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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Lost Garrick plaque

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

George Frederick Bodley

George Frederick Bodley

Ecclesiastical architect. Born Hull.  George Gilbert Scott was his brother-in-law's brother and encouraged him to take up architecture and took him on as his first pupil.  Initially practiced in Br...

Person, Architecture

3 memorials
Samuel William Iron

Samuel William Iron

Architect active in 1877. We can find no information about him, which is unusual for architects.

Person, Architecture

1 memorial
Shepherd's Bush Empire

Shepherd's Bush Empire

Theatre. Built for impresario Oswald Stoll and designed by Frank Matcham. Amongst its first performers were the Fred Karno troupe featuring Charlie Chaplin. When the appeal of variety shows began t...

Building, Architecture, Theatre

1 memorial
Alfred Head

Alfred Head

Born Holloway. Islington artist and Borough Architect for Islington in 1974. the Riviera Reporter contains an interview with Alfred Head.

Person, Architecture, Art

1 memorial
The Polygon

The Polygon

Polygon Road was the site of The Polygon - a fifteen sided building of 32 houses situated around a garden. William Godwin and Mary Wollstonecraft lived at No 29 for a time and their daughter, later...

Place, Architecture

1 memorial