Hallam Street
Encyclopedia
Hallam Street is in the Parish of St Marylebone
in London’s West End
. In administrative terms it lies within the City of Westminster
's Marylebone High Street
Ward as well as the Harley Street Conservation Area. Formerly named both Charlotte Street and Duke Street, it was renamed in the early 1900s after Henry Hallam
(1777–1859), a noted historian who had been a local resident, and his son Arthur Henry Hallam (1811–1833), poet and the subject of Tennyson
's elegy In Memoriam.
Hallam Street is situated within the boundaries of the ancient Manor of St Marylebone. The history of the Manor can be traced back to the Domesday Book
in the 11th century, when the area was divided into two manors: Lilestone and Tyburn
. Much of the area was covered with forest and marshland and formed part of the great forest of Middlesex
.
Like the better known Portland Place
and Great Portland Street
, Hallam Street was originally developed by the Dukes of Portland, who owned most of the eastern half of Marylebone
in the 18th and 19th centuries. Richard Horwood
’s 1790s map of London
shows that Charlotte Street had by then been laid out exactly as Hallam Street is today. Maps from that period show houses lining the entire length of the street by that time. In the late 19th/early 20th century, following the expiration of individual buildings’ 99-year leases, Hallam Street was redeveloped and many of its original Georgian houses were replaced by larger mansion and office blocks.
(1828–1882), the painters John Sell Cotman
(1782-1842), Cornelius Varley
(1781-1873), Sir Peter Francis Bourgeois(1753–1811), dominatrix Theresa Berkley
(d.1836), the writer William Gerhardi (1895–1977), the conductor and founder of The Proms
Sir Henry Joseph Wood (1869–1944), American journalist and broadcaster Edward R Murrow (1908–1965), World War Two hero Wing Commander Forest Frederick Edward Yeo-Thomas (1901–1964), the radio and television writer Ernest Dudley
(1908–2006), and the Austrian writer Stefan Zweig
(1881–1942).
Numbers 44 and 50 Hallam Street, originally the offices of the General Medical Council
, received Grade II designation in 1954. A large number of the street’s buildings have been characterised as “unlisted buildings of merit” in the Harley Street Conservation Area Audit and are either part of the Howard de Walden Estate (originally the Portland Estate) or the Langham Estate (also once part of the Howard de Walden Estate).
Hallam Street contains a number of institutional buildings (including the BBC
’s Broadcasting House
) from the Edwardian and inter-war periods. Blitz
bomb damage was extensive at the south end of the street, its synagogue was also destoyed while other buildings experienced blast damage.
The redevelopment of Broadcasting House, whose modern rear elevation lies on Hallam Street, is nearing completion. This redevelopment is the BBC
's single largest capital project ever, and will create a new centre for radio, news and world service in the heart of London
. The BBC's facilities, a majority of the street's office buildings and its two hotels lie at the southern end of the street.
, Great Portland Street
, and Regents Park tube stations. Buses numbered 88, C2, 18, 27, 30, 205, 189, 3, 12, and 55 stop within a close distance (<5 minutes walk) from Hallam Street.
Marylebone
Marylebone is an affluent inner-city area of central London, located within the City of Westminster. It is sometimes written as St. Marylebone or Mary-le-bone....
in London’s West End
West End of London
The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
. In administrative terms it lies within the City of Westminster
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a London borough occupying much of the central area of London, England, including most of the West End. It is located to the west of and adjoining the ancient City of London, directly to the east of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and its southern boundary...
's Marylebone High Street
Marylebone High Street
Marylebone High Street is a shopping street in London, running sub-parallel to Baker Street and terminating at its northern end at the junction with the Marylebone Road...
Ward as well as the Harley Street Conservation Area. Formerly named both Charlotte Street and Duke Street, it was renamed in the early 1900s after Henry Hallam
Henry Hallam
Henry Hallam was an English historian.-Life:The only son of John Hallam, canon of Windsor and dean of Bristol, Henry Hallam was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, graduating in 1799...
(1777–1859), a noted historian who had been a local resident, and his son Arthur Henry Hallam (1811–1833), poet and the subject of Tennyson
Tennyson
Alfred, Lord Tennyson, the first Baron Tennyson, was an English poet.Tennyson may also refer to:-People:* Baron Tennyson, the barony itself** Alfred, Lord Tennyson , poet...
