit to the ‘poetic and beautifully draped’ ballet at the Alhambra Theatre, a ‘long glass of lager’ in the continental style at the cosmopolitan Hotel de L’Europe with its Parisian inspired décor, and a visit to the latest moving picture show at the Palace Theatre. After catching the end of the ballet at the Empire, the evening would draw to a close with a peep into the ‘luxurious Criterion bar and American café’, a glance at the seafood display in the window of Scott’s, and a leisurely nightcap at the Café Royal ‘seated comfortably on a luxurious lounge’.
Credit: Charles Ginner (1878–1952)
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In the neighbourhood...

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BT Tower The Post Office Tower - now known as the BT Tower - opened in the Fitzrovia area of central London in 1965. The tower’s main structure was 177 metres high. A further section of aerial rigging brought the total height to 191m. It was the tallest building in the UK until London’s NatWest Tower opened in 1980.
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The Prince of Wales Theatre in 1903 shortly before its demolition for the building of the Scala Theatre in 1904.
Credit: Caroline Blomfield
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Get Back
Credit: Stable Diffusion
Licence: CC BY 2.0


Piccadilly Theatre (2007)
Credit: Turquoisefish
Licence: CC BY 2.0


Engraving of the Hanover Square Rooms in Hanover Square. For a century this was the principal concert venue in London.
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A Friday Evening Discourse at the Royal Institution; Sir James Dewar on Liquid Hydrogen (1904)
Credit: Henry Jamyn Brooks
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Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly
Credit: Simon Gunzinger
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Street view of St George’s Hanover Square (1787). An aquatint, by T. Malton.
Credit: British Library
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Albany Courtyard leads to The Albany
Credit: Wiki Commons/Ham
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Musicians waiting for work on Archer Street. In the twentieth century, Archer Street became known as a meeting point for West End musicians. The street became this hub due to its proximity to workplaces (nearby theatres and clubs) and places to drink and socialise. The Apollo and The Lyric both had stage doors which opened onto the street. Meanwhile, the Musicians’ Union London Branch was also here - musicians would go there between a matinee and an evening performance in the many theatres nearby, or to find a deputy, or just to meet friends and colleagues.
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