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Park Crescent
The west curve of Park Crescent, London - geograph.org.uk - 1524047.jpg
Much of the north-to-west facing façade of the east half of the crescent in 2009
Type Protected architecture
Location south of Regent's Park.
Built 1812-1821
Architect John Nash
Architectural style(s) Regency architecture
Owner Crown Estate
Listed Building – Grade I
Official name: 98, Portland Place W1
8-14, Park Crescent W1
1-6, Park Crescent W1
Designated 5 February 1970
Reference no. 1225956
Listed Building – Grade I
Official name: Numbers 18 to 26 (including the former Number 27)
Designated 10 September 1954
Reference no. 1225959
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name: East Lodge in Corner of Crescent Gardens
Designated 5 February 1970
Reference no. 1225957
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name: West Lodge in Corner of Crescent Gardens
Designated 5 February 1970
Reference no. 1225960
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name: Railings around Crescent Gardens
Designated 5 February 1970
Reference no. 1225961
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Park Crescent is at the north end of Portland Place and south of Marylebone Road in London. The crescent consists of elegant stuccoed terraced houses by the architect John Nash, which form a semicircle. The crescent is part of Nash's and wider town-planning visions of Roman-inspired imperial West End approaches to Regent's Park. It was originally conceived as a circus (circle) to be named Regent's Circus but instead Park Square was built to the north. The only buildings on the Regent's Park side of the square are small garden buildings, enabling higher floors of the Park Crescent buildings to have a longer, green northern view.

It was built under the patronage of the Prince Regent. As the freeholder, the Crown Estate co-organises repairs, maintains the gardens and has a minor, overarching interest, entitled to lease renewal premiums and any agreed ground rents.

Both terraces and the communal garden have statutory protection in the highest, rarest categories. This is Grade I listed status: on the National Heritage List for England and on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens (as part of Regent's Park).

History

At an early stage, Nash proposed the construction of a "circus" (meaning a circular development), complementing Park Crescent with another crescent to the north, but Park Square was constructed instead.

St Marylebone Met. B Ward Map 1916
A map showing the Park Crescent ward of St Marylebone Metropolitan Borough as it appeared in 1916.

Work on Park Crescent started in 1806, but in the difficult economic conditions of the Napoleonic Wars, the builder Charles Mayor went bankrupt after six houses had been built. It was completed only in 1819 to 1821. 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.

The interiors of the buildings have been completely rebuilt. After the Second World War, Park Crescent was in poor condition (as were other Nash terraces near Regent's Park). The Gorell Report on the future of the Regent’s Park terraces recommended that the facades of Park Crescent should be saved. They were restored in the 1960s when the leases came up for renewal, and they are protected as grade I listed buildings, but behind the curve of the Crescent, the Crown Estate built new structures. Interior features which are visible from the street, such as light fittings, have to respect the Regency design of the facade.

In recent years the crescent has been 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. In the twenty-first century part of the Crescent has been modernised by Amazon Property and more redevelopment has been proposed.

Garden

Statue of The Duke of Kent, Park Crescent - geograph.org.uk - 1268877
Statue (1824) of Prince Edward, Duke of Kent by Sebastian Gahagan.

The semicircle is divided into two halves by Portland Place. Between the arms of the crescent is a private garden, which is recognised as being of historic interest. (The Register of Parks and Gardens entry for Regent's Park was amended in November 2008 to include Park Crescent and Park Square).

The garden is opened each year as part of the London Open Garden Squares Weekend, an initiative of the London Parks & Gardens Trust.

Statue

Just inside the garden railings, facing the top of Portland Place, is a bronze statue of Queen Victoria's father, Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn. Sculpted by Sebastian Gahagan and installed in January 1824, the statue is seven feet two inches tall and 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.

Related structures

Mews

There are mews behind the Crescent.

Subterranean structures

  • There is an ice-well, believed to predate the Park Crescent development, in Park Crescent Mews West.
  • 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.
  • Regent's Park tube station is next to the Marylebone Road side of the garden.


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