Dolphin Square

Neighbourhood in/near Pimlico, existing between 1937 and now

 HOME  ·  ABOUT  ·  ARTICLE  ·  MARKERS OFF  ·  BLOG 
(51.4863 -0.136429, 51.486 -0.136) 
MAP YEAR:18001810182018301860190019502024 
TIP: MARKERS OFF allows you to view maps without clutter
 
Neighbourhood · * · ·
October
27
2010
Dolphin Square is a block of private flats and business complex built near the River Thames between 1935 and 1937.

At the time of its construction the development of 1,250 up-market flats was billed by Sir Nikolaus Pevsner as the "largest self-contained block of flats in Europe" and, to an extent, their design has been a model for later municipal developments.

The Dolphin Square development is situated on the former works of the developer and builder Thomas Cubitt, who created the surrounding Pimlico district in the 19th century. An Army clothing factory was built on the site after Cubitt’s death, standing until 1933, when the leasehold on the site reverted to the Duke of Westminster. An American company, the Frederick French Corporation, bought the freehold for the site from the Duke, with plans to build a large residential development, Ormonde Court. The precarious financial situation of the Frederick French Corporation resulted in the sale of the site to Richard Rylands Costain (founder of the nascent Costain Group), who began construction on his own development in 1935.

A. P. Herbert described the Square as ’a city of 1,250 flats, each enjoying at the same time most of the advantages of the separate house and the big communal dwelling place’; the provision of a restaurant made him fear that ’fortunate wives will not have enough to do. A little drudgery is good for wives, perhaps. The Dolphin lady may be spoiled’. This promotional booklet was produced for Costains. On purchasing the site, Costain remarked to a colleague: ‘in two or three years we’ll either drive up to this spot in a Rolls-Royce, or we’ll be standing here selling matches’.

Dolphin Square, as it was now known, was sold by Costains to Sir Maxwell Joseph who bought the complex in 1958 for £2.4 million, selling it to Lintang Investments in 1959 for £3.1 million. Westminster City Council bought the lease of the block for £4.5 million in the mid-1960s, and subsequently sub-let it to the Dolphin Square Trust, an effective housing association, which had been newly created for the purpose. In January 2006, the Dolphin Square Trust and Westminster City Council sold Dolphin Square to the American Westbrook Holdings group for £200 million.

Accommodation is provided in 13 ’houses’ each named after a famous navigator or admiral. At the south (Thames) side of the Square the houses are Grenville, Drake, Raleigh and Hawkins. Moving from the river up the west side, there are Nelson, Howard, Beatty, and Duncan. A hotel and administration offices, situated at the north side of the Square, is in Dolphin House, previously known as Rodney. Heading south from the hotel there is Keyes, Hood, Collingwood and Frobisher.

The estate contains a swimming pool, bar, brasserie (all of which were renovated in 2008), gymnasium, and shopping arcade. In the basement are a launderette and car park. A tennis court and croquet lawn overlook the River Thames. Until 21 January 1970, London Transport bus route 134 showed PIMLICO Dolphin Square as a destination and actually terminated in Chichester Street.

The proximity of Dolphin Square to the Palace of Westminster and the headquarters of the intelligence agencies MI5 (Thames House) and MI6 (Vauxhall Cross) has attracted many politicians, peers, civil servants and intelligence agency personnel as residents. Politicians who have lived in the development include Harold Wilson, David Steel, William Hague, Estelle Morris, Beverley Hughes, Michael Mates, John Langford-Holt and Iain Mills.

Other notable residents have included: comedians Ben Lyon and Bud Flanagan; actor Peter Finch; writer Radclyffe Hall; former Lord Chief Justice Lord Goddard; journalist Norman Cliff; tennis writer Bud Collins; Anne, Princess Royal; Profumo affair topless showgirls Christine Keeler and Mandy Rice-Davies. Australian tennis player Rod Laver stayed here for the 1969 Wimbledon championships during his Grand Slam season.