's elegy In Memoriam.
Hallam Street is situated within the boundaries of the ancient Manor of St Marylebone. The history of the Manor can be traced back to the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
in the 11th century, when the area was divided into two manors: Lilestone and Tyburn
Tyburn
Tyburn is a former village just outside the then boundaries of London that was best known as a place of public execution.Tyburn may also refer to:* Tyburn , river and historical water source in London...
. Much of the area was covered with forest and marshland and formed part of the great forest of Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
.
Like the better known Portland Place
Portland Place
Portland Place is a street in the Marylebone district of central London, England.-History and topography:The street was laid out by the brothers Robert and James Adam for the Duke of Portland in the late 18th century and originally ran north from the gardens of a detached mansion called Foley House...
and Great Portland Street
Great Portland Street
Great Portland Street is a street in the West End of London. Linking Oxford Street with Albany Street and the busy A501 Marylebone Road and Euston Road, the road forms the boundary between Fitzrovia to the east and Marylebone to the west...
, Hallam Street was originally developed by the Dukes of Portland, who owned most of the eastern half of Marylebone
Marylebone
Marylebone is an affluent inner-city area of central London, located within the City of Westminster. It is sometimes written as St. Marylebone or Mary-le-bone....
in the 18th and 19th centuries. Richard Horwood
Richard Horwood
Richard Horwood was a surveyor and cartographer. In 1795 he published a Plan of the Cities of London and Westminster the Borough of Southwark and Parts adjoining Shewing every House, at a scale of 26 inches to the mile. At the time this was the largest map ever printed in Britain.Horwood also...
’s 1790s map of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
shows that Charlotte Street had by then been laid out exactly as Hallam Street is today. Maps from that period show houses lining the entire length of the street by that time. In the late 19th/early 20th century, following the expiration of individual buildings’ 99-year leases, Hallam Street was redeveloped and many of its original Georgian houses were replaced by larger mansion and office blocks.
Buildings and notable residents
The street has buildings of mainly five to eight storeys with a strong residential presence. Notable residents who lived for a time in the street include the Pre-Raphaelite artist and poet Dante Gabriel RossettiDante Gabriel Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti was an English poet, illustrator, painter and translator. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 with William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais, and was later to be the main inspiration for a second generation of artists and writers influenced by the movement,...
(1828–1882), the painters John Sell Cotman
John Sell Cotman
John Sell Cotman was an English marine and landscape painter, etcher, illustrator and author, one of the leading lights of the Norwich school of artists.-Early life and work:...
(1782-1842), Cornelius Varley
Cornelius Varley
Cornelius Varley was an English water-colour painter.-Biography:Varley was born at Hackney, London, on the 21 November 1781. He was a younger brother of John Varley, a watercolour painter and astrologer, and a close friend of William Blake, he was born in Hackney, London...
(1781-1873), Sir Peter Francis Bourgeois(1753–1811), dominatrix Theresa Berkley
Theresa Berkley
Theresa Berkley or Berkeley was a 19th-century English dominatrix who ran a brothel in Hallam Street, just to the east of Portland Place, Marylebone, London, specialising in flagellation...
(d.1836), the writer William Gerhardi (1895–1977), the conductor and founder of The Proms
The Proms
The Proms, more formally known as The BBC Proms, or The Henry Wood Promenade Concerts presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in London...
Sir Henry Joseph Wood (1869–1944), American journalist and broadcaster Edward R Murrow (1908–1965), World War Two hero Wing Commander Forest Frederick Edward Yeo-Thomas (1901–1964), the radio and television writer Ernest Dudley
Ernest Dudley
Ernest Dudley was an English actor, dramatist, novelist, journalist and screenwriter.- Biography :The actor and scriptwriter Ernest Dudley was the creator of the hit BBC radio crime series Dr Morelle and also the television series The Armchair Detective...
(1908–2006), and the Austrian writer Stefan Zweig
Stefan Zweig
Stefan Zweig was an Austrian novelist, playwright, journalist and biographer. At the height of his literary career, in the 1920s and 1930s, he was one of the most famous writers in the world.- Biography :...
(1881–1942).
Numbers 44 and 50 Hallam Street, originally the offices of the General Medical Council
General Medical Council
The General Medical Council registers and regulates doctors practising in the United Kingdom. It has the power to revoke or restrict a doctor's registration if it deems them unfit to practise...
