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{{short description|District in centralGreater London, England}}{{About|the [[London]] neighbourhood|the 2019 television series|Belgravia (TV series)|other uses|Belgravia (disambiguation)}}
 
{{Other uses}}
{{EngvarB|date=June 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
{{Infobox UK place
| country = England
| static_image_name = Chester Square2.jpg
| static_image_caption = Chester Square, Belgravia, in March 2009
| map_type = Greater London
| region = London
| population = =
| official_name = Belgravia
| coordinates = {{coord|51.49795|-0.15453|display=inline,title}}
| london_borough = Westminster
| london_borough1 = Kensington and Chelsea
| constituency_westminster = [[Cities of London and Westminster (UK Parliament constituency)|Cities of London and Westminster]]
| constituency_westminster1 = [[Chelsea and Fulham (UK Parliament constituency)|Chelsea and Fulham]]
| post_town = LONDON
| postcode_area = SW
| postcode_district = SW1X, SW1W
| dial_code = 020
| os_grid_reference = TQ275795
}}
 
'''Belgravia''' ({{IPAc-en|b|ɛ|l|ˈ|ɡ|r|eɪ|v|i|ə}})<ref>{{cite web |title=Belgravia |url=http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/belgravia |access-date=24 September 2014 |work=Collins Dictionary |date=n.d.}}</ref> is an affluenta [[Districts of London|district]] in [[Central London]],<ref>{{cite web |title=London's Places |url=http://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/LP2011%20Chapter%202.pdf |work=[[The London Plan]] |publisher=[[Greater London Authority]] |year=2011 |page=46 |access-date=27 May 2014 |archive-date=6 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906090756/http://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/LP2011%20Chapter%202.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> covering parts of the areas of both the [[City of Westminster]] and the [[Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea]].
 
Belgravia was known as 'Five Fields' [[during the Tudor Period|Tudor London]], and became a dangerous place due to [[wikt:highwaymen|highwaymen]] and robberies. It was developed in the early 19th century by [[Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster]] under the direction of [[Thomas Cubitt]], focusing on numerous grand terraces centred on [[Belgrave Square]] and [[Eaton Square]]. Much of Belgravia, known as the [[Grosvenor Group#The Grosvenor Estate|Grosvenor Estate]], is still owned by a family property company, the Duke of Westminster's [[Grosvenor Group]], although owing to the [[Leasehold Reform Act 1967]], the estate has been forced to sell many [[Freehold (law)|freehold]]s to its former tenants.▼
 
▲Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' [[during the [[Tudor Period|Tudor London]], and became a dangerous place due to [[wikt:highwaymenHighwayman|highwaymen]] and robberies. It was developed in the early 19th century by [[Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster]] under the direction of [[Thomas Cubitt]], focusing on numerous grand terraces centred on [[Belgrave Square]] and [[Eaton Square]]. Much of Belgravia, known as the [[Grosvenor Group#The Grosvenor Estate|Grosvenor Estate]], is still owned by a family property company, the Duke of Westminster's [[Grosvenor Group]], although owing to the [[Leasehold Reform Act 1967]], the estate has been forced to sell many [[Freehold (law)|freehold]]s to its former tenants.
== Name ==
Belgravia takes its name from one of the [[Duke of Westminster]]'s subsidiary titles, Viscount Belgrave, which is in turn derived from [[Belgrave, Cheshire]], a village on land belonging to the Duke.
 
==Geography==
[[File:Belgravia map.png|thumb|left|A map of the centre of Belgravia. The green square in the centre of the map is [[Belgrave Square]].]]
 
Belgravia is near the former course of the [[River Westbourne]], a tributary of the [[River Thames]].{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=56}} The area is mostly in the [[City of Westminster]], with a small part of the western section in the [[Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea]].<ref>{{cite map|url=https://mapit.mysociety.org/area/2504.html|title=Westminster City Council|access-date=4 December 2017}}</ref>
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[[File:The NE side of Belgrave Square by Thomas Hosmer Shepherd 1827-28.JPG|thumb|[[Belgrave Square]] in the late 1820s, shortly after construction]]
 
