Park Crescent, London

The west curve of Park Crescent

Park Crescent is at the north end of Portland Place and south of Marylebone Road in London, England. The Crescent consists of elegant stuccoed terraced houses by the architect John Nash, which form a semicircle. The Crescent is part of Nash's town-planning scheme linking central London to Regent's Park.

History

Work on the Crown Estate properties started in 1806, but the builder Charles Mayor went bankrupt after 6 houses had been built and was only completed 1819-21.[1] Famous residents in the nineteenth century included Lord Lister, who prior to his elevation to the peerage was created a baronet, of Park Crescent in the Parish of St Marylebone in the County of Middlesex.[2]

The interiors of the buildings do not remain in their original condition. After the Second World War Park Crescent and other Nash terraces were in poor condition. The facades were restored and protected, but behind the curve of the Crescent the rest of the structures were modernised. The crescent is now the home of institutions such as International Students House, London and the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators. Many houses are now converted into expensive flats.[3]

Garden

The semicircle is divided into two halves by Portland Place. Between the arms of the crescent is a private garden.

Statue by Sebastian Gahagan

Just inside the garden railings, facing the top of Portland Place, is a statue of Queen Victoria's father, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn.[4] Installed in January, 1824, the statue is seven feet two inches tall, it represents the Duke in his Field Marshal's uniform, over which he wears his ducal dress and the regalia of the Order of the Garter.[5]

Subterranean structures

Regent's Park tube station is next to the Marylebone Road side of the garden. An unusual and original local feature is the "Nursemaids' Tunnel", an early example of an underpass, linking the gardens of Park Crescent to the gardens of Park Square on the other side of Marylebone Road.[6]

References

  1. ↑ page 183, John Nash A complete catalogue, Michael Mansbridge, 1991, Phaidon Press
  2. ↑ The London Gazette: no. 25300. p. 6687. 28 December 1883.
  3. ↑ Park Crescent, London W1 — House prices.
  4. ↑ Statue: Prince Edward Duke of Kent, London remembers website
  5. ↑ Lives & Portraits of Public Characters 3. London: J. Cumberland. 1828. p. 50.
  6. ↑ Park Square NW1, Open Garden Squares.

External links

Media related to Park Crescent, London at Wikimedia Commons Coordinates: 51°31′22″N 0°08′46″W / 51.52287°N 0.14622°W