St Peter's Square, London
St Peter's Square, in Hammersmith, London, England, is a garden square laid out in the 1820s, just north of the River Thames between the Great West Road (A4) and King Street, within the St Peter's Square Conservation Area and London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham.
Locale
The limit of Chiswick (thus now also the
Garden
The public garden in the centre of the square is
History
The square was laid out during the economic boom of the 1820s, when the then owner, George Scott decided to build a speculative housing development on part of his Ravenscourt Park estate and also provided the land for St Peter's Church, Hammersmith. From 1827 plots were developed piecemeal by builders who undertook to conform to the master plan. The square was mostly complete by the end of the 1830s. The houses are mostly built in groups of three, with stucco fronts, pediments and Ionic porches. Some retain eagles, lions and dogs as decoration. Numbers 1 to 6 were the first to be built and are the grandest in the square.[3]
Notable inhabitants
- Sir Matthew Pinsent (born 1970), English rower
- Kim Medcalf (born 1973), British actress (played Sam Mitchell in EastEnders)
- Sarah Montague, BBC Radio 4 presenter.
- Sir Trevor Nunn, theatrical Producer.
- Andrea Catherwood, newsreader and news correspondent.
- Charlie Mole, film composer
Previous notable inhabitants
- Alec Guinness actor 1946 to 1955 - at No.7
- Vanessa Redgrave CBE (born 1937), actress
- (Alderman, Sir, and magistrate) Marshall Hays (born 1872), Mayor of Hammersmith
- John Piper (born 1903), artist[4]) - at No.22
- The artist Jean Clark lived c. 1929 to 1967[5] - at No.16
- Natasha Kaplinsky, newsreader, news correspondent, winner of first series: Strictly Come Dancing lived at 1 St. Peter's Villas until around 2005.
Professional inhabitants
- Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands, architects
- Frost Meadowcroft, commercial property consultants
- Island Records record label (vacated 2005)
Filming at St Peter's Square
The Pumpkin Eater in 1963/4 was filmed on location at St Peter's Square. The director was Jack Clayton, the script was by Harold Pinter and the leading roles were played by Anne Bancroft and Peter Finch[6]
Many episodes of 1970s police series
References
- ^ Edward Walford British History Onlline Old and New London Volume 6 The Southern, British History.
- ^ a b Hammersmith,London Gardens Trust.
- ISBN 0-333-57688-8.
- ^ Summary Biography, John Piper (UK website) johnpiper.org.uk
- ^ Simon Fenwick (10 May 1999). "Jean Clark". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
- ^ The Pumpkin Eater locations, IMDb.
- ^ Cinesite blend animation with live action for enchanting Miss Potter sequences, Cinesite.
- ^ a b On location, London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, UK.