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

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
Thomas Leverton Donaldson

Thomas Leverton Donaldson

Architect.  Born 8 Bloomsbury Square.  Co-founder of RIBA.  Died at home, 21 Upper Bedford Place.

Person, Architecture

1 memorial
Bexleyheath Clock Tower

Bexleyheath Clock Tower

Designed by Walter Epps. It was intended to stand 'as a memorial to the enterprise and loyalty of the inhabitants of Bexleyheath'. Our picture shows the tower in 1912.

Building, Architecture

1 memorial
John Meard Junior

John Meard Junior

Apprenticed to his father in August 1700 – ‘John Meard Citizen and Turner... his father and Master admitted to this Freedom’ (Freedom Admissions Register of the Turners’ Company). On his father’s ...

Person, Architecture, Craft / Design, Property

1 memorial
Thomas Telford

Thomas Telford

Stonemason, architect and civil engineer. Born Eskdale, Dumfriesshire. Aged 12 left school to work for a local stonemason. Aged 25 rode on horseback to London. Built roads, bridges and canals. Neve...

Person, Architecture, Engineering, Scotland

2 memorials