Dolphin Square

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Dolphin Square is a block of private apartments built near the River Thames at Pimlico in London, between 1935 and 1937.

At the time of their construction the development was billed, according to Sir Nikolaus Pevsner as the "largest self-contained block of flats in Europe" and, to an extent, their design has been a model for later municipal developments.

A. P. Herbert, 'Dolphin Square', 1935 (illustrations by H. M. Bateman) described the Square as 'a city of 1250 flats, each enjoying at the same time most of the advantages of the separate house and the big communal dwelling place'; the provision of a restaurant made him fear that 'fortunate wives will not have enough to do. A little drudgery is good for wives, perhaps. The Dolphin lady may be spoiled'. This booklet was produced as a promotional puff for the firm that owned and built the complex, Richard Costain Ltd. On purchasing the site, Richard Rylandes Costain remarked to a colleague: ‘in two or three years we'll either drive up to this spot in a Rolls-Royce, or we'll be standing here selling matches’.^[1]

Sir Max Joseph bought the complex in 1958 for £2.4 million, selling it to Lintang Investments. Westminster Council later owned the estate.^[2]

Accommodation is provided in thirteen 'houses' each named after a famous navigator or admiral. At the south (Thames) side of the square the houses are Grenville, Drake, Raleigh and Hawkins. Moving from the river up the west side, we find Nelson, Howard, Beatty, and Duncan. The hotel and administration offices, situated at the north side of the square, is in Rodney. Heading south from the hotel there is Keyes, Hood, Collingwood and Frobisher.

The building contains a swimming pool and gym, as well as a restaurant (now closed, April 2006), bar, brasserie and shopping arcade. A launderette and a large car park can be found in the basement. A tennis court and croquet lawn overlook the Thames. For many years, the estate had a reputation for being a 'Bourgeois Council Estate', with many judges, senior civil servants, and MPs living at below-market rates. Other residents have included Radclyffe Hall, Christine Keeler, the Princess Royal and, it is rumoured, both MI5 and Soviet spies. John Vassall, the Soviet spy, was arrested at his Dolphin Square apartment in 1962.^[3] It provided a base for the Free French during World War II. A hawk resides to contain the pigeon population.

The Estate has been sold to Westbrook Holdings (January 2006), and the hotel closed in April 2006. The Dolphin Square Tenants' Association (DSTA) is the official body representing the interests of tenants in the Square and publishes a regular newsletter TenantTimes. The Blue Dolphin Club helps to arrange an active social life.

[edit] References

^ Norman Kipping, “Costain, Sir Richard Rylandes (1902–1966),” rev., in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison (Oxford: OUP, 2004), http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/32580 (accessed March 7, 2007).
^ Richard Davenport-Hines, “Joseph, Sir Maxwell (1910–1982),” in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison (Oxford: OUP, 2004), http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/31295 (accessed March 7, 2007).
^ Cahal Milmo: " Secrets revealed of gay 'honey trap' that made spy of Vassall", The Independent, 30 June 2006