In 1237 one, Gilbert Sandeford, obtained leave to convey water to the
City from the Tyburn, and laid down leaden pipes, the first recorded
instance of their use for this purpose in England. Once a year the Mayor
and Corporation visited the head of their conduits, and afterwards held
a banquet in the Banqueting House in Stratford Place. "The Lord Mayor
and Aldermen and many worshipful persons rode to the conduit heads to
see them, according to the old custom; and then they went and hunted a
hare before dinner and killed her, and thence went to dinner at the
Banqueting House at the head of the conduit, where a great number were
handsomely entertained by their Chamberlain. After dinner they went to
hunt the fox. There was a great cry for a mile, and at length the hounds
killed him at the end of St. Giles with a great holloaing and blowing of
horns at his death, and thence the Lord Mayor with all his company rode
through London to his place in Lombard Street" (Strype). The Banqueting
House was demolished in 1737, long after Sir Hugh Myddelton's scheme
(1618) for supplying London with water from the New River had rendered
the Marylebone conduits unnecessary.
Stratford Place is a cul-de-sac opening out of Oxford Street. It was
built about 1774 by Lord Stratford, the Earl of Aldborough, and others.
It was Lord Stratford who built Aldborough House in this place, before
which General Strode erected a column to commemorate the naval victories
of England. The column, which was a Corinthian one surmounted by a
statue of George III., fell in 1805, eight years after its erection. The
house in Stratford Place was subsequently occupied by the Duke of St.
Alban's, Prince Esterhazy, and others.
Vere Street was called after the Veres, Earls of Oxford. The western
district post-office is situated here, and at the north end is the
little Church of St. Peter's, formerly called Oxford Chapel. T. Smith
says this was considered one of the most beautiful structures in the
Metropolis; taste has altered considerably since those days. It is a
small squat building erected in 1724 by Gibbs. In 1832 it was altered,
redecorated internally, and named St. Peter's.
The marriage of the Duke of Portland with the heiress of the Newcastle
and Oxford families took place here in 1734. The Rev. F. D. Maurice was
a former incumbent.
Henrietta Street was named after Henrietta, heiress of the Duke of
Newcastle; and Welbeck Street, after Welbeck, the Duke of Portland's
seat in Nottinghamshire. It was one of the earliest built after
Cavendish Square, and shares in the prevailing medical element of the
district. The West End Hospital is on the west side, next door to
Welbeck Hall, used by the Plymouth Brethren. At the upper end of the
street is the Russian Embassy and chapel.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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