John Vassall, the Soviet spy, was arrested at apartment 807 in the square’s Hood House in 1962. Oswald Mosley and his wife Diana Mitford, Lady Mosley, left their apartment at Dolphin Square for internment in 1940 during the Second World War.

It provided a base for the Free French during World War II and number 308 Hood House was used by MI5 section B5(b) responsible for infiltrating agents into potentially subversive groups from 1924 to 1946.


Main source: Wikipedia
Further citations and sources



NEARBY LOCATIONS OF NOTE
Dolphin Square Dolphin Square is a block of private flats and business complex built near the River Thames between 1935 and 1937.
Pimlico Pimlico is known for its garden squares and Regency architecture.
Pimlico Academy Pimlico Academy (formerly Pimlico School) is a mixed-sex education secondary school and sixth form with academy status.
St Saviour’s St Saviour’s is an Anglo-Catholic church in Pimlico.

NEARBY STREETS
Alderney Street, SW1V Alderney Street was originally Stanley Street, after George Stanley, local landowner (Pimlico)
Anson House, SW1V Anson House is a block on Churchill Gardens Road (Pimlico)
Antrobus Street, SW1V Antrobus Street, now demolished, was long called Rutland Street (Pimlico)
Aylesford Street, SW1V Aylesford Street was built in 1848 (Pimlico)
Balniel Gate, SW1V Balniel Gate is a road of Pimlico (Pimlico)
Balvaird Place, SW1V Balvaird Place is a road in the SW1V postcode area (Pimlico)
Beatty House, SW1V Beatty House is a block on Dolphin Square West (Pimlico)
Belvedere House, SW1V Belvedere House is a block on Grosvenor Road (Pimlico)
Bessborough Gardens, SW1V Bessborough Gardens is a road in the SW1V postcode area (Pimlico)
Bessborough Mews, SW1V Bessborough Mews was situated behind Bessborough Street (Pimlico)
Bessborough Place, SW1V Bessborough Place is one of the streets of London in the SW1V postal area (Pimlico)
Bessborough Street, SW1V Bessborough Street is one of the streets of London in the SW1V postal area (Pimlico)
Blackstone House, SW1V Blackstone House is located on Johnson’s Place (Pimlico)
Bramwell House, SW1V Bramwell House is a block on Churchill Gardens Road (Pimlico)
Cambridge Street, SW1V Cambridge Street is one of the streets of London in the SW1V postal area (Pimlico)
Campbell House, SW1V Campbell House is a block on Johnson’s Place (Pimlico)
Charlwood Street, SW1V Charlwood Street is one of the streets of London in the SW1V postal area (Pimlico)
Chaucer House, SW1V Chaucer House is a building on Churchill Gardens Road (Pimlico)
Chichester Street, SW1V Chichester Street is one of the streets of London in the SW1V postal area (Pimlico)
Chippendale House, SW1V Chippendale House is a block on Churchill Gardens Estate (Pimlico)
Churchill Gardens Road, SW1V Churchill Gardens Road is a road in the SW1V postcode area (Pimlico)
Churchill Gardens, SW1V Churchill Gardens is one of the streets of London in the SW1V postal area (Pimlico)
Claverton Street, SW1V Claverton Street runs from Lupus Street to Grosvenor Road (Pimlico)
Coleridge House, SW1V Coleridge House is a block on Churchill Gardens Road (Pimlico)
Collingwood House, SW1V Collingwood House is located on Dolphin Square (Pimlico)
Crown Reach Riverside Walk, SW1V Crown Reach Riverside Walk is a road in the SW1V postcode area (Pimlico)
Cumberland Street, SW1V Cumberland Street is one of the streets of London in the SW1V postal area (Pimlico)
De Quincey House, SW1V De Quincey House is a block on Lupus Street (Pimlico)