, received Grade II designation in 1954. A large number of the street’s buildings have been characterised as “unlisted buildings of merit” in the Harley Street Conservation Area Audit and are either part of the Howard de Walden Estate (originally the Portland Estate) or the Langham Estate (also once part of the Howard de Walden Estate).
Hallam Street contains a number of institutional buildings (including the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
’s Broadcasting House
Broadcasting House
Broadcasting House is the headquarters and registered office of the BBC in Portland Place and Langham Place, London.The building includes the BBC Radio Theatre from where music and speech programmes are recorded in front of a studio audience...
) from the Edwardian and inter-war periods. Blitz
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
bomb damage was extensive at the south end of the street, its synagogue was also destoyed while other buildings experienced blast damage.
The redevelopment of Broadcasting House, whose modern rear elevation lies on Hallam Street, is nearing completion. This redevelopment is the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's single largest capital project ever, and will create a new centre for radio, news and world service in the heart of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. The BBC's facilities, a majority of the street's office buildings and its two hotels lie at the southern end of the street.
Notabe buildings
- 44 and 50 Hallam Street (Formerly the offices of the General Medical CouncilGeneral Medical CouncilThe General Medical Council registers and regulates doctors practising in the United Kingdom. It has the power to revoke or restrict a doctor's registration if it deems them unfit to practise...
) - Conference venue and residential - 47 Hallam Street (The Central London Synagogue) - Place of worship
- 49 Hallam Street - Residential mansion block
- 77 Hallam Street - Residential mansion block
- 84-94 Hallam Street (Weymouth House) - Residential mansion block
- 105 Hallam Street (Formerly CunardCunard LineCunard Line is a British-American owned shipping company based at Carnival House in Southampton, England and operated by Carnival UK. It has been a leading operator of passenger ships on the North Atlantic for over a century...
White Star LineWhite Star LineThe Oceanic Steam Navigation Company or White Star Line of Boston Packets, more commonly known as the White Star Line, was a prominent British shipping company, today most famous for its ill-fated vessel, the RMS Titanic, and the World War I loss of Titanics sister ship Britannic...
Lodge) - Residential mansion block - 110 Hallam Street (RossettiRossettiRossetti may refer to:* Biagio Rossetti , an architect and urbanist from Ferrara, the first to use modern methods* Carlo Rossetti , an Italian Catholic cardinal* Cezaro Rossetti , a Scottish Esperanto writer...
House) - Residential mansion block
Other buildings with elevations on Hallam Street
- 85 New Cavendish Street – De Walden Court - Residential mansion block & offices
- 1 Weymouth Street (Weymouth Court)- Residential mansion block
- 2 Weymouth Street (formerly YMCAYMCAThe Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
Hostel) - Residential mansion block - 9 Weymouth Street (Stone House) - Residential mansion block
- 10 Weymouth Street (Warpole House) - Residential mansion block - www.10weymouth.com
- 2 Devonshire Street (formerly YWCAYWCAThe YWCA USA is the United States branch of a women's membership movement that strives to create opportunities for women's growth, leadership and power in order to attain a common vision—to eliminate racism and empower women. The YWCA is a non-profit organization, the first of which was founded in...
Hostel) - Residential mansion block - 54-57 Devonshire Street (Goodwood Court) - Residential mansion block
Transport
The nearest London Underground stations to Hallam Street are Oxford CircusOxford Circus tube station
-External links:* ** ** * Plans of the station after the Victoria Line works , , *...
, Great Portland Street
Great Portland Street tube station
Great Portland Street is a London Underground station near Regent's Park. It is between and on the Hammersmith & City, Circle and Metropolitan lines...
, and Regents Park tube stations. Buses numbered 88, C2, 18, 27, 30, 205, 189, 3, 12, and 55 stop within a close distance (<5 minutes walk) from Hallam Street.
External links
- Marylebone Association website
- St Marylebone Society web site
- Westminster City Council Conservation Area Audits
- BBC Broadcasting House Redevelopment Project web site
- The Howard de Walden Estate web site
- The Langham Estate web site
- Portland Village web site
- W1W Street Tree Initiative for Marylebone
- British Library Crace Collection London Map Archive
- 1834 Topographical survey of the Borough of St. Marylebone
- West End at War: Article on damage caused to Hallam Street by the bombing of 10-11 May 1941