The area takes its name from the village of [[Belgrave, Cheshire]], two miles (3&nbsp;km) from the Grosvenor family's main country seat of [[Eaton Hall (Cheshire)|Eaton Hall]].{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=56}} One of the [[Duke of Westminster]]'s subsidiary titles is Viscount Belgrave.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C3647241|title=Chester Palatinate – Richard Grosvenor (Viscount Belgrave)|publisher=The National Archives|id=1829|access-date=4 December 2017}}</ref> <!-- (However, ''[[The London Encyclopaedia|The London Encyclopedia]]'' states that the area takes its name from a village on the outskirts of [[Leicestershire]], where the Grosvenor family owned the land.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Weinreb |first=Ben |url=http://archive.org/details/londonencycloped00ias |title=The London Encyclopedia |publisher=Adler & Adler |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-917561-07-8 |location=Bethesda, Maryland |pages=53–54}}</ref>) This is wrong and it just goes to shows you can't believe everything you read in books. The name is derived from the Duke's subsidiary title's the Viscount Belgrave, of Belgrave in the County of Chester (1784); see ref: https://www.british-history.ac.uk/old-new-london/vol5/pp1-14 -->
 
During the [[Middle Ages]], the area was known as the Five Fields and was a series of fields used for grazing, intersected by footpaths.{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=56}} The Westbourne was crossed by Bloody Bridge, soprobably called becauseso as it was frequented by robbers and highwaymen, and it was unsafe to cross the fields at night. In 1728, a man's body was discovered by the bridge with half his face and five fingers removed. In 1749, a [[muffin man]] was robbed and left blind. Five Fields' distance from London also made it a popular spot for [[duelling]].{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=57}}<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Weinreb |first=Ben |url=http://archive.org/details/londonencycloped00ias |title=The London Encyclopedia |publisher=Adler & Adler |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-917561-07-8 |location=Bethesda, Maryland |pages=53–54}}</ref>
 
Despite its reputation for crime and violence, Five Fields was a pleasant area during the daytime, and various market gardens were established. The area began to be built up after [[George III of the United Kingdom|George III]] moved to [[Buckingham Palace|Buckingham House]] and constructed a row of houses on what is now [[Grosvenor Place]]. In the 1820s1826, [[Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster]] askedreceived rights from Parliament to build on land that was to become Belgravia, and came into agreement with [[Thomas Cubitt]] to design an estate.<ref Mostname=":0" /> The construction of the stucco grand terraces took place between 1830 and 1847.<ref name=":0" /> Belgravia is characterised by grand terraces of white [[stucco]] houses, and is focused on [[Belgrave Square]] and [[Eaton Square]]. It was constructedone overof London's most fashionable residential districts from its beginnings.<ref>{{cite book |title=Fodor's London 2014 |publisher=Fodor's Travel |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-770-43220-1 |page=239}}</ref> Towards the nextlate 3019th years;century, itBelgravia attemptedranked toamong rivalother Mayfairfashionable areas in itsLondon prestigesuch as [[Tyburnia]] and Mayfair.<ref>{{sfnCite book |Weinreblast=Inwood |Hibbertfirst=Stephen |Keayurl=http://archive.org/details/historyoflondon0000inwo_z7b8 |Keaytitle=A History of London |2008publisher=Macmillan |year=1998 |isbn=978-0-333-67153-5 |location=London |ppages=57575}}</ref>
 
[[File:Upper Belgrave Street, Belgravia - DSC05404.JPG|thumb|Upper Belgrave Street, Belgravia]]
 
Belgravia is characterised by grand terraces of white [[stucco]] houses, and is focused on [[Belgrave Square]] and [[Eaton Square]]. It was one of London's most fashionable residential districts from its beginnings.<ref>{{cite book|title=Fodor's London 2014|page=239|publisher=Fodor's Travel|year=2013|isbn=978-0-770-43220-1}}</ref> After [[World War II]], some of the largest houses ceased to be used as residences, or [[townhouse]]s for the country gentry and aristocracy, and were increasingly occupied by embassies, charity headquarters, professional institutions and other businesses. Belgravia has become a relatively quiet district in the heart of London, contrasting with neighbouring districts, which have far more busy shops, large modern office buildings, hotels and entertainment venues. Many embassies are located in the area, especially in [[Belgrave Square]].{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=56}}
 
In the early 21st century, some houses are being reconverted to residential use, because offices in old houses are no longer as desirable as they were in the post-war decades, while the number of [[ultra high-net-worth individual|super-rich]] in London is at a high level not seen since at least 1939. The average house price in Belgravia, as of March 2010, was £6.6 million,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8552483.stm|title=Belgravia square tops expensive homes list |work=BBC News|date=8 March 2010|access-date=14 December 2017}}</ref> although many houses in Belgravia are among the most expensive anywhere in the world, costing up to £100 million, £4,671761 per square foot (£5051,000 per m<sup>2</sup>) as of 2009.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/record-100m-price-tag-on-london-house-6866841.html|title=Record £100m price-tag on London house|newspaper=London Evening Standard|date=14 April 2009|access-date=5 December 2017}}</ref>
 
