Adelphi (/əˈdɛlfi/; from the Greek ἀδελφοί adelphoi, meaning "brothers") is a district of the City of Westminster in London.[1] The small district includes the streets of Adelphi Terrace, Robert Street and John Adam Street.[1] Of rare use colloquially, Adelphi is grouped with Aldwych as the greater Strand district (a main street of London between the two areas and those immediately adjoining) which for many decades formed a parliamentary constituency and civil registration district.
The Adam Brothers' Adelphi (1768–72) was London's first neoclassical building. Eleven large houses fronted a vaulted terrace, with wharves beneath, known as the Adelphi Arches'.Current view of the remaining building at 11 Adelphi Terrace, the furthest left house of the original buildings when viewed from the river.
A prospect of London by Alexander Nasmyth, 1826. The Adelphi Buildings can be seen to the left of Waterloo Bridge.The Art Deco Adelphi building from the 1930s, located at 1-10 John Adam Street.
The district is named after the Adelphi Buildings, a block of 24 unified neoclassicalterrace houses that occupied the land between The Strand and the River Thames in the parish of St Martin in the Fields, which also included a headquarters building for the "Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce" (now generally known as the Royal Society of Arts). They were built between 1768 and 1772 by the Adam brothers (John, Robert, James and William Adam), to whom the buildings' Greek-derived name refers. The ruins of Durham House on the site were demolished for their construction.
Robert Adam was influenced by his extensive visit to Diocletian's Palace in Split, Croatia (previously Dalmatia), and he applied some of this influence to the design of the neoclassical Adelphi Buildings.[2][3] The nearby Adelphi Theatre is named after the Adelphi Buildings.
Many of the Adelphi Buildings were demolished in the early 1930s and replaced with the New Adelphi, a monumental Art Deco building designed by the firm of Collcutt & Hamp. Buildings remaining from the old Adelphi include 11 Adelphi Terrace (formerly occupied by numismatic specialists A.H. Baldwin & Sons Ltd) and the Royal Society of Arts headquarters (which has expanded to incorporate two of the former houses). Benjamin Pollock's Toy Shop was located here in the 1940s.
The London School of Economics (LSE) held its first classes in October 1895, in rooms at 9 John Street, Adelphi,[6] before setting up more permanent operations in Number 10 Adelphi Terrace. By 1920, the LSE had moved a few blocks east, to its current Clare Market address. While in Adelphi, the LSE’s scholars and students were active in the surrounding neighbourhood and community.
Street name etymologiesedit
Crop of Christopher and John Greenwood's 8 inch-to-mile map published in 1827 from an 1830 republication (click to view all). The Adelphi is south of the Strand.
Adelphi has no formally defined boundaries, though they are generally agreed to be: Strand to the north, Lancaster Place to the east, Victoria Embankment to the south and Charing Cross station to the west. The small set of streets east of Northumberland Avenue are included here for convenience.
Several streets are or were named using the words George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham after the first Duke, 17th century courtier, who acquired York House which formerly stood on this site; his son sold the area to developers on condition that his father and titles were commemorated on the new streets.[7]
Adam Street – after John and Robert Adam, who built the Adelphi development in the 1760s[8][9]
Adelphi Terrace – the area was developed by the brothers John and Robert Adam, in the 1760s, and was named after adelphos, the Greek for 'brother'[10][9]
The Arches – presumably descriptive, after the railway arches here
Carting Lane – thought to be from the carts that brought good to and from the wharf formerly located here; until the 1830s it was called Dirty Lane[12]
Hungerford Lane – after the Hungerford family, who owned a house on this site in the 15th century, later sold due to debts to create Hungerford Market, before the building of Charing Cross station[20][12][21]
Ivybridge Lane – named after a former ivy-covered bridge that crossed an old watercourse on this spot; the bridge was demolished sometime before 1600[22][23]
John Adam Street – after John Adam, who built the Adelphi development with his brother Robert in the 1760s,[24][9] a combination of the previous John Street and Duke Street with the latter named after the 1st Duke of Buckingham
Lancaster Place – former site of the Savoy Palace. It passed into the ownership of the earls of Lancaster in the 13th century, the most famous of which was John of Gaunt, who owned the palace at the times of its destruction in Peasant’s Revolt of 1381[25][26]
Northumberland Avenue and Northumberland Street – site of the former Northumberland House, built originally in the early 17th century for the earls of Northampton and later acquired by the earls of Northumberland[27][28]
Robert Street and Lower Robert Street – after Robert Adam, who built the Adelphi development with his brother John in the 1760s[29]
Savoy Buildings, Savoy Court, Savoy Hill, Savoy Place, Savoy Row, Savoy Steps, Savoy Street and Savoy Way – the former site of the Savoy Palace, built for Peter II, Count of Savoy in 1245[30][31]
Strand and Strand Lane – from Old English 'stond', meaning the edge of a river; the river Thames formerly reached here prior to the building of the Thames Embankment[32][33]
York Buildings and York Place – a house was built on this site in the 14th century for the bishops of Norwich – in the reign of Queen Mary it was acquired by the archbishops of York and named 'York House'; York Place was formerly 'Of Alley', after the 1st Duke of Buckingham[38][11]
Sir J. M. Barrie (1860-1937), playwright, novelist, and author of Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up. He first moved to the terrace in 1907, after a divorce. He lived on the third floor of No. 3 until 1917, when he moved up to the 4th floor until his death in 1937. [39]
The 1930s Adelphi building was used for some scenes in ITV's Agatha Christie's Poirot episode "The Theft of the Royal Ruby",[42] and in episode "The Plymouth Express".[43]
In an instalment of E.M. Delafield’s semi-autobiographical Diary of a Provincial Lady series, entitled ‘The Provincial Lady in Wartime, the eponymous protagonist works in the canteen of an air raid shelter located under the Adelphi during the Phoney War. Much of the narrative is dedicated to describing the atmosphere and inhabitants of the building and the surrounding area, and many of the events of the book take place here.[44]
Cora Harrison's Season of darkness revolves around No. 5 Adelphi Terrace.[45]
^ abMills, A., Oxford Dictionary of London Place Names, (2001)
^Peter De Bolla, The Education of the Eye: Painting, Landscape, and Architecture, 2003, Stanford University Press. 296 pages ISBN0-8047-4800-4
^C. Michael Hogan, "Diocletian's Palace", The Megalithic Portal, Andy Burnham ed, 6 Oct. 2007
^The British Almanac of The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, for the year of our Lord 1840. Charles Knight & Co. 1840. p. 59. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
^"Adelphi Terrace". British History Online. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
^. London School of Economics. 2000. Archived from the original on 5 August 2009. Retrieved 23 July 2009.
^ abFairfield, S. The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins, p47
^Fairfield, S. The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins, p2
^ abcBebbington, G. (1972) London Street Names, p16
^Fairfield, S. The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins, p3
^ abcdBebbington, G. (1972) London Street Names, p62-3
^ abBebbington, G. (1972) London Street Names, p74
^Fairfield, S. The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins, p65
^Fairfield, S. The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins, p334
^Bebbington, G. (1972) London Street Names, p337-8
^Fairfield, S. The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins, p349
^"Barrie's flat in Adelphi Terrace House". J M Barrie. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
^'The Strand, southern tributaries – continued', Old and New London: Volume 3 (1878), pp. 100–110 accessed: 30 May 2008
^ abGater, G H; Wheeler, E P, eds. (1937), "Adelphi Terrace", Survey of London: Volume 18, St Martin-in-The-Fields II: the Strand, London, pp. 103–108, retrieved 1 October 2019{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Eirik (4 July 2013). "Investigating Agatha Christie's Poirot: Episode-by-episode: The Theft of the Royal Ruby". Investigatingpoirot.blogspot.ch. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
^"On Location with Poirot - The Plymouth Express". www.tvlocations.net. Retrieved 8 March 2018.
^Delafield, E.M. (May 2014). The Diary of a Provincial Lady. London: Penguin Classics.
adelphi, london, adelphi, from, greek, ἀδελφοί, adelphoi, meaning, brothers, district, city, westminster, london, small, district, includes, streets, adelphi, terrace, robert, street, john, adam, street, rare, colloquially, adelphi, grouped, with, aldwych, gre. Adelphi e ˈ d ɛ l f i from the Greek ἀdelfoi adelphoi meaning brothers is a district of the City of Westminster in London 1 The small district includes the streets of Adelphi Terrace Robert Street and John Adam Street 1 Of rare use colloquially Adelphi is grouped with Aldwych as the greater Strand district a main street of London between the two areas and those immediately adjoining which for many decades formed a parliamentary constituency and civil registration district The Adam Brothers Adelphi 1768 72 was London s first neoclassical building Eleven large houses fronted a vaulted terrace with wharves beneath known as the Adelphi Arches Current view of the remaining building at 11 Adelphi Terrace the furthest left house of the original buildings when viewed from the river Contents 1 Adelphi Buildings 2 Notable residents 2 1 South Australian Colonization Commission 2 2 London School of Economics 3 Street name etymologies 4 Notable residents 5 In media 6 See also 7 References 8 Further readingAdelphi Buildings edit nbsp A prospect of London by Alexander Nasmyth 1826 The Adelphi Buildings can be seen to the left of Waterloo Bridge nbsp The Art Deco Adelphi building from the 1930s located at 1 10 John Adam Street The district is named after the Adelphi Buildings a block of 24 unified neoclassical terrace houses that occupied the land between The Strand and the River Thames in the parish of St Martin in the Fields which also included a headquarters building for the Society for the Encouragement of Arts Manufactures and Commerce now generally known as the Royal Society of Arts They were built between 1768 and 1772 by the Adam brothers John Robert James and William Adam to whom the buildings Greek derived name refers The ruins of Durham House on the site were demolished for their construction Robert Adam was influenced by his extensive visit to Diocletian s Palace in Split Croatia previously Dalmatia and he applied some of this influence to the design of the neoclassical Adelphi Buildings 2 3 The nearby Adelphi Theatre is named after the Adelphi Buildings Many of the Adelphi Buildings were demolished in the early 1930s and replaced with the New Adelphi a monumental Art Deco building designed by the firm of Collcutt amp Hamp Buildings remaining from the old Adelphi include 11 Adelphi Terrace formerly occupied by numismatic specialists A H Baldwin amp Sons Ltd and the Royal Society of Arts headquarters which has expanded to incorporate two of the former houses Benjamin Pollock s Toy Shop was located here in the 1940s Notable residents editSouth Australian Colonization Commission edit The South Australian Colonization Commission 1834 1843 had their offices at 6 Adelphi Terrace in 1840 4 Rowland Hill was secretary to this body and it was during this period that he devised his penny postage scheme 5 London School of Economics edit The London School of Economics LSE held its first classes in October 1895 in rooms at 9 John Street Adelphi 6 before setting up more permanent operations in Number 10 Adelphi Terrace By 1920 the LSE had moved a few blocks east to its current Clare Market address While in Adelphi the LSE s scholars and students were active in the surrounding neighbourhood and community Street name etymologies edit nbsp nbsp Crop of Christopher and John Greenwood s 8 inch to mile map published in 1827 from an 1830 republication click to view all The Adelphi is south of the Strand Adelphi has no formally defined boundaries though they are generally agreed to be Strand to the north Lancaster Place to the east Victoria Embankment to the south and Charing Cross station to the west The small set of streets east of Northumberland Avenue are included here for convenience Several streets are or were named using the words George Villiers Duke of Buckingham after the first Duke 17th century courtier who acquired York House which formerly stood on this site his son sold the area to developers on condition that his father and titles were commemorated on the new streets 7 Adam Street after John and Robert Adam who built the Adelphi development in the 1760s 8 9 Adelphi Terrace the area was developed by the brothers John and Robert Adam in the 1760s and was named after adelphos the Greek for brother 10 9 The Arches presumably descriptive after the railway arches here Buckingham Arcade and Buckingham Street after George Villiers 1st Duke of Buckingham 7 11 Carting Lane thought to be from the carts that brought good to and from the wharf formerly located here until the 1830s it was called Dirty Lane 12 Charing Cross after the Eleanor cross at Charing from the Old English word cierring referring to a bend in the River Thames 13 14 Corner House Street unknown Craven Passage and Craven Street after William Craven 3rd Baron Craven who owned the land when the street was built in the 1730s 15 16 Durham House Street this was the former site of Durham House a palace belonging to the bishops of Durham in medieval times 17 18 Embankment Place after the Thames Embankment built in the Victorian era 19 George Court after George Villiers 1st Duke of Buckingham 11 Hungerford Lane after the Hungerford family who owned a house on this site in the 15th century later sold due to debts to create Hungerford Market before the building of Charing Cross station 20 12 21 Ivybridge Lane named after a former ivy covered bridge that crossed an old watercourse on this spot the bridge was demolished sometime before 1600 22 23 John Adam Street after John Adam who built the Adelphi development with his brother Robert in the 1760s 24 9 a combination of the previous John Street and Duke Street with the latter named after the 1st Duke of Buckingham Lancaster Place former site of the Savoy Palace It passed into the ownership of the earls of Lancaster in the 13th century the most famous of which was John of Gaunt who owned the palace at the times of its destruction in Peasant s Revolt of 1381 25 26 Northumberland Avenue and Northumberland Street site of the former Northumberland House built originally in the early 17th century for the earls of Northampton and later acquired by the earls of Northumberland 27 28 Robert Street and Lower Robert Street after Robert Adam who built the Adelphi development with his brother John in the 1760s 29 Savoy Buildings Savoy Court Savoy Hill Savoy Place Savoy Row Savoy Steps Savoy Street and Savoy Way the former site of the Savoy Palace built for Peter II Count of Savoy in 1245 30 31 Strand and Strand Lane from Old English stond meaning the edge of a river the river Thames formerly reached here prior to the building of the Thames Embankment 32 33 Victoria Embankment after Queen Victoria reigning queen at the time of the building of the Thames Embankment 34 35 Villiers Street after George Villiers 1st Duke of Buckingham 11 Watergate Walk after a former watergate built in 1626 for George Villiers 1st Duke of Buckingham as an entrance for the former York House 36 37 York Buildings and York Place a house was built on this site in the 14th century for the bishops of Norwich in the reign of Queen Mary it was acquired by the archbishops of York and named York House York Place was formerly Of Alley after the 1st Duke of Buckingham 38 11 Notable residents edit nbsp Past and Present no 3 Despair by Augustus Egg 1858 set in the Adelphi ArchesSir J M Barrie 1860 1937 playwright novelist and author of Peter Pan or the Boy Who Wouldn t Grow Up He first moved to the terrace in 1907 after a divorce He lived on the third floor of No 3 until 1917 when he moved up to the 4th floor until his death in 1937 39 Edward Litt Laman Blanchard 1820 1889 writer lived in Adelphi Terrace from 1876 to 1889 Charles Booth 1840 1916 shipyard owner philanthropist and author Richard D Oyly Carte 1844 1901 Victorian impresario John Galsworthy 1867 1933 novelist author of The Forsyte Saga David Garrick 1717 1779 lived for his final seven years and died in 1779 in the centre house of the buildings no 5 40 41 James Graham 1745 1794 electrical quack sexologist lived at 4 Adelphi Terrace from 1778 to 1781 opening his Temple of Health there in 1780 41 Thomas Hardy 1840 1928 English novelist Thomas Monro 1759 1833 physician to George III and art patron owned a house in Adelphi Terrace George Bernard Shaw 1856 1950 Irish playwright Fabian socialist co founder of the London School of Economics and Political Science LSE In media editDavid Copperfield created by Charles Dickens lived on Buckingham Street in Adelphi Fictional detective Gideon Fell created by John Dickson Carr lived at no 1 Adelphi Terrace The 1930s Adelphi building was used for some scenes in ITV s Agatha Christie s Poirot episode The Theft of the Royal Ruby 42 and in episode The Plymouth Express 43 In an instalment of E M Delafield s semi autobiographical Diary of a Provincial Lady series entitled The Provincial Lady in Wartime the eponymous protagonist works in the canteen of an air raid shelter located under the Adelphi during the Phoney War Much of the narrative is dedicated to describing the atmosphere and inhabitants of the building and the surrounding area and many of the events of the book take place here 44 Cora Harrison s Season of darkness revolves around No 5 Adelphi Terrace 45 See also editList of demolished buildings and structures in LondonReferences edit a b Mills A Oxford Dictionary of London Place Names 2001 Peter De Bolla The Education of the Eye Painting Landscape and Architecture 2003 Stanford University Press 296 pages ISBN 0 8047 4800 4 C Michael Hogan Diocletian s Palace The Megalithic Portal Andy Burnham ed 6 Oct 2007 The British Almanac of The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge for the year of our Lord 1840 Charles Knight amp Co 1840 p 59 Retrieved 10 December 2020 Adelphi Terrace British History Online 10 December 2020 Retrieved 10 December 2020 LSE 1895 London School of Economics 2000 Archived from the original on 5 August 2009 Retrieved 23 July 2009 a b Fairfield S The Streets of London A dictionary of the names and their origins p47 Fairfield S The Streets of London A dictionary of the names and their origins p2 a b c Bebbington G 1972 London Street Names p16 Fairfield S The Streets of London A dictionary of the names and their origins p3 a b c d Bebbington G 1972 London Street Names p62 3 a b Bebbington G 1972 London Street Names p74 Fairfield S The Streets of London A dictionary of the names and their origins p65 Bebbington G 1972 London Street Names p81 Fairfield S The Streets of London A dictionary of the names and their origins p85 Bebbington G 1972 London Street Names p102 Fairfield S The Streets of London A dictionary of the names and their origins p105 Bebbington G 1972 London Street Names p118 Bebbington G 1972 London Street Names p123 Fairfield S The Streets of London A dictionary of the names and their origins p167 Bebbington G 1972 London Street Names p179 80 Fairfield S The Streets of London A dictionary of the names and their origins p170 Bebbington G 1972 London Street Names p184 Fairfield S The Streets of London A dictionary of the names and their origins p172 Fairfield S The Streets of London A dictionary of the names and their origins p186 Bebbington G 1972 London Street Names p194 Fairfield S The Streets of London A dictionary of the names and their origins p229 Bebbington G 1972 London Street Names p236 Fairfield S The Streets of London A dictionary of the names and their origins p267 Fairfield S The Streets of London A dictionary of the names and their origins p288 Bebbington G 1972 London Street Names p295 6 Fairfield S The Streets of London A dictionary of the names and their origins p306 Bebbington G 1972 London Street Names p312 Fairfield S The Streets of London A dictionary of the names and their origins p328 Bebbington G 1972 London Street Names p332 Fairfield S The Streets of London A dictionary of the names and their origins p334 Bebbington G 1972 London Street Names p337 8 Fairfield S The Streets of London A dictionary of the names and their origins p349 Barrie s flat in Adelphi Terrace House J M Barrie Retrieved 29 November 2023 The Strand southern tributaries continued Old and New London Volume 3 1878 pp 100 110 accessed 30 May 2008 a b Gater G H Wheeler E P eds 1937 Adelphi Terrace Survey of London Volume 18 St Martin in The Fields II the Strand London pp 103 108 retrieved 1 October 2019 a href Template Citation html title Template Citation citation a CS1 maint location missing publisher link Eirik 4 July 2013 Investigating Agatha Christie s Poirot Episode by episode The Theft of the Royal Ruby Investigatingpoirot blogspot ch Retrieved 16 February 2016 On Location with Poirot The Plymouth Express www tvlocations net Retrieved 8 March 2018 Delafield E M May 2014 The Diary of a Provincial Lady London Penguin Classics SEASON OF DARKNESS Kirkus Reviews Further reading editBrereton Austin The literary history of the Adelphi and its neighbourhood New York Duffield 1909 Illustrated 51 30 33 N 0 07 21 W 51 50917 N 0 12250 W 51 50917 0 12250 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Adelphi London amp oldid 1192273708, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
