Wikipedia

Great Queen Street

Great Queen Streetis a street in theWest Endofcentral LondoninEngland.It is a continuation ofLong AcrefromDrury LanetoKingsway.It runs from 1 to 44 along the north side, east to west, and 45 to about 80 along the south side, west to east. The street straddles and connects theCovent GardenandHolborndistricts and is in theLondon Borough of Camden.It is numbered B402.

Great Queen Street, looking east. Freemasons' Hall is visible on the right.

Early history

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Map showing proposed route of Kingsway,c.1900

The street was called "Queen Street" from around 1605–9, and "Great Queen Street" from around 1670 to distinguish it from Little Queen Street.[1]

In 1646 William Newton was given permission to build fourteen large houses, each with a forty-foot frontage, on the south side of the street. Although he did not build all the houses himself, selling on some the plots, they were constructed to a uniform design, in a classical style, withIonicpilastersrising through two storeys from the first floor to the eaves.[2]The regular design of the houses proved influential. According toJohn Summersonthey "laid down the canon which put an end to gabled individualism, and provided a discipline for London's streets which was to endure for two hundred years."[3]

In 1710, theGreat Queen Street Academywas founded here withGodfrey Knelleras its first governor.[4]

A major redevelopment in the early 1900s led to the building of the broadKingswayroad, clearing away some of the maze of small streets in Holborn including part of Great Queen Street, all of Little Queen Street and the surrounding slum dwellings. Plans were published by London County Council in 1898, authorised in 1899, and the road was formally opened in 1905.[5]

Recent history

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In about 2005 a local architect's practice won a competition to create a small, new square by redesigning the Great Queen Street junction with Drury Lane. TheLondon Borough of Camdensaw the potential of improving this junction as it was on their walking corridor between Leicester Square and Holborn. It was realised that to make this the best space for walking the traffic signals should be designed out as they were more of a hindrance than a help to pedestrians. Thus the Great Queen Street scheme created the trend for traffic signal removal in the UK, which together with removing guard railings and lighting columns it set a new standard for decluttering.[6]

Camden benches outsideFreemasons' Hallin Great Queen Street

It was also the first scheme to explain howshared spaceworks and can be designed, and how to make it inclusive.[7]Then to ensure that the space was more than just paving it was necessary to provide some seating. This was difficult in an area with a high crime and anti-social behaviour due to it being on the edge of the night time economy in Covent Garden and one block from a substance abuse hostel. Therefore, the project manager also wrote a brief to create theCamden benchto encourage walking and make this a social space, which subsequently won awards in designing out crime, simplifying street cleaning and inclusive design.[8]

By removing all the street clutter from the junction it then became possible to see that when theFreemasonsowned this end of Great Queen Street they faced the facades of all three building blocks inPortland stone.

Masonic connections

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Roughly half of the south side is occupied byFreemasons' Hall,the headquarters of theUnited Grand Lodge of England.The first English Grand Lodge was founded in 1717, which explains the dates on the top of the current building. Their first buildings on this site were replaced in 1860 by the architectFrederick Pepys Cockerell.However, this is the third Freemasons' Hall, which was built by international subscriptions in 1927–33 as a Masonic Peace Memorial after the Great War. It is a grade II listed building, and the onlyArt Decobuilding in London that is unaltered and still used for its original purpose. There are 29 meeting rooms and the 1,000 seat Grand Temple, which, with theLibrary and Museumare open to the public with hourly guided tours.

The Masonic Charitable Foundation (MCF) is also located in Freemasons' Hall. The MCF comprises four former charities: The Freemasons' Grand Charity, a grant-making charity, the Royal Masonic Benevolent Institution (RMBI), which operated 17 care homes for Freemasons and their dependents, the Royal Masonic Trust for Boys and Girls, which provided education for the children of Freemasons; and the Masonic Samaritan Fund, providing medical care and support. The MCF took over the activities of the four charities in 2016.

In 1775 theFreemasons' Tavernstood at 61–65, later theConnaught Roomsand now the Grand Connaught Rooms hotel and conference centre; like the hotel, the original Tavern was used by the public as well as Freemasons for their receptions and dinners. There are conflicting stories about the founding in 1863 ofthe Football Associationto set down the rules of the game. The existing pub "The Freemasons Arms"on Long Acre is sometimes said to be the site of this event, but other sources say it was the Freemason's Tavern.