Denbigh Place, SW1V Denbigh Place is one of the streets of London in the SW1V postal area (Pimlico)
Denbigh Street, SW1V Denbigh Street is one of the streets of London in the SW1V postal area (Pimlico)
Dolphin Square East Side, SW1V Dolphin Square consists of blocks of private flats built between 1935 and 1937 (Pimlico)
Dolphin Square West, SW1V Dolphin Square West is a road in the SW1V postcode area (Pimlico)
Drake House, SW1V Drake House is a block on Grosvenor Road (Pimlico)
Drummond Gate, SW1V Drummond Gate is one of the streets of London in the SW1V postal area (Pimlico)
Duncan House, SW1V Duncan House is a block on Dolphin Square West (Pimlico)
Elgar House, SW1V Elgar House is one of the blocks of the Churchill Gardens Estate (Pimlico)
Elm Lane, SW8 Elm Lane is one of the streets of London in the SW8 postal area (Nine Elms)
Erskine House, SW1V Erskine House is a block on Churchill Gardens Road (Pimlico)
Exbury House, SW1V Exbury House is a block on Rampayne Street (Pimlico)
Frobisher House, SW1V Frobisher House is a block on Dolphin Square (Pimlico)
Gifford House, SW1V Gifford House is a block on Lupus Street (Pimlico)
Glasgow Terrace, SW1V Glasgow Terrace has coexisted with the name of Caledonia Street (Pimlico)
Gloucester Street, SW1V Gloucester Street is one of the streets of London in the SW1V postal area (Pimlico)
Grenville House, SW1V Grenville House is a block on Dolphin Square (Pimlico)
Grosvenor Road, SW1V Grosvenor Road forms part of the Thames embankment (Pimlico)
Hallam House, SW1V Hallam House is a block on Johnson’s Place (Pimlico)
Hawkins House, SW1V Hawkins House is a block on Dolphin Square West (Pimlico)
Hawthorne House, SW1V Hawthorne House is a block on Churchill Gardens Road (Pimlico)
Hood House, SW1V Hood House is a block on Dolphin Square (Pimlico)
Howard House, SW1V Howard House can be found on Dolphin Square West (Pimlico)
Jane Austen House, SW1V Jane Austen House is sited on Johnson’s Place (Pimlico)
Johnson’s Place, SW1V Johnson’s Place is a road in the SW1V postcode area (Pimlico)
Keats House, SW1V Keats House is sited on Churchill Gardens Road (Pimlico)
Keyes House, SW1V Keyes House is a block on Dolphin Square (Pimlico)
Langdale House, SW1V Langdale House can be found on Lupus Street (Pimlico)
Lidhammer Court, SW1V Lidhammer Court is a block on Bessborough Gardens (Pimlico)
Lindsay Square, SW1V Lindsay Square is a road in the SW1V postcode area (Pimlico)
Littleton House, SW1V Littleton House is sited on Lupus Street (Pimlico)
Longleat House, SW1V Longleat House is a block on Garden Terrace (Pimlico)
Lowther House, SW1V Lowther House is a block on Churchill Gardens Road (Pimlico)
Lupus Street, SW1V Lupus Street was named after Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester (Pimlico)
Lutyens House, SW1V Lutyens House is a building on Glasgow Terrace (Pimlico)
Maitland House, SW1V Maitland House is a block on Churchill Gardens Road (Pimlico)
Marryat House, SW1V Marryat House is a block on Lupus Street (Pimlico)
Martineau House, SW1V Martineau House is a block on Lupus Street (Pimlico)
Middlesex House, SW1 Middlesex House is located on Causton Street (Pimlico)
Millennium House, SW1V Millennium House is a block on Grosvenor Road (Pimlico)
Moreton Place, SW1V Moreton Place is a road in the SW1 postcode area (Pimlico)
Moreton Street, SW1V Moreton Street is one of the streets of London in the SW1V postal area (Pimlico)
