The story of the first, southern part of Ladbroke Grove dates back to the 1820s.
The Ladbroke family owned a large portion of the area, including holdings in Kensington. In 1821, James Weller, the family’s nephew, inherited the estate and was required to change his name to James Weller Ladbroke according to his uncle’s will. He initiated a project to develop the area with Victorian townhouses for the gentry.
Over fifty years, from 1821 to the mid-1870s, a unique layout was created in the area through the efforts of half a dozen architects and numerous speculators. Ladbroke was initially restricted by his uncle’s will to grant leases of up to twenty-one years, but a private Act of Parliament in 1821 allowed him to grant ninety-nine-year leases. Ladbroke’s surveyor, Allason, was then granted leases in 1824 and 1827.
Allason’s first task was to prepare a plan for the layout of the estate, which presented a unique opportunity due to its varied contours. In his plan of 1823, Allason created a broad straight road leading northward off the Uxbridge road and crossing an east-west road called Weller Street East and West. The most notable feature of the design was a huge circus, some 560 yards in diameter, to the north of this intersection.
It took nearly fifty years to find buyers for all the houses, resulting in ruin for the main developers. However, Allason’s design remained intact and brought variety to the layout with classical groves, leafy crescents, stucco villas, plain brick terraces, and gardens. St John’s Church’s spire dominated the plane trees like an obelisk in a park, and glimpses of knolls and leafy dells created the impression that the real country lay just beyond the last back door.
