Duke Street: West Side
Duke Street Mansions: Nos. 54–76 (even).
The
rebuilding of the houses between Hart Street (now the
north side of Brown Hart Gardens) and No. 415 Oxford
Street became necessary when Stalbridge Buildings, the
first of the series of working-class dwellings here, was
erected immediately behind in 1886. At the suggestion of
H. T. Boodle, the Duke of Westminster's solicitor, the site
was offered to the architect J. T. Wimperis, who had just
been building Audley Mansions at the corner of South
Audley Street and Mount Street as a speculation on his
own account. Wimperis took the site, which was in two
parts, on a ninety-year lease from 1887 at £2 per foot
frontage, agreeing to build shops with capacious flats over.
His designs, in a minimal Queen Anne style with plenty of
projecting bays, iron balconies and angle turrets to the
south, were speedily agreed and shown at the Royal
Academy Exhibition of 1887. The block, in red brick with
dressings of Doulton's terracotta (now painted over), was
erected by E. C. Howell and Son of Lambeth in 1887–8. (ref. 24)
Duke Street Electricity Sub-station.
This unusual
and stylish edifice, together with the paved garden on top,
was built in 1903–5 for the Westminster Electric Supply
Corporation to the designs of C. Stanley Peach, with C. H.
Reilly as assistant. The Corporation had for some years
enjoyed close relations with the Grosvenor Estate, having
in 1890–1 been allowed to build a generating station and
shops and chambers designed by Peach at the corner of
Davies and Weighhouse Streets. But when in February
1902 their secretary, Captain Bax, first suggested a scheme
to replace the communal garden (see page 97) with a
chamber for transformers one hundred feet by fifty in
dimension and seven feet in height and housing a
replanned garden on top, the Board was not enthusiastic.
Nevertheless, continuing complaints about the nuisance
from 'disorderly boys', 'verminous women' and 'tramps' in
the garden, together with the second Duke's readiness to
entertain the proposal, swayed their minds. Terms were
with some reluctance agreed in September 1902 whereby
for the sum of £4,000 the Corporation was to have a sixty-year lease at an annual rent of £200.
Once the decision became known it aroused some
protest among neighbouring tenants, who regretted the
loss of trees and amenity, but they were to an extent
placated by the promise that the garden would be restored
by the Westminster Electric Supply Corporation with new
trees in tubs. In the summer of 1903 the old garden was
closed, its furniture, fountain and shelter were distributed
to other sites in London, and work proceeded from then
until 1905, with Kennedy and Jenkin acting as engineers
and George Trollope and Sons as contractors. The new
garden (Plate 31b in vol. XXXIX) was opened on 16 June
1906 (about a year after its completion) by the Mayor of
Westminster, Lord Cheylesmore. (ref. 25)
As built, the sub-station rose to a greater height than
had been contemplated but retained Peach's original
layout, with a tall 'kiosk' or pavilion and steps at either end
(Plate 22c), a balustrade all round, and Diocletian windows
along the sides to light the galleries of the engine rooms,
which occupied deep basements. The garden above was
paved and allotted the trees in tubs suggested, though these
no longer exist. As to the style of the design, Peach was
then recognized as the leading British architectural
authority on electrical works, having designed some large
and functional but elegant installations for which he and
his assistant of the time, C. H. Reilly, had earned praise. In
the richer and more ornate architecture deemed proper for
such an ample open space in central Mayfair they were not,
however, so well versed. Although the bold Baroque
composition in Portland stone that Peach ultimately
produced proved acceptable to the Estate and was
evidently liked by the second Duke (who toyed with the
idea of employing him again), it was not attained without
effort. Eustace Balfour, who as chairman of the St. James'
Electric Light Company also had some interest in such
works, was in 1908 to record diffidently that the final
design was only arrived at 'after a great amount of trouble
and alterations by him' as estate surveyor, and that in his
view Peach was possessed of 'no artistic perceptions'. (ref. 26)
Nevertheless, the sub-station remains one of the most
confident and capable buildings in this part of Mayfair;
and the 'garden' is perhaps the only place in London where
quarrelling is specifically forbidden by law.
Nos. 78 and 80 and the Barley Mow (No. 82).
Rebuilding on the northern part of this site went less
smoothly than elsewhere in the street. Edward Burden, the
chemist and occupant here, wished to renew his lease as
early as 1881. Though the Estate would have preferred
shops with flats over them, Burden was in 1886 eventually
allowed a ninety-year lease and permission to build two
shops with houses over. He then submitted a design by his
brother, the surveyor R. H. Burden, which the Grosvenor
Board found 'not quite worthy of the situation'. After J. T.
Wimperis had given advice the revised elevations were
passed, but the building as erected in 1886–7 by the
contractors Killby and Gayford still does not live up to its
neighbours. (ref. 27)
To the south of this stood a private house, then next to it
the Barley Mow, and an arch over the entrance to George
Yard. Here the leases expired in 1895 and 1898. Although
it was originally contemplated to do away with the public
house in setting back the site, in the event it was the house
which disappeared when rebuilding occurred. After some
haggling over the hours of opening, the licensee, F. W.
Bevan, agreed to accept John Evelyn Trollope as architect
and George Trollope and Sons (who were working
opposite at Nos. 75–83 odd) as builders, and in 1895–6 the
Barley Mow was duly rebuilt with a small wing behind in
George Yard. J. E. Trollope was required to adhere to the
storey heights and cornice lines of Nos. 78 and 80, but he
chose a plainer and pleasanter style of brick architecture
with stone dressings. The interior of the public house
retains some of its original fittings. Two years after
completion in 1898, during the public-house boom, the
lease of the Barley Mow changed hands for £11,030
although the Estate had not guaranteed a continuation of
the licence. However this and subsequent licences were
eventually confirmed, and the business has continued to
the present day. (ref. 28)
Nos. 84 and 86 (demolished).
Between the flank
elevation of No. 10 Grosvenor Square and George Yard
stood two small houses numbered in Duke Street, which
projected slightly in front of the building line. These were
taken down and replaced in 1898–9 by a small speculative
stable block designed by Ernest A. E. Woodrow and
Horace J. Helsdon for the local builder Jonathan Andrews.
By 1915 No. 84 at the corner had been converted into a
shop for the interior decorators E. Elden, previously (from
1904) a few doors north at No. 80. (ref. 29) Together with No. 10
Grosvenor Square the buildings were demolished in about
1961.