Sloane Street, SW1X
Belgravia
Credit: GoArt/The Underground Map
Sloane Street runs north to south, from Knightsbridge to Sloane Square, taking its name from Sir Hans Sloane, who purchased the surrounding area in 1712.

By 1760, the Swan (or New Swan) inn occupied a group of buildings facing the lane later enlarged into Sloane Street, with a tap house (later the Clock House inn) facing Brompton Road.

The Swan inn dated back at least to 1699, but was largely rebuilt in 1755–6 when a new lease was granted to Joseph Barnham, innkeeper. There was a yard with stables and coach-houses stretching to the west roughly up to the present Hooper’s Court.

Development started in the immediate environs of the inn. Here twelve houses known initially as Gloucester Row were erected under building leases of 1764 from Joseph Barnham to Joseph Clark and William Meymott, both carpenters. Clark built four houses next to the Swan, all leased in 1764. Meymott, a substantial builder based in Southwark and Bermondsey, built the following eight, leased in 1764–7. These were all small and orthodox Georgian terrace houses.

Joseph Clark (described as ‘Joseph Clark the elder’) was the most prolific developer of the area in the boom years of 1764–8.

The laying out of Sloane Street as a formal street took place at the end of the 1770s.

Sloane Street has long been a fashionable shopping street. The northern section, which is known informally as Upper Sloane Street, has flagship stores for many of the world’s most famous fashion brands.

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