There is a pub called "The Prince of Wales" at 45 Great Queen Street, presumably named after the futureGeorge IVwho was the Grand Master of the Freemasons in 1809.

The north side of the road is also partly occupied byMasonic regaliashops, Masonic charities and administrative offices. At numbers 19–21 is the premises of the regalia manufacturerToye, Kenning & Spencer,which has been located at this address since acquiring the rival manufacturer George Kenning in 1956. At 23 is another shop where Masonic regalia is sold. At 30–31 is the Royal Masonic Trust for Girls and Boys, a charity that provides for the education of orphaned children of Masons.

Residents and businesses

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From 1882 to 1959, theNovelty Theatre(later renamed the Great Queen Street Theatre and the Kingsway Theatre) was at 8 Great Queen Street.[9]It staged the English première ofIbsen’sA Doll’s Housein June 1889.

At 31 Great Queen Street livedJames Basire,a member of the Society of Antiquaries who took onWilliam Blakeas an apprentice in 1772 for seven years.[10]

The novelistR H Barham(aka Thomas Ingoldsby) lived at No 51 between 1821 and 1824 after gaining aminor canonryat London'sSt. Paul's Cathedral,where he served as acardinal.[11]

Playwright, writer and politicianRichard Brinsley Sheridanlived at No 55/56 between 1770 and 1790.

James Boswell,lawyer, diarist and author, lived at 56–58 from 1786 until 1788.

Actress, songster and star comedienne of British playhouse entertainmentKitty Clivelived at No 59 between 1743 and 1747.[12]

ArtistJohn Opielived at No 63 between 1783 and 1791 and paintedThe Schoolmistressthere in 1784.[12]

At No 67 there was a chapel from circa 1709, taken over by theMethodistsin 1789 and expanded. This venue became West London Mission in 1906 and was renamed Kingsway Hall in 1907. But then the building was condemned due to the development of Kingsway. A newKingsway Hallwas built in 1912.

Shanks and Co. ran their well-known coachbuilding business at 70–71 Great Queen Street from the 1850s, becomingF & R Shanksin 1860. The business moved out of Great Queen Street around 1905. The Shanks coachworks was located in 'New Yard'; this land was sold to the Freemasons around 1920 to build the Freemasons' Hall.[13]

The orchestral music hire businessGoodwin & Tabbwas at 71 Great Queen Street from 1826 until 1906, when they moved to 34Percy Street.

At 72 is the Kingsway Hall Hotel, built on the site ofKingsway Halland redeveloped into a four-star hotel in 1999.

Between 1837 and 1840, the painterRichard Daddlived in Great Queen Street while studying at theRoyal Academy.

Opposite Freemason's Hall was one of the "feature sites" for theCamden benchwhen it was first introduced.[14]

References

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  1. ^Riley, W. Edward; Gomme, Sir Lawrence, eds. (1914)."Great Queen Street (general)".Survey of London:volume 5: St Giles-in-the-Fields, pt II.Institute of Historical Research.Retrieved7 April2012.
  2. ^Summerson, John (1970).Architecture in Britain, 1530 to 1830.Pelican History of Art. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 163–4.
  3. ^Summerson, John (1962).Georgian London.Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. p. 34.
  4. ^Richard H. Saunders,John Smibert:Colonial America's First Portrait Painter,Yale University Press1995.
  5. ^Ben Weinreb;Christopher Hibbert(1992).The London Encyclopaedia(reprint ed.).Macmillan.pp. 450–451.
  6. ^The Home Office"Great Queen Street best practice de-cluttering" (2010)
  7. ^Department for Transport"Local Transport Note 1/11 Great Queen Street shared space" (2011)
  8. ^RTPI, London "Great Queen Street shortlisted for London's best new public spaces" (2009/10)
  9. ^Kingsway Theatre, Great Queen Street in 1956,London Picture Archive
  10. ^Peter Ackroyd.Blake(1995), p. 43
  11. ^The New Catholic Dictionary(1929), p. 189
  12. ^abPeter Gibson.The Capital Companion(1985), p. 174
  13. ^Shanks Coachmakers
  14. ^"Camden Bench".Factory Furniture.Archived fromthe originalon 3 September 2014.Retrieved29 August2014.
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51°30′56″N0°07′16″W/ 51.51556°N 0.12111°W/51.51556; -0.12111

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