Moreton Terrace Mews North, SW1V This mews lies behind Moreton Terrace (Pimlico)
Moreton Terrace Mews South, SW1V The former Moreton Terrace Mews was split into two during 1964 (Pimlico)
Moreton Terrace Mews, SW1V The former Moreton Terrace Mews was split into two in 1964 (Pimlico)
Moyle House, SW1V Moyle House is a block on Churchill Gardens Road (Pimlico)
Neate House, SW1V Residential block (Pimlico)
Nelson House, SW1V Nelson House is a building on Dolphin Square West (Pimlico)
New Covent Garden Market, SW8 New Covent Garden Market is a location in London (Nine Elms)
Nine Elms Lane, SW11 Nine Elms Lane is a location in London (Nine Elms)
Nine Elms Lane, SW8 Nine Elms Lane was named around 1645, from a row of elm trees bordering the road. (Nine Elms)
Paxton Terrace, SW1V Paxton Terrace is a road in the SW1V postcode area (Pimlico)
Ponsonby Place, SW1V Ponsonby Place is one of the streets of London in the SW1P postal area (Pimlico)
Ponsonby Terrace, SW1V Ponsonby Terrace is one of the streets of London in the SW1P postal area (Pimlico)
Pulford Street, SW1V Pulford Street was a street between its construction in 1848 and demolition after the Second World War (Pimlico)
Raleigh House, SW1V Raleigh House is a block on Grosvenor Road (Pimlico)
Rampayne Street, SW1V Rampayne Street is one of the streets of London in the SW1V postal area (Pimlico)
Ranelagh Road, SW1V Ranelagh Road is one of the streets of London in the SW1V postal area (Pimlico)
Ripley House, SW1V Ripley House is a block on Churchill Gardens Road (Pimlico)
Rivermill, SW1V Rivermill is one of the streets of London in the SW1V postal area (Pimlico)
Riverside Court, SW8 Riverside Court is located on Nine Elms Lane (Vauxhall)
Riverside Walk, SW8 Riverside Walk is part of the Thames Path long-distance footpath (Vauxhall)
Seldon House, SW1V Seldon House is a block on Glasgow Terrace (Pimlico)
Shelley House, SW1V Shelley House is a block on Churchill Gardens Road (Pimlico)
Sheraton House, SW1V Sheraton House is a block on Paxton Terrace (Pimlico)
Southampton Street West, SW8 Southampton Street West now lies under the new developments covering Nine Elms (Nine Elms)
St George’s Square, SW1V St Georges Square is a long narrow space reaching to the river with an enclosed garden in the centre. (Pimlico)
St Georges Drive, SW1V St Georges Drive is one of the streets of London in the SW1V postal area (Pimlico)
The Arcade, SW1V The Arcade is one of the streets of London in the SW1V postal area (Pimlico)
Thomson House, SW1V Thomson House is a block on Balvaird Place (Pimlico)
Thorndike House, SW1 Thorndike House is a block on Vauxhall Bridge Road (Pimlico)
Tyburn House, SW1V Tyburn House is a block on Grosvenor Road (Pimlico)
Tyrrell House, SW1V Tyrrell House is a block on Churchill Gardens Road (Pimlico)
Vauxhall Bridge, SW1V Vauxhall Bridge is a road in the SW1V postcode area (Pimlico)
Viaduct Gardens, SW8 Viaduct Gardens runs beside the United States Embassy building in Nine Elms (Nine Elms)
Walston House, SW1V Walston House is a block on Aylesford Street (Pimlico)
Wilkins House, SW1V Wilkins House is a block on Churchill Gardens Road (Pimlico)
Winchester Street, SW1V Winchester Street is one of the streets of London in the SW1V postal area (Pimlico)


Click here to explore another London street
We now have 674 completed street histories and 46826 partial histories


Click here to see photos of the area


  Contact us · Copyright policy · Privacy policy