King's Road
 King's Road, looking east towards Sloane Square | |
| Length | 1.9 mi (3.1 km) |
|---|---|
| Location | Chelsea, London,England |
| Postal code | SW3,SW6,SW10 |
| South end | Sloane Square |
| West end | Waterford Road |
| Other | |
| Known for | Shopping,Peter Jones,Saatchi Gallery |
King's RoadorKings Road(or sometimesthe King's Road,especially when it was the king's private road until 1830, or as a colloquialism by middle/upper class London residents) is a major street stretching throughChelseaandFulham,both in west London, England. It is associated with1960s styleand with fashion figures such asMary QuantandVivienne Westwood.SirOswald Mosley'sBlackshirtmovement had a barracks on the street in the 1930s.[1]
Location[edit]
King's Road runs for just under two miles (3.2 km) through Chelsea, in theRoyal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea,fromSloane Squarein the east (on the border withBelgraviaandKnightsbridge) and through the Chelsea Design Quarter (Moore Park Estate) on the border of Chelsea and Fulham. Shortly after crossing Stanley Bridge the road passes a slight kink at the junction with Waterford Road, where it then becomes New King's Road, continuing toFulham High StreetandPutney Bridge;its western end is in theLondon Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham.
History[edit]
King's Road derives its name from its function as a private road used byKing Charles IIto travel toKew.It remained a private royal road until 1830, but people with connections were able to use it. Some houses date from the early 18th century. No. 213 has ablue plaqueto film director SirCarol Reed,who lived there from 1948 until his death in 1976.Thomas Arnelived at No. 215 and is believed to have composed "Rule Britannia"there.Ellen Terrylived in the same house from 1904 to 1920, and alsoPeter Ustinov;the house is commemorated by a blue plaque also. PhotographerChristina Broomwas born in 1862 at No. 8.
The world's first artificialice rink,theGlaciarium,opened just off King's Road in 1876, and later that year it relocated to a building on the street.[citation needed]
During the 1960s the street became a symbol ofmod culture,evoking "an endless frieze of mini-skirted, booted, fair-haired angular angels", one magazine later wrote.[2]Mary Quant opened her boutique BAZAAR at 138a King's Road in 1955. King's Road was home in that decade to theChelsea Drugstore(originally a chemist with a stylised chrome-and-neonsoda fountainupstairs, later apublic house,and more recently aMcDonald's), and in the 1970s toMalcolm McLaren'sboutiqueLet It Rock, which was renamedSEXin 1974, and then Seditionaries in 1977. During thehippieandpunkeras it was a centre forcounterculture,but has since beengentrified.It serves as Chelsea'shigh streetand has a reputation for being one of London's most fashionable shopping streets. Other celebrated boutiques includedGranny Takes a Trip.
484 King's Road was the headquarters ofSwan Song Records,owned byLed Zeppelin.The company was closed and the building vacated in 1983. King's Road was the site of the first UK branch ofStarbucks,which opened in 1999.
In 1984,Keith Wainwright,a pioneer responsible for starting one of the first men's hairdressers catering for the longer men's styles of the time, with such clients includingRoy Wood,Cat StevensandThe Walker Brothers,opened the salon "Smile", at 434 King's Road.[citation needed]
535 King's Road was the headquarters ofCube Records,an independent record label of the late 1960s and early 1970s. The label folded in the mid-1970s, becoming part ofElektra Records.The building has since been demolished but the new building on the same site still houses a record company.
The corner of Kings Road andManresa Roadwas occupied from 1895 to 1985 byChelsea College of Science and Technologybefore it was subsumed intoKing's College Londonand immediately sold into private hands.
In popular culture[edit]
The road has been represented in popular culture on various occasions: "King's Road" is the title of a song byTom Petty & the Heartbreakersfrom the 1981 albumHard Promisesand is name-checked in the song "Dick a Dum Dum (King's Road)" which was a hit forDes O'Connorin 1969. InIan Fleming's novels,James Bondlives in an unspecified fashionable square just off King's Road.
In the 1960s radio seriesRound the Horne,in the 'Jules and Sandy' section, their establishment (named 'Bona...'), is often located in the King's Road (for example, Bona Books in series 4).[citation needed]
Pet Shop Boysmet in an electronics shop on King's Road in August 1981.
Planning and transport[edit]
- Planning
The eastern part of King's Road is identified in theLondon Planas one of 35 major centres in Greater London.[3]King's Road is part of A3217.[4][5]
- Bus
Buses11,19,22,49,211,319,328,andC3all go down King's Road, yet most of these turn off the street at one point or another. The 11 and the 22 are the only routes which run the entirety of King's Road, with the 22 being the only route that runs all the way from Sloane Square to the end of New King's Road in Fulham.
- Rail and tube
The western end of King's Road is close toImperial Wharf railway stationon theLondon Overgroundnetwork, with connections toWillesden JunctionandClapham Junction.Southernalso run direct rail services toMilton Keynes CentralandEast Croydonfrom this station. At the eastern end of the street isSloane Square,andFulham Broadwaylies at the western end, on the boundary between Chelsea and Fulham. King's Road, and the area of Chelsea as a whole, is known for having poor links to theLondon Underground.Due to this, the route ofCrossrail 2is proposed to have an underground station in this area, calledKing's Road Chelsea.
- River
Chelsea Harbour Pieris also within easy reach of the western end of King's Road, with river bus services provided byLondon River Servicesand Thames Executive Charters toPutneyandBlackfriars.Further east, the same services are also provided at Cadogan Pier, only a few blocks south of King's Road near theAlbert Bridge.
See also[edit]
- 213 and 215 King's Road
- 190 New King's Road
- Cadogan Estate
- Carlyle Square
- Markham Square
- Mallord Street
- King's Highway (disambiguation)
- Sloane Ranger
- World's End, Chelsea
- List of eponymous roads in London
- Fulham
- Parsons Green
- Sands End
References[edit]
- ^Mosley, Sir Oswald.My Life,Thomson Nelson & Sons,1970
- ^Seebohm, Caroline (19 July 1971)."English Girls in New York: They Don't Go Home Again".New York.p. 34.Retrieved6 January2015.
- ^Mayor of London(February 2008)."London Plan (Consolidated with Alterations since 2004)"(PDF).Greater London Authority.Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2 June 2010.
- ^"A3217".Roader's Digest: The SABRE Wiki.The Society for All British and Irish Road Enthusiasts.Retrieved28 June2022.
- ^"A3217 Kings Road".The Argus (Brighton).Gannett.Retrieved29 June2022.
External links[edit]
- Audio Walking Tour of King's Road
- King's Road London – Local news, community and shopping– kingsroadlondon.com
- New King's Road
- Shopping streets in London
- Streets in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
- Streets in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
- History of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
- Youth culture in the United Kingdom
- Major centres of London
- Chelsea, London
- Fulham
- King's Road, Chelsea, London
- District centres of London