Chester Terrace
{{short description|Terrace in Regent's Park, London}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2017}}
{{Infobox street
| name = Chester Terrace
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| image = II Chester Terrace, London, UK.jpg
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| postal_code = NW1 4ND
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| length_m =
| length_ft =
| length_mi = 0.2
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| location = Regent's Park, London
| client =
| maint =
| coordinates = {{coord|51.5290|N|0.1454|W|display=inline,title}}
| direction_a = south
| terminus_a = Chester Gate
| direction_b = north
| terminus_b = Cumberland Place
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| inauguration_date = {{Start date|1825}}
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Chester Terrace is one of the neo-classical terraces in Regent's Park, London. The terrace has the longest unbroken facade in Regent's Park, of about {{convert|280|metres}}.{{Cite web|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1271885|title=NUMBERS 1-42 AND ATTACHED RAILINGS AND LINKING ARCHES, Non Civil Parish - 1271885 | Historic England|website=historicengland.org.uk}} It takes its name from one of the titles of George IV before he became king, Earl of Chester.Weinreb, B. and Hibbert, C. (ed) (1983) The London Encyclopaedia Macmillan {{ISBN|0-333-57688-8}} It now lies within the London Borough of Camden.
As with Cornwall Terrace and York Terrace, the architectural plans were made by John Nash but subsequently altered almost beyond recognition by Decimus Burton, who was responsible for the existing design, built by his father James Burton in 1825. Nash was so dissatisfied with Decimus's design that he sought the demolition and complete rebuilding of the Terrace, but in vain.Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Decimus Burton{{cite web |url=http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/50182?rskey=dTXFr9&result=1 |title=James Burton [Haliburton], Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |access-date=6 August 2016 |archive-date=29 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329120443/http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/50182?rskey=dTXFr9&result=1 |url-status=dead }} It is a Grade I listed building.{{NHLE| num=1271885 |desc=Numbers 1–42 and attached railings and linking arches, 1–42, Chester Terrace |grade=I |accessdate=27 January 2015}}
Architecture
All 42 houses are Grade I listed buildings. At each end there is a Corinthian arch bearing at the top the terrace's name in large lettering on a blue background, possibly the largest street signs in London. Five houses are semi-detached with one of these being Nash House (3 Chester Terrace, although the main entrance is in Chester Gate), having a bust of John Nash on its west side, appearing identical to the bust on All Souls Church, Langham Place.{{cite web|url=https://www.londonremembers.com/memorials/nash-at-church-of-all-souls|title=Nash at Church of All Souls|publisher=London Remembers|access-date=5 August 2023}}
During the Second World War the Nash buildings around the park, including Chester Terrace, fell into what one newspaper called "a sad state of neglect … caused by bombing and the ravages of time"."The Glory of John Nash's London", The Sphere, 13 September 1952, p. 395 An official report commented "there is not a single terrace which does not give the impression of hopeless dereliction". Restoration work followed in the early 1950s. The terrace was mainly occupied by government departments during and after the war, "Nash Houses May Be Spared", Marylebone Mercury, 11 June 1954, p. 1 but by 1957 the freeholder of the terrace, the Crown Estate, had adopted the policy of returning it, and the other Nash terraces, to private residential use,"Preserving the Nash Terraces", The Sphere, 14 December 1957, p. 434 as recommended ten years earlier in the report of a government committee on the post-war future of the terraces."Nash Houses Turned Down As a New "Whitehall", Illustrated London News, 26 April 1947, p. 423
Former residents
There are two blue plaques on the street: one at No. 13 for the architect Charles Robert Cockerell,Rennison, N. (1999) The London Blue Plaque Guide Sutton Publishing {{ISBN|0-7509-2091-2}} and one at No. 27 for Air Marshal John Salmond.{{cite web |title=John Maitland Salmond {{!}} Military Officer {{!}} Blue Plaques |url=https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/john-maitland-salmond/ |website=English Heritage |accessdate=15 April 2020}} The politician John Profumo lived at the aforementioned Nash House, No. 3 Chester Terrace, from 1948 until 1965.{{cite news |last=Stott |first=Richard |title=Book Review: Bringing The House Down |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/sep/16/politics1 |accessdate=10 June 2015 |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=16 September 2006}} His former mistress Christine Keeler later lived in the nearby Chester Close North.{{cite web |last1=Kögebehn |first1=Günther |title=BHS: Herrmann Photo Tour: London: The Private Herrmann |url=https://folk.uib.no/smkgg/midi/soundtrackweb/herrmann/articles/phototours/london/page1.html |website=folk.uib.no |accessdate=15 April 2020 |date=1999}} The composer Arnold Bax lived at No. 19 from 1911 to 1918. The married actors Sir Ralph Richardson and Meriel Forbes lived at No. 1 Chester Terrace until 1983.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LaZPAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA219|title=Lindsay Anderson Diaries|first=Paul|last=Sutton|page=219|publisher=Bloomsbury|year=2004|isbn=9781408150092}} The Ooni of Ife, King Okunade Sijuwade, Olubuse II lived in No. 24.{{cite web|url=https://allafrica.com/stories/201508032431.html|title=Nigeria: As the Ooni Retires to the Penthouse|publisher=All Africa|date=1 August 2015|access-date=3 July 2023}}{{cite web|url=https://allafrica.com/stories/201508100142.html|title=Nigeria: As the Ooni Retires to the Penthouse (II)|publisher=All Africa|date=1 August 2015|access-date=3 July 2023}} Other residents of Chester Terrace have included the artist Aubrey Beardsley, the Nigerian businessman MKO Abiola, the architect Charles Cockerell, the surgeon William Coulson, the Nigerian diplomat Philip Asiodu, the swindler Leopold Redpath, and the journalist Emma Tennant, who was born there.{{Cite web |title=Search Results |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/search?f_0=fulltext&q_0=%22Chester+Terrace%22 |access-date=2023-07-03 |website=Oxford Dictionary of National Biography |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Sesan |date=2017-06-10 |title=I had a premonition about Abiola's death two days before his demise –Dele Momodu |url=https://punchng.com/i-had-a-premonition-about-abiolas-death-two-days-before-his-demise-dele-momodu/ |access-date=2023-07-03 |website=Punch Newspapers |language=en-US}}
In popular culture
This location was used for The Avengers{{'}} episode "You'll Catch Your Death" (1968).{{Cite web|url=http://avengerland.theavengers.tv/actioncity/nw.htm|title=Action City - London Postcode NW|website=avengerland.theavengers.tv}} It featured in the 1997 film version of George Orwell's Keep The Aspidistra Flying. It is a major location in the film The End of the Affair (1955).{{cite web|url=https://www.reelstreets.com/films/end-of-the-affair-the-1955/|title=The End of the Affair|publisher=Reel Streets|accessdate=17 May 2020}} It also features in the film The Nanny (1965).{{cite web|url=https://www.movie-locations.com/movies/n/Nanny.php|title=The Nanny|publisher=Movie Locations|accessdate=17 May 2020}}
It is shown in the 1968 Robert Wise musical film Star!, in a brief scene during which Gertrude Lawrence (played by Julie Andrews) receives a writ for unpaid bills. The location is also featured in the film Mrs Henderson Presents as the home of Laura Henderson (played by Judi Dench).{{cite web|url=http://filmlondon.org.uk/about/press_releases/2005/november/london_locations_star_in_mrs_henderson_presents|title=Mrs Henderson Presents|publisher=Film London|accessdate=17 May 2020}}
Gallery
File:Chester Terrace N 2.jpg|North end
File:Chester Terrace 01.JPG|South end
File:Chester Terrace 02.JPG
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.ph.ucla.edu/EPI/snow/1859map/chester_terrace_a4.html Chester Terrace in 1827]. Painting by Thomas H. Shepherd
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070930222447/http://viewfinder.english-heritage.org.uk/search/detail.asp?calledFrom=oai&imageUID=79371&=&JS=True Photograph about 1900]
Category:Streets in the London Borough of Camden
Category:Grade I listed buildings in the London Borough of Camden
Category:Grade I listed residential buildings
Category:Houses completed in 1825
Category:John Nash (architect) buildings
Category:Decimus Burton buildings