Kingston House estate, London

The Kingston House estate and Ennismore Gardens in Knightsbridge is a green, dual-character area within the western limits of the City of Westminster in London. The first-named is immediately south of Hyde Park, London taking up the park's semi-panorama row of 8 to 13 Princes Gate (demolished) and otherwise, as to more of its wings, set around the east of Princes Gate Garden including a terrace of houses №s 1 to 7 Bolney Gate. The second-named is a garden square of 59 tall creamy-white terraced houses and the approach road to Prince of Wales Gate, Hyde Park[lower-alpha 1] as well as the identical-size public, square green of the church that is since 1956 the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God and All Saints facing which green are its anomalous outlier row for a London garden square, №s 61 to 66.[lower-alpha 2] The relatively small, broad-fronted house set against the Consulate-used pairing at №s 61 to 62 is № 60 and as with the other 65 numbers of Ennismore Gardens is a listed building.

One side of the full square at Ennismore Gardens, a square surrounded by its numbers 1 to 59, all listed buildings.
Kingston House North

Kingston House estate has some Art Deco features but has no statutorily listed buildings. It has four 1930s to 1950s ranges of flats in 1930s style, arranged in three parts.

Kingston House estate

Kingston House, demolished
"Kingston House, Knightsbridge", engraving circa 1878
Crop of Christopher and John Greenwood's 8 inch-to-mile map published in 1827 from an 1830 republication (click to view all). In the far west is Gore House

Kingston House, originally called Chudleigh House, was a Palladian mansion, built in the mid-eighteenth century by Evelyn Pierrepont, 2nd Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull (1711–1773) for his mistress and later bigamous wife Elizabeth Chudleigh (1720–1788).[1] On her death it passed to the Duke’s nephew Charles Pierrepont, 1st Earl Manvers, and had a series of tenants, among which Sir George Warren, MP; the 6th Earl of Stair; and Edward Loveden Loveden of Buscot Park.

In 1813 the house saw its only sale (for continued use as such). This was to William Hare, Baron Ennismore, later 1st Earl of Listowel. He died at the house in 1837 and was succeeded by his grandson William Hare, 2nd Earl of Listowel who seldom occupied it. He sold some grounds for house-building. The house was again let to tenants (which would include Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley, who died there in 1842, and Baron Lionel de Rothschild). It remained with the family until four years after the death in 1931 of the 4th Earl, when it passed to his younger son, created Viscount Blakenham. In 1935 the house was sold for building of many more homes, and after the death of the Dowager Countess of Listowel in 1936, it was demolished in 1937 and replaced by two large blocks of private-ownership apartments, Kingston House North and Kingston House South.

First redevelopments

In the 1840s, development began with the construction of houses on Princes Gate and the east side of Ennismore Gardens, as well as a public house, the Ennismore Arms which was the first building of this scheme: built in 1845-7. It stood at the southern end of Ennismore Mews, which ran behind the houses on the eastern side of Princes Terrace. It suffered bomb damage during World War II and was rebuilt by Watney’s in the 1950s. It closed in 2002 then was demolished.[2]

All Saints' Church was built in 1848–9, designed in the Italianate style by Lewis Vulliamy. The church has murals by Heywood Sumner and is a Grade II* listed building.[3] William Ralph Inge was vicar there 1904–1907.[4] The Anglican church looked for another denomination to take it on in 1955, so late in the following year it became the Russian Orthodox Patriarchial Church of The Assumption of All Saints, part of the Russian Orthodox Diocese of Sourozh.[5] The prized organ was taken by agreement, to be installed at the Church of St John-at-Hackney.

In the 1860s the 3rd Earl released more land; the rest of Ennismore Gardens, including the private garden square at its centre, was laid out in the 1870s.[6] The five-storey houses have porticos with Corinthian columns, and a continuous railing creating a first floor balcony.[7] All 55 are listed buildings (in the starting, mainstream category, known as Grade II).[8] Many lamps on the pavements of roads are likewise listed.[9]

Moncorvo House was completed in 1880 for Albert George Sandeman (future Governor of the Bank of England) and named in honour of his father-in-law, Portugal’s ambassador in London, the Visconde Da Torre de Moncorvo.[10] In 1883, Bolney House was built to a design by the eminent architect Richard Norman Shaw[11] for Alfred Huth, son of Henry Huth.

Current form

Kingston House North replaces the demolished townhouse of Evelyn Pierrepont, 2nd Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull (1711–1773), yet is wider and has two long projections to the south;[12] its eastern wing (Kingston House North) has a smaller projection to the south; it replaced a grand house fenced off from Kingston House.

From the 1930s onwards, many of the original buildings, including Kingston House itself, were replaced by apartment blocks and modern townhouses. The Second World War brought further changes in use of the pre-war mansions. Moncorvo House became the post-war London HQ of the Canadian Joint Staff Establishment and the Embassy of Morocco before being demolished in 1964 and replaced with Moncorvo Close. Bolney House was demolished in the 1960s, replaced with Bolney Gate a terrace, numbered 1 to 7, on one of the two offshoots of the road named Ennismore Gardens – that leading to Prince of Wales Gate.

