Adelphi, London

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District of London in the City of Westminster

title: "Adelphi, London" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["housing-in-london", "robert-adam-buildings", "areas-of-london", "districts-of-the-city-of-westminster", "georgian-architecture-in-the-city-of-westminster", "city-of-westminster"] description: "District of London in the City of Westminster" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adelphi,_London" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary District of London in the City of Westminster ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e2/View_of_the_south_front_of_the_new_buildings_called_Adelphi_RP-P-OB-70.899.jpg" caption="The Adam Brothers' Adelphi (1768–72) was London's first neoclassical building. Eleven large houses fronted a vaulted terrace, with wharves beneath, known as the '''Adelphi Arches''''."] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/11_Adelphi_Terrace_2015.jpg" caption="Current view of the remaining building at 11 Adelphi Terrace, the furthest left house of the original buildings when viewed from the river." alt="11 Adelphi Terrace"] ::

Adelphi (; from the Greek ἀδελφοί adelphoi, meaning "brothers") is a district of the City of Westminster in Greater London. The small district includes the streets of Adelphi Terrace, Robert Street and John Adam Street. Of rare use colloquially, Adelphi is grouped with Aldwych as the greater Strand district (a main street of London between the two areas and those immediately adjoining) which for many decades formed a parliamentary constituency and civil registration district.

Adelphi Buildings

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/14/Alexander_Nasmyth_-A_prospect_of_London(1826).jpg" caption="''A prospect of London'' by [[Alexander Nasmyth]], 1826. The Adelphi Buildings can be seen to the left of [[Waterloo Bridge]]."] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Department_for_Work_and_Pensions_(DWP),_Adelphi,_John_Adam_Street.jpg" caption="The [[Art Deco]] Adelphi building from the 1930s, located at 1-10 John Adam Street."] ::

The district is named after the Adelphi Buildings, a block of 24 unified neoclassical terrace houses that occupied the land between The Strand and the River Thames in the parish of St Martin in the Fields, which also included a headquarters building for the "Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce" (now generally known as the Royal Society of Arts). They were built between 1768 and 1772 by the Adam brothers (John, Robert, James and William Adam), to whom the buildings' Greek-derived name refers. The ruins of Durham House on the site were demolished for their construction.

Robert Adam was influenced by his extensive visit to Diocletian's Palace in Split, Dalmatia (present day Croatia), and he applied some of this influence to the design of the neoclassical Adelphi Buildings. The nearby Adelphi Theatre is named after the Adelphi Buildings.

Many of the Adelphi Buildings were demolished in the early 1930s and replaced with the New Adelphi, a monumental Art Deco building designed by the firm of Collcutt & Hamp. Buildings remaining from the old Adelphi include 11 Adelphi Terrace (formerly occupied by numismatic specialists A.H. Baldwin & Sons Ltd) and the Royal Society of Arts headquarters (which has expanded to incorporate two of the former houses). Benjamin Pollock's Toy Shop was located here in the 1940s.

Notable institutions

South Australian Colonization Commission

The South Australian Colonization Commission (1834–1843) had their offices at 6 Adelphi Terrace in 1840. Rowland Hill was secretary to this body, and it was during this period that he devised his penny postage scheme.

London School of Economics

The London School of Economics (LSE) held its first classes in October 1895, in rooms at 9 John Street, Adelphi,{{cite web|title = LSE 1895 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805043238/http://www.lse.ac.uk/resources/LSEHistory/lse.htm |archive-date=5 August 2009|url = http://www.lse.ac.uk/resources/LSEHistory/lse.htm|publisher=London School of Economics|year = 2000|access-date =23 July 2009}} before setting up more permanent operations in Number 10 Adelphi Terrace. By 1920, the LSE had moved a few blocks east, to its current Clare Market address. While in Adelphi, the LSE's scholars and students were active in the surrounding neighbourhood and community.

Street name etymologies

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| caption = Crop of Christopher and John Greenwood's 8 inch-to-mile map published in 1827 from an 1830 republication (click to view all). The Adelphi is south of the Strand. Adelphi has no formally defined boundaries, though they are generally agreed to be: Strand to the north, Lancaster Place to the east, Victoria Embankment to the south and Charing Cross station to the west. The small set of streets east of Northumberland Avenue are included here for convenience.

Several streets are or were named using the words George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham after the first Duke, 17th century courtier, who acquired York House which formerly stood on this site; his son sold the area to developers on condition that his father and titles were commemorated on the new streets.

  • Adam Street – after John and Robert Adam, who built the Adelphi development in the 1760s
  • Adelphi Terrace – the area was developed by the brothers John and Robert Adam, in the 1760s, and was named after adelphos, the Greek for 'brother'
  • The Arches – presumably descriptive, after the railway arches here
  • Buckingham Arcade and Buckingham Street – after George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
  • Carting Lane – thought to be from the carts that brought good to and from the wharf formerly located here; until the 1830s it was called Dirty Lane
  • Charing Cross – after the Eleanor cross at Charing, from the Old English word "cierring", referring to a bend in the River Thames
  • Corner House Street – unknown
  • Craven Passage and Craven Street – after William Craven, 3rd Baron Craven, who owned the land when the street was built in the 1730s
  • Durham House Street – this was the former site of Durham House, a palace belonging to the bishops of Durham in medieval times
  • Embankment Place – after the Thames Embankment, built in the Victorian era
  • George Court – after George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
  • Hungerford Lane – after the Hungerford family, who owned a house on this site in the 15th century, later sold due to debts to create Hungerford Market, before the building of Charing Cross station
  • Ivybridge Lane – named after a former ivy-covered bridge that crossed an old watercourse on this spot; the bridge was demolished sometime before 1600
  • John Adam Street – after John Adam, who built the Adelphi development with his brother Robert in the 1760s, a combination of the previous John Street and Duke Street with the latter named after the 1st Duke of Buckingham
  • Lancaster Place – former site of the Savoy Palace. It passed into the ownership of the earls of Lancaster in the 13th century, the most famous of which was John of Gaunt, who owned the palace at the times of its destruction in Peasant's Revolt of 1381
  • Northumberland Avenue and Northumberland Street – site of the former Northumberland House, built originally in the early 17th century for the earls of Northampton and later acquired by the earls of Northumberland
  • Robert Street and Lower Robert Street – after Robert Adam, who built the Adelphi development with his brother John in the 1760s
  • Savoy Buildings, Savoy Court, Savoy Hill, Savoy Place, Savoy Row, Savoy Steps, Savoy Street and Savoy Way – the former site of the Savoy Palace, built for Peter II, Count of Savoy in 1245
  • Strand and Strand Lane – from Old English 'stond', meaning the edge of a river; the river Thames formerly reached here prior to the building of the Thames Embankment
  • Victoria Embankment – after Queen Victoria, reigning queen at the time of the building of the Thames Embankment
  • Villiers Street – after George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham
  • Watergate Walk – after a former watergate built in 1626 for George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham as an entrance for the former York House
  • York Buildings and York Place – a house was built on this site in the 14th century for the bishops of Norwich – in the reign of Queen Mary it was acquired by the archbishops of York and named 'York House'; York Place was formerly 'Of Alley', after the 1st Duke of Buckingham

Notable residents

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Past_and_Present_Number_Three.jpg" caption="''Past and Present, no. 3 Despair'']], by [[Augustus Egg]], 1858, set in the Adelphi Arches"] ::

In media

  • David Copperfield, created by Charles Dickens, lived on Buckingham Street in Adelphi.
  • Fictional detective Gideon Fell, created by John Dickson Carr, lived at no. 1, Adelphi Terrace.
  • The 1930s Adelphi building was used for some scenes in ITV's Agatha Christie's Poirot episode "The Theft of the Royal Ruby", and in episode "The Plymouth Express".
  • In an instalment of E.M. Delafield's semi-autobiographical Diary of a Provincial Lady series, entitled The Provincial Lady in Wartime, the eponymous protagonist works in the canteen of an air raid shelter located under the Adelphi during the Phoney War. Much of the narrative is dedicated to describing the atmosphere and inhabitants of the building and the surrounding area, and many of the events of the book take place here.
  • Cora Harrison's Season of darkness revolves around No. 5 Adelphi Terrace.

References

References

  1. Mills, A., ''Oxford Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001)
  2. 0-8047-4800-4
  3. [https://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=17691 C. Michael Hogan, "Diocletian's Palace", The Megalithic Portal, Andy Burnham ed, 6 Oct. 2007]
  4. (1840). "The British Almanac of The Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, for the year of our Lord 1840.". Charles Knight & Co..
  5. (10 December 2020). "Adelphi Terrace".
  6. Fairfield, S. ''The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins'', p2
  7. Bebbington, G. (1972) ''London Street Names'', p16
  8. Fairfield, S. ''The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins'', p3
  9. Fairfield, S. ''The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins'', p47
  10. Bebbington, G. (1972) ''London Street Names'', p62-3
  11. Bebbington, G. (1972) ''London Street Names'', p74
  12. Fairfield, S. ''The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins'', p65
  13. Bebbington, G. (1972) ''London Street Names'', p81
  14. Fairfield, S. ''The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins'', p85
  15. Bebbington, G. (1972) ''London Street Names'', p102
  16. Fairfield, S. ''The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins'', p105
  17. Bebbington, G. (1972) ''London Street Names'', p118
  18. Bebbington, G. (1972) ''London Street Names'', p123
  19. Fairfield, S. ''The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins'', p167
  20. Bebbington, G. (1972) ''London Street Names'', p179-80
  21. Fairfield, S. ''The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins'', p170
  22. Bebbington, G. (1972) ''London Street Names'', p184
  23. Fairfield, S. ''The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins'', p172
  24. Fairfield, S. ''The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins'', p186
  25. Bebbington, G. (1972) ''London Street Names'', p194
  26. Fairfield, S. ''The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins'', p229
  27. Bebbington, G. (1972) ''London Street Names'', p236
  28. Fairfield, S. ''The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins'', p267
  29. Fairfield, S. ''The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins'', p288
  30. Bebbington, G. (1972) ''London Street Names'', p295-6
  31. Fairfield, S. ''The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins'', p306
  32. Bebbington, G. (1972) ''London Street Names'', p312
  33. Fairfield, S. ''The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins'', p328
  34. Bebbington, G. (1972) ''London Street Names'', p332
  35. Fairfield, S. ''The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins'', p334
  36. Bebbington, G. (1972) ''London Street Names'', p337-8
  37. Fairfield, S. ''The Streets of London – A dictionary of the names and their origins'', p349
  38. "Barrie's flat in Adelphi Terrace House".
  39. [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45138 'The Strand, southern tributaries – continued', Old and New London: Volume 3 (1878), pp. 100–110] accessed: 30 May 2008
  40. (1937). "Survey of London: Volume 18, St Martin-in-The-Fields II: the Strand".
  41. Eirik. (2013-07-04). "Investigating Agatha Christie's Poirot: Episode-by-episode: The Theft of the Royal Ruby".
  42. "On Location with Poirot - The Plymouth Express".
  43. Delafield, E.M.. (May 2014). "The Diary of a Provincial Lady". Penguin Classics.
  44. "SEASON OF DARKNESS {{!}} Kirkus Reviews".

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housing-in-londonrobert-adam-buildingsareas-of-londondistricts-of-the-city-of-westminstergeorgian-architecture-in-the-city-of-westminstercity-of-westminster