Beak Street
The modern thoroughfare known as Beak
Street extends from Regent Street to Lexington
Street, and for historical purposes may be divided
into three parts. Its western extremity, between
Regent and Warwick Streets, is clearly marked on
the plan of 1585 (Plate 1), and formed part of the
ancient highway which led (in terms of the modern
street layout) from Piccadilly to Oxford Circus.
This part of the street formed the boundary
between Mulghay Close on the south (Chapter
XX) and Six Acre Close on the north (Chapter XI).
At some time between 1673 and c. 1685 all of the
ground on the north side between Swallow Street
(whose site is now occupied by Regent Street) and
King (now Kingly) Street came into the possession
of Thomas Beak(e), later described as one of the
Queen's Messengers, from whom the street takes
its name. Beak Street first appears by name in the
ratebooks for 1689, and in 1691 the Justices
ordered that it should be paved with stone. (ref. 187)
The main or central portion of the street, eastward of King Street on the north side and of
Warwick Street on the south and extending as far
as the line of Bridle Lane, formed part of Gelding
Close and was called Silver Street (a name
probably derived from Golden Square, which was
itself derived from Gelding Close) until 1883,
when all three sections of the street became known
as Beak Street.
The eastern extremity of the street, beyond
Bridle Lane, was also originally called Silver
Street, and formed part of the Pulteney estate;
it is described in Chapter IX.
Within the section which formed part of Gelding Close the ground on the south side between
Warwick and Upper John Streets was leased by
Martha Axtell in August 1684 to Richard Tyler
for fifty-one years, (ref. 129) while that on the north side
between King and Carnaby Streets was also
granted at about the same time to Tyler, but for
nine hundred years, it being 'in a narrow back
street incommodiously situated.' (ref. 188) All of the remainder of the ground on both sides of this section
of the street formed part of Isaac Symball's moiety
of Gelding Close (fig. 18), and in 1685–9 was
granted by him to individual tradesmen on ninehundred-year leases. Lessees included Richard
Eyles, (ref. 189) John James the elder of St. Martin's,
carpenter, (ref. 190) John James the younger and
Abraham Bridle, both of St. Martin's, carpenters,
who were in partnership, (ref. 189) Samuel Levinz,
mason, (ref. 191) Richard Naylor, of St. James's, yeoman, (ref. 192) and Richard Tyler. (ref. 193) The original lease
of No. 41 has survived, and there the lessee, John
James the elder, covenanted to build a house
'uniforme in front to the best of the tenements
fronting the said Silver Streete', and 'answerable
to the sayd building assigned for the patterne
thereof'. (ref. 190)
Nevertheless the houses were probably not
impressive, for in 1720 Strype refers to Silver
Street merely as 'another small Street'. (ref. 194) Sutton
Nicholls's engraving of Golden Square shows that
then, as now, most of the houses were singlefronted and four storeys high, with roof garrets.
All the surviving evidence of early building
suggests that the construction was cheap, though
not shoddy, and the finishings were simple, befitting houses intended for tradesmen and lower
middle-class occupation. Several original houses,
much altered and generally refronted, survive on
the north side between Carnaby Street and Lexington Street, but the whole of the south side has been
rebuilt, the individual house-plots being combined
to form sites for commercial buildings and warehouses.
Nos. 21, 23 Beak Street
Formerly Nos. 24, 23 Silver Street
No. 21 occupies a wider plot than its neighbour
and commands a view into Golden Square. The
back wall with its flush-framed windows is
evidence of an early eighteenth-century date, although the front appears to be of the 1840's. The
ground storey contains a shop to the east of an
open passage, and the upper face of three storeys,
each having three windows, is of brick now painted
white, the first- and second-floor windows having
stucco architraves and cornices. The open
passage leads north through a small court to
Kingly Court, a large oblong yard surrounded by
galleried buildings which appears on Horwood's
map of 1792–9 as a 'Repository for Carriages',
replacing the 'Nailer's Yard' shown by
Rocque.
No. 23 has a simple and well-designed Regency
shop-front, with a window of many panes between
doorways, the divisions effected by narrow fluted
pilasters supporting an entablature. The two
first-floor windows have Grecian balconies of cast
iron.
The ratebooks show that 'James Amicony',
probably the artist Jacopo Amiconi, occupied a
house on or near the site of the present No. 23
from 1732 to 1734. (ref. 28)
No. 41 Beak Street
Formerly No. 16 Silver Street
In November 1687 Isaac Symball leased the
site of this house to John James the elder of St.
Martin's, carpenter, for nine hundred years. As
has already been mentioned, James covenanted
to build a house 'uniforme in front to the
best of the tenements fronting the said Silver
Streete', and 'answerable to the sayd building
assigned to the patterne thereof'. (ref. 190) The existing
house (Plate 131a) is slightly larger than the average
in Beak Street, and like No. 21 has a passage leading to an internal court on the ground storey. The
three windows in each upper storey look down
Upper James Street into Golden Square.
The Venetian painter, Antonio Canaletto,
lodged here from at least 1749 to 1751, his stay
being interrupted by a journey to Italy in the
winter of 1750–1. (ref. 195) A newspaper advertisement
of 26 July 1749 states that 'Signor Canaleto hereby invites any Gentleman that will be pleased to
come to his House, to see a Picture done by him,
being A View of St. James's Park, which he
hopes may in some Measure deserve their Approbation. The said View may be seen from Nine in
the Morning till Three in the Afternoon, and
from Four till Seven in the Evening, for the
Space of fifteen Days from the Publication of this
Advertisement. He lodges at Mr. Richard
Wiggan's, Cabinet-Maker, in Silver-Street,
Golden Square.' (ref. 196)
The ratebooks show that Wiggan's house was
afterwards numbered 16 Silver Street and is now
No. 41 Beak Street. A similar newspaper advertisement of 30 July 1751 announced that Canaletto
had 'painted the Representation of ChelseaCollege, Ranelagh House, and the River Thames',
and that this picture might be seen at the same
address. (ref. 197)
Until shortly before 1921 a studio or workshop
with a skylight stood in the garden at the back of
the house. (ref. 198) Canaletto's stay here is now commemorated by a plaque erected on the front of the
building by the London County Council.
The Crown Public House, Beak Street
Demolished
The Crown public house, which stood on the
eastern corner of Beak Street and Upper James
Street until 1921, was mentioned by Charles
Dickens in Nicholas Nickleby. It was much frequented by Newman Noggs for, as a corner house,
it had the advantage of 'a bar door both ways'. (ref. 199)
Police Section House, Beak Street
This building was erected in 1909–10 for the
Metropolitan Police; the architect was the police
surveyor, J. Dixon Butler. (ref. 200) It is an austere
building reflecting something of the influence of
C. R. Mackintosh. The walls are of grey brick
above a base of brown glazed bricks, and there
are plain stone surrounds with cyma-moulded
labels to the arched doorway and the three-light
windows of the ground storey. A large segmentalbowed window, divided by stone mullions and
transoms, lights the staircase.