St John's Wood
Coordinates: 51°32′10″N 0°10′30″W / 51.5361°N 0.1751°W
St John's Wood is a district of northwest London, in the City of Westminster, and on the northwest side of Regent's Park. It is about 2.5 miles (4 km) northwest of Charing Cross. Once part of the Great Middlesex Forest, it was later owned by the Knights of St John of Jerusalem.[1]
The boundaries of St. John's Wood are the Regent's Canal to the south, Maida Vale (Edgware Road) to the west, Boundary Road to the north and Avenue Rd/Primrose Hill Park to the east.
It is a very affluent neighbourhood,[2] with the area postcode (NW8) ranked by Forbes magazine as the 5th most expensive postcode in London based on the average home price in 2007.[3] According to a 2014 property agent survey, St. John's Wood residents pay the highest average rent in all of London.[4]
In 2013, the price of housing in St John's Wood reached exceptional levels. Avenue Road had more than ten large mansions/villas for sale. The most expensive had an asking price of £65 million, with the cheapest at £15 million. The remainder were around £25 million.
History
St John's Wood was developed from the early 19th century onwards. One of the first developers in the area was James Burton.[5] It was one of the first London suburbs to be developed with a large amount of low density "villa" housing, as opposed to the terraced housing which was the norm in London up to the 19th century, even in expensive districts. Parts of St John's Wood have been rebuilt at a higher density,[6] but it remains a highly desirable residential district, and one of the most expensive areas of London.[7]
St John's Wood is the location of Lord's Cricket Ground, home of Middlesex County Cricket Club and of the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), and the original headquarters of cricket. It is also famous for Abbey Road Studios and the street Abbey Road, where The Beatles recorded, notably the Abbey Road album, the cover of which features the band crossing the road.
The King's Troop, Royal Horse Artillery was formerly based at St John's Wood Barracks. The regiment moved to Woolwich on 6 February 2012; the barracks is to be demolished and developed as housing.[8]
The area is also home to St. John's Wood Church Grounds, which contains the only nature reserve in the City of Westminster.
Education
The area has various schools, both state and independent:
- Robinsfield Infant School
- Saint Christina's Primary School
- Barrow Hill Junior School
- George Elliot Primary School
- Quintin Kynaston Community Academy
- The American School in London
- Arnold House School
Places of worship
St John's Wood has a range of places of worship.
- Christian
- Abbey Road Baptist Church
- St John's Wood Church (Church of England)
- St Mark's Church, Hamilton Terrace (Church of England)
- The Church of Our Lady (Roman Catholic)
- Jewish
- The Liberal Jewish Synagogue
- The New London Synagogue
- Saatchi Shul
- Muslim
Transport and locale
- Nearest places
- Belsize Park to the northeast
- Hampstead to the north
- Kilburn to the northwest
- Lisson Grove to the south
- Maida Vale to the southwest
- Marylebone to the south
- Primrose Hill to the east
- Regent's Park to the south
- Swiss Cottage to the north
The nearest London Underground stations are St. John's Wood, Swiss Cottage—on the Jubilee line; Maida Vale, Marylebone Station and Warwick Avenue—on the Bakerloo line; and Baker Street on Bakerloo line, Jubilee line, Hammersmith & City line, Metropolitan line and Circle line.
The nearest London Overground station is South Hampstead
Notable residents
Commemorative blue plaques
- Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema OM (1836–1912), painter, at 44 Grove End Road[9]
- Gilbert Bayes (1872–1953), sculptor, at 4 Greville Place[10]
- Sir Joseph Bazalgette (1819–1891), civil engineer, at 17 Hamilton Terrace[11]
- Sir Thomas Beecham CH (1879–1961), conductor and impresario, at 31 Grove End Road[12]
- George Frampton (1860–1928), sculptor, at 32 Queen's Grove[13]
- William Powell Frith (1819–1909), painter, at 114 Clifton Hill[14]
- Guy Gibson V.C. (1918–1944), pilot and leader of the Dam Busters, at 32 Aberdeen Place[15]
- Thomas Hood (1799–1845), poet, at 28 Finchley Road[16]
- Thomas Huxley (1825–1895), biologist, at 38 Marlborough Place[17]
- Melanie Klein (1882–1960), psychoanalyst, at 42 Clifton Hill[18]
Past and present residents[19][20][21][22]
- Michael Algar – musician and songwriter
- Lily Allen – musician
- David Alliance, Baron Alliance – businessman and politician
- A. J. Ayer - philosopher, was born and grew up in the area[23]
- Douglas Bader - distinguished World War II fighter pilot, was born there
- Princess Marie-Esméralda of Belgium - member of the Belgian royal family
- Chili Bouchier - actress
- Charles Bradlaugh – founder and first president of the National Secular Society lived at 20, Circus Road, house since demolished, now St John's Wood library
- Sir Richard Branson[24] – entrepreneur, founder of Virgin Group
- Sarah Burton – fashion designer
- James Caan – entrepreneur
- Christabel Cockerell – British painter
- Wayne Daniel – Middlesex and West Indian cricketer
- Vanessa Feltz – broadcaster
- Andy Fletcher – musician (Depeche Mode)
- Leonard N. Fowles – organist/composer
- Lucian Freud – artist
- Prince Friso of Orange-Nassau – member of the Dutch Royal Family (Wellington Hospital)
- Sidney Frank Godley VC – soldier, school caretaker
- Avram Grant – football manager
- Daphne Guinness – socialite
- Tony Hicks - musician
- Stephen Hough – concert pianist
- Eric Idle[25] - actor and comedian known for his roles on Monty Python and author of Spamalot
- Andy Irvine[26] – Irish folk musician
- Kia Joorabchian – businessman
- Nigel Kennedy – violinist
- Imran Khan[24] – cricketer, and Pakistani politician
- Lillie Langtry – actress[6]
- John Lawford – Royal Navy officer
- Damian Lewis – actor
- Sir John Major[24] – former prime minister
- Terry Manning – music producer
- Sir Paul McCartney – musician[19][20][21]
- Ewan McGregor – actor
- Jonathan Rhys Meyers – actor
- Sir Jonathan Miller – writer, opera director, physiologist and sculptor
- Kate Moss – model[22]
- Elisabeth Murdoch,[27][28] businesswoman & daughter of Rupert Murdoch
- Alex Prior – singer/composer
- Keith Richards – rock musician and songwriter of The Rolling Stones lived on Carlton Hill in the 1960s.[29]
- Mark Ronson – musician, DJ, singer, and record producer
- Mel Smith – actor
- Rachel Stevens[30] - musician, former member of S Club 7
- Gregg Sulkin – actor
- Sachin Tendulkar – cricketer
- Clarissa Dickson Wright – chef[22]
St John's Wood in literature and music
- St John's Wood is the home of fictional characters Bingo and Rosie Little in P. G. Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster books.
- Irene Adler lives there (in Briony Lodge on Serpentine Avenue) in Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes story "A Scandal in Bohemia".
- In the first instalment of John Galsworthy's The Forsyte Saga, The Man of Property, Young Jolyon lives on fictional Wistaria Avenue with his second wife and family.
- Referenced in the Rolling Stones song, Play with Fire, released in 1965.
- Setting of Howard Jacobson's book The Making of Henry. In Jacobson's 2010 Man Booker Prize winning novel The Finkler Question, St John's Wood is the planned location for the Museum of Anglo-Jewish Culture.
- Count and Countess Fosco live at No. 5 Forest Road, St. John's Wood in Wilkie Collins's 1859 sensation novel "The Woman in White".
- The protagonist of J.G. Ballard's novel "Millennium People" (2003), is a psychologist who lives in St. John's Wood, which he abandons to join a middle-class rebellion.
- Violet Hill, a street and area off Abbey Road with Violet Hill Gardens and Violet Hill Hospital, is the source of the name for Violet Hill (song) by Coldplay.
References
- ↑ The St. John's Wood Society. St John's Wood History. Retrieved 24 January 2011
- ↑ Sherwood, Bob (7 April 2010). "Affluent enclave sitting on political front line". Financial Times.
- ↑ "In Pictures: London's Most Expensive Postcodes". Forbes.
- ↑ http://www.hamhigh.co.uk/property/st_john_s_wood_tenants_pay_the_highest_rent_in_london_1_3855594
- ↑ http://www.victoriacountyhistory.ac.uk/counties/middlesex-london/news/celebrating-birth-july-1761-james-burton-founder-st-leonards-sea-and-
- 1 2 Elrington, C R (Editor); Baker, T F T; Bolton, Diane K; Croot, Patricia E C, "A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 9, p.60–63" British-History.ac.uk, 1989. Retrieved 24 January 2011
- ↑ "U.K.'s Most Expensive Postcodes". Forbes. 12 December 2007. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
- ↑ Ross Lydall (6 February 2012). "Final salute: St John's Wood bids farewell to the King's Troop after two centuries – UK – News". Evening Standard. London. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
- ↑ Plaque detail at English Heritage
- ↑ Plaque detail
- ↑ Plaque detail
- ↑ Plaque detail
- ↑ Plaque detail
- ↑ Plaque detail
- ↑ Plaque detail
- ↑ Plaque detail
- ↑ Plaque detail
- ↑ Plaque detail
- 1 2 Fusion Advertising & Design. "Area Guide to St John's Wood – Property guide to St John's Wood from". ludlowthompson.com. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
- 1 2 Mendoza, Nadia; Eriksen, Alanah (10 October 2011). "Paul McCartney and Nancy Shevell wedding: Kate Moss and Ronnie Wood last to leave". Daily Mail. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
- 1 2 "St John's Wood in the area". Cwh.org.uk. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
- 1 2 3 Siobhan Mcfadyen (3 June 2011). "Inside the home Kate Moss can't sell: What's putting buyers off – the flooding? Location? Or is it the jungle-themed living room?". Daily Mail. Retrieved 25 May 2012.
- ↑ http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~uctytho/AyerbyQuinton.html
- 1 2 3 "St. John's Wood". Cwhr.co.uk.
- ↑ http://www.hamhigh.co.uk/property/for_sale_monty_python_star_eric_idle_s_st_john_s_wood_house_1_3841754
- ↑ O'Toole, Leagues (2006). The Humours of Planxty. Ireland: Hodder Headline. ISBN 0-340-83796-9.
- ↑ http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/rupert-murdochs-daughter-buys-home-in-st-johns-wood-for-385m-9795700.html
- ↑ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2794386/rupert-murdoch-s-daughter-elisabeth-buys-new-38-5million-home-north-london-marriage-split-pr-guru-matthew-freud.html
- ↑ Detailed in Richards' 2010 autobiography, "Life"
- ↑ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1195864/Rachel-Stevens-shaken-witnessing-terrifying-gun-attack-London-restaurant.html
External links
Media related to St. John's Wood at Wikimedia Commons
- History of St John's Wood
- Map of St John's Wood and the surrounding districts
- stjohnswoodhighstreet.co.uk & stjohnswoodhighstreet.com (advertising & marketing)
