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 overlooked 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 images.

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 front elevation very different from that on our Garrick page. In 1872 the Victorians obliterated the Adams' neoclassical façades, adding heavy decorative features, around the windows and the bulky central attic pediment. The resultant houses would have been unrecognisable to their architects.

Drawings at the Rise and Fall make it clear that the houses at the two ends of the Terrace were detached from the main body of 10 houses.  No.11, the detached house at the eastern end, survived not just demolition in the '30s but also the attentions of the Victorians. Google Maps does not provide a good view of it but Wikipedia has a photo, from which one can imagine how impressive the whole Terrace must have been during its first 100 years.

For more information see 'The Rise and Fall of The Adelphi'. There is also this gem from Hansard, a splendid speech made by Lord Newton, 16 March 1933. British History Online gives all the occupants.

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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.

Robert Adam, Thomas Hood, John Galsworthy, Sir James Barrie and other eminent...

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Garrick plaque - gone

Garrick died in this house. Erected April-May 1876.

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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 Wilkins

William Wilkins

Architect. Born in St Giles, Norwich. His first architectural work, was improvements to Thoresby Park, Nottinghamshire. He travelled throughout Europe and published his researches into both classic...

Person, Architecture

2 memorials
John Evans

John Evans

Built the first planned Admiralty Office in 1695. Became Navy Board Purveyor.

Person, Architecture

1 memorial
Powell and Moya

Powell and Moya

Architects. The two partners were: Sir Arnold Joseph Philip Powell (1921 – 2003), usually known as Philip Powell, and John Hidalgo Moya (1920 – 1994), sometimes known as Jacko Moya, born in America...

Group, Architecture, USA

1 memorial
Herbert Huntly-Gordon

Herbert Huntly-Gordon

Architect and speculative builder.  Worked closely with the manufacturers Doulton and Company to produce a rough-faced terracotta for this type of neo-renaissance architectural decoration.  Ornamen...

Person, Architecture, Property

1 memorial

Previously viewed

Reeves & Sons Ltd

Reeves & Sons Ltd

Artists' colour manufacturer. Established by William Reeves (1739–1803). It has had a number of names, always including "Reeves" until ownership passed to Wilhelm Becker, through Colart Fine Art an...

Group, Art, Commerce, Industry

1 memorial
William Rees-Mogg

William Rees-Mogg

Editor of The Times 1967-81. Also High Sheriff of Somerset in the late 1970s. Chairman of the Arts Council in the 1980s. Vice-Chairman of the BBC Board of Governors. In 1988 he became Baron Rees-Mo...

Person, Journalism / Publishing, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Dianne Lim

Dianne Lim

Australian victim of the Marchioness tragedy, aged 25. She was a fashion designer.

Person, Tragedy, Australia

1 memorial
World War 1

World War 1

We'd always assumed that this war was known as the Great War until WW2 came along at which point it was renamed as World War One or the First World War. But the term was first used in print in 1920...

Event, Armed Forces, Tragedy

403 memorials
Flight Lieutenant Henry Forster Withy

Flight Lieutenant Henry Forster Withy

Henry Forster Withy was born on 10 October 1910 in West Hartlepool, Durham, the elder son of Henry Daubeny Withy (1882-1914) and Emily Edith Withy née Wilson (1879-1932). His birth was registered i...

Person, Armed Forces, Commerce, Malta

War dead, WW2
1 memorial