During World War II, the Norwegian government-in-exile took a main base at Kingston House North.[13]

After this war vacant parts of the grounds of long-demolished Kingston House saw Kingston House East (the E and SE wing of the North instance) and the two blocks of Kingston House South built, flanking 1 to 10 Morcorvo Close; the western block (№s 1 to 32) has short projecting wings; the eastern (№s 40 to 90, non consecutively) has none.[14]

Ennismore Gardens

The independent Hampshire School occupied №63 from 1933–2008, when it moved to the former Chelsea Library.[15]

The iconic Hollywood actress Ava Gardner lived[16] at №34 from 1968 until her death in 1990, and is commemorated by an English Heritage blue plaque on the side wall of the property. She is also commemorated by an ornamental urn in the square. She could be often be spotted going for a swim in the nearby Imperial College pool with a towel rolled under her arm.

The Libyan consulate and visa office occupies №s 61–62; the main embassy is at 15 Knightsbridge.[14] Its smaller-footprint rear forms № 60, which with №s 63–65 directly to the east are listed in the same way and for the same reasons as the main square itself.[17]

From 2010 to 2019 there were 50 sales of conversion apartments among the townhouses of Ennismore Gardens, averaging £1,864,000.[18]

Ennismore Garden Mews

Ennismore Garden Mews has been used to set film scenes. Alfred Hitchcock used № 31 as the home of Barbara Leigh-Hunt's character, 'Brenda Blaney', in the 1972 film Frenzy. The 1987 VW Golf TV advert directed by David Bailey featured Paula Hamilton leaving № 23.[19]

Notable residents

Kingston House North

Kingston House South

Moncorvo House (since demolished)

Bolney House (since demolished)

Ennismore Gardens

The first residents[21] were aristocrats and statesmen's families; in the 20th century they were joined by artists and actors.

Ennismore Gardens Mews
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ennismore Gardens.

See also
  • Squares in the City of Westminster, which applies to the main square and that facing five 'houses' and to the cathedral within the limbs of Ennismore Gardens, as well as from many stances to Princes Gate Garden, onto which homes on five streets back.
  • Grade II listed buildings in the City of Westminster, which applies to all buildings/homes addressed without other street/development name Ennismore Gardens (№s 1 to 65), except for the cathedral below.
  • Dormition Cathedral, London, a Grade II* listed building.
  • List of garden squares in London

Notes and References
Footnotes
  1. This approach road is fronted by 1 to 7 Bolney Gate hence the very direct connection
  2. The network-style street is thus one full garden square; three sides of another and two sides of a third one, of which one of its two sides is built up.
    The two estate components are likewise combined in the thorough Central London work, the Survey of London cited below.
Citations
  1. 'Princes Gate and Ennismore Gardens: The Kingston House Estate', Survey of London: volume 45: Knightsbridge (2000), pp. 157. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45933
  2. London Pubs History: Westminster http://pubshistory.com/LondonPubs/WestminsterStMargaret/EnnismoreArms.shtml
  3. "Russian Orthodox Patriarchial Church of The Assumption". historicengland.org.uk. Historic England. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  4. William Ralph Inge Biography. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  5. Cathedral newsletter http://www.sourozh.org/cathedral-newsletter/
  6. "Most Popular Gadgets & Websites Unbiased Online Reviews!". 29 May 2021.
  7. London Squares http://londonsquares.net/4-squares/11-ennismore-place/
  8. Historic England. "1 to 9 (1211572)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
    Historic England. "10 to 25 (1066845)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
    Historic England. "27 to 34 (1211634)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
    Historic England. "39 to 59 (1066815)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  9. See https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/map-search?clearresults=True for all of these street lamps
  10. 'Princes Gate and Ennismore Gardens: The Kingston House Estate: Development in Northern Ennismore Gardens, 1869–85', Survey of London: volume 45: Knightsbridge (2000), pp. 174–182. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45937
  11. "Plate 87: Alford House, interiors in 1931. | British History Online".
  12. "Explore georeferenced maps - Map images - National Library of Scotland".
  13. City of Westminster green plaques "Westminster City Council - Green Plaques Scheme". Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
  14. 'Princes Gate and Ennismore Gardens: The Kingston House Estate: The area since the 1920s', Survey of London: volume 45: Knightsbridge (2000), pp. 182–186. http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45938
  15. "GEMS Hampshire School::History of the School – GEMS Hampshire School – London". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014.
  16. "English Heritage". Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  17. Historic England. "60–65 (1066816)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  18. "House prices in Ennismore Gardens, London SW7 stand at £2,820,833 - Zoopla". www.zoopla.co.uk. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
  19. "Latest Property News | Lurot Brand" (PDF).
  20. Members of Parliament 1911–1918 http://eppi.dippam.ac.uk/documents/22594/eppi_pages/636916 Archived 3 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  21. "Princes Gate and Ennismore Gardens: The Kingston House Estate, Development by Peter and Alexander Thorn, 1868–74".
  22. "Invalid URL" (PDF).
  23. "Jackson, Sir Charles James (1849–1923)". Dictionary of Welsh Biography. National Library of Wales.
  24. "John Hardy Thursby".
  25. "Gadesdens Of Ewell Castle – Part 3".
  26. "President of The New Zealand Society UK".
  27. "Chairman of Vereniging Neerlandia UK".
  28. Biographies of Legal Lunacy Commissioners and Secretaries 1832– 1912 http://studymore.org.uk/6biol.htm

51.5014°N 0.1713°W / 51.5014; -0.1713

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