As of 2013, many residential properties in Belgravia were owned by wealthy foreigners who may have other luxury residences in exclusive locations worldwide;, so many are temporarily unoccupied becauseas their owners are elsewhere. The increase in land value has been in sharp contrast to the UK average and has left the area empty and isolated.<ref name=NYT4113>{{cite news|title=A Slice of London So Exclusive Even the Owners Are Visitors|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/02/world/europe/a-slice-of-london-so-exclusive-even-the-owners-are-visitors.html|access-date=2 April 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1 April 2013|author=Sarah Lyall}}</ref>
 
==Squares and streets==
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The original scheme consisted of four terraces, each made up of eleven grand white stuccoed houses, apart from the south-east terrace, which had twelve; detached mansions were in three of the corners and there was a private central garden.{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=56}} The numbering is anti-clockwise from the north: NW terrace Nos. 1 to 11, west corner mansion No. 12, SW terrace 13–23, south corner mansion No. 24, SE terrace Nos. 25–36, east corner mansion No. 37, NE terrace Nos. 38–48.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Belgrave+Square,+Belgravia,+London+SW1X/@51.4967714,-0.1542433,305a,35y,44.89t/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x4876053b5f2090b5:0xd2e055784d87846e!8m2!3d51.4985699!4d-0.1542555|title=Belgrave Square, Belgravia, London|publisher=Google Maps|access-date=5 December 2017|at=Zoom around the Streetview plan to verify house numbers}}</ref>
 
There is also a slightly later detached house at the northern corner, No. 49, which was built by Cubitt for [[Sidney Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Lea|Sidney Herbert]] in 1847.{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=56}} The terraces were designed by [[George Basevi]] (cousin of [[Benjamin Disraeli]]). The largest of the corner mansions, [[Seaford House]] in the east corner, was designed by [[Philip Hardwick]], and the one in the west corner was designed by [[Robert Smirke (architect)|Robert Smirke]], completed around''circa'' 1830.{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=56}}
 
The square contains statues of [[Christopher Columbus]], [[Simón Bolívar]], [[José de San Martín]], [[Prince Henry the Navigator]], the 1st Marquess of Westminster, a bust of [[George Basevi]] and a sculpture entitled "Homage to Leonardo, the Vitruvian Man", by Italian sculptor [[Enzo Plazzotta]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/speel/london/belgrave.htm |title=Belgrave Square |author=Bob Speel |access-date=3 December 2009 |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513174644/http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/speel/london/belgrave.htm |archive-date=13 May 2008 |df=dmy }}</ref>
 
===Eaton Square===
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[[Eaton Square]] is one of three garden squares built by the Grosvenor family, and is named after [[Eaton Hall, Cheshire]], the family's principal seat. It is longer but less grand than Belgrave Square, and is an elongated rectangle. The first block was laid out by Cubitt in 1826, but the square was not completed until 1855, the year of his death. The long construction period is reflected in the variety of architecture along the square.{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=263}}
 
The houses in Eaton Square are large, predominantly three bay wide buildings, joined in regular terraces in a classical style, with four or five main storeys, plus attic and basement and a [[mews house]] behind. The square is one of London's largest and is divided into six compartments by the upper end of [[KingsKing's Road]] (northeast of [[Sloane Square]]), a main road, now busy with traffic, that occupies its long axis, and two smaller cross streets.{{sfn|Brandon|Brooke|2016|p=26}}
 
Although not as fashionable as some of the other squares in London, Eaton Square was home to several key figures. [[George FitzClarence, 1st Earl of Munster]], the illegitimate son of [[William IV of the United Kingdom|William IV]], lived at No.&nbsp;13, while [[Stanley Baldwin]] and [[Neville Chamberlain]] lived at No&nbsp;93 and No.&nbsp;37 respectively. Since World War II, Eaton Square has become less residential; the Bolivian Embassy is at No.&nbsp;106 while the Belgian Embassy is at No.&nbsp;103.{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=263}}
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[[Walter Bagehot]], a writer, banker and economist, lived at No. 12 during the 1860s. [[Alfred, Lord Tennyson]] lived at No 9 in 1880–1881. [[John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan]] lived at No. 46, and disappeared without trace from there in 1974 after his children's nanny was found murdered.{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=961}}
 
[[Hope Portocarrero]], the wife of [[Anastasio Somoza Debayle|Anastasio Somoza]], a Nicaraguan dictator, lived at number 35.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3gