I was asked to speak last night at a party for the Westminster Property Forum. I found myself trying to explain the historical significance of the grid of streets immediately north of Burlington Gardens, all built on land acquired by the first Earl of Burlington between 1670 and 1683: Burlington Gardens, so called because it was the northern perimeter of the garden of Burlington House; Savile Row, which was laid out between 1731 and 1735 (the first two leases are dated March 1732) and named after Lady Dorothy Savile, the third Earl’s wife; Cork Street, so-called because the third Earl of Burlington was also the fourth Earl of Cork; and Clifford Street, named after the first Earl’s mother. In other words, they are an integrated piece of eighteenth-century town planning, designed after the third Earl had returned from his second Grand Tour, having seen admired the layout of the streets of Vicenza and planned in order to help pay off his debts.
And last but probly least, after Richard Boyle, Lord Burlington’s Irish surname, Boyle Street, connecting Coach and Horses Yard to Savile Row. x e
Thank you. Very good. I had not registered that one. Charles
A very helpful decoding of those streets. Thank you.