Place    From 1768  To 1935

Adelphi Terrace

Categories: Architecture

The Adam brothers built a very large development including a run of houses with a terrace that over-looked the river, which was much closer before the Embankment was built. It was this terrace that caused the word "terrace" to take on the meaning of a row of houses. Torn down in 1935 and replaced with the art deco New Adelphi building. It was the demolition of the Adelphi that was, at least partially, responsible for the creation of the Georgian Society in 1937.

The Rise and Fall of the Adelphi is a very useful page with excellent photos.

While thinking of how London has changed the English language, in the field of architecture at least, let's examine "Mews". From the French, it used to mean a place where hawks (kept for hunting) were confined during their moulting seasons. From 1377 the King's Mews was at Charing Cross, about where Trafalgar Square now is. In 1537 Henry VIII had it converted to be the royal stables. And hence Mews became the term for all service streets in London built as stables, converted into garages and then converted into rather chic homes for fashionable Londoners, such as John Steed.

The image on this page shows a plainer front elevation than that on the Garrick page. We have to assume that the Victorians added some decorative features, around the windows and the central attic pediment, for example.

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Adelphi Terrace

Commemorated ati

Adam, Hood, Galsworthy, Barrie, etc.

We understand the "here" on the plaque to refer to the whole of Adelphi Terra...

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Garrick plaque - gone

David Garrick, actor, lived here. B: 1716. D: 1779. {Almost hidden in the dec...

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The Adelphi

The Adelphi This building stands on the site of Adelphi Terrace built by the...

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Other Subjects

Anthony Salvin

Anthony Salvin

Architect. Born County Durham. Moved to London in 1821. Expert on medieval buildings, restoring many country houses and castles and so worked on only a few buildings in London. Wikipedia has an ext...

Person, Architecture

1 memorial
John Penfold

John Penfold

Surveyor and architect. Born John Wornham Penfold in Haslemere, Surrey. He was a founding member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and is best known for designing the British hexagona...

Person, Architecture, Craft / Design

2 memorials
William George Hunt

William George Hunt

Architect of the 1901 Shoreditch Town Hall Extension and of Campden Hill Mansions. Architect and surveyor of Bedford Gardens, Kensington in 1900 when he was working on houses in Addison Road. Will...

Person, Architecture

1 memorial
William Oxtoby, A.M.I.C.E.

William Oxtoby, A.M.I.C.E.

Appointed Surveyor/Engineer for the Borough of Camberwell c.1898. William Oxtoby was born on 7 February 1862 in Hull, Yorkshire. He was the fourth of the five children of Robert Oxtoby (1823-1874)...

Person, Architecture, Engineering

2 memorials

Previously viewed

Gulf War

Gulf War

The US, backed by the UN, invaded Iraq in response to Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.  Not to be confused with the Iraq War, March 2003 - December 2011 when the US invaded Iraq again.

Event, Armed Forces, Tragedy

2 memorials
Pumphouse Educational Trust and Museum

Pumphouse Educational Trust and Museum

The museum is located on land that until 1970 was part of the Surrey Docks. After these closed, the area was refurbished and the old pumphouse became a museum. It also houses the Rotherhithe Herita...

Group, Education, Museums / Libraries

1 memorial
Jane Beatty

Jane Beatty

United Kingdom citizen who died in the terrorist attacks in America on 11 September 2001. She was born Jane S. Chrystal on 2 June 1948 in the hamlet of Isle of Man, Dumfries, Dumfriesshire, Scotla...

Person, Tragedy, Scotland, USA

1 memorial
Lord Wolfson bust

Lord Wolfson bust

WC1, Queen Square, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery

The Leonard Wolfson Experimental Neurology Centre is located in the hospital behind the bust. Opened 15 November 2013 this was funded by ...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

Civil engineer. Born Portsea, Hampshire. Constructions include: Great Western Railway and the Clifton Suspension Bridge. Died at home, 18 Duke Street (see below). A very popular Brit, as illustrate...

Person, Engineering, Seriously Famous

10 memorials