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

John Romer

John Romer

Architect and structural engineer. John Henry Romer was born on 13 March 1947 in Kingston-upon-Thames the eldest of the three children of Sydney Gurney Romer (1903-2005) and Dorothy Joan Agnes Rom...

Person, Architecture, Engineering

1 memorial
Arnold Dunbar Smith

Arnold Dunbar Smith

Architect.  Born Islington.   From University of Texas: "Smith and Brewer formed a partnership in 1895 in London. Both men were members of the Art Workers Guild (Brewer elected in 1901 and Smith ...

Person, Architecture

1 memorial
A. R. Gough

A. R. Gough

Architect. Based in Bristol. He also designed St Jude's in Mildmay and a fountain to celebrate Queen Victoria's diamond jubilee in Charlbury, Oxfordshire.

Person, Architecture

1 memorial
Guardian Angels Church & School

Guardian Angels Church & School

The church on the Mile End Road was opened in 1903, the school, shown in this picture, behind the church, in 1896. Both funded by the Howard Family of Norfolk.

Building, Architecture, Education, Religion

1 memorial
Chris Roche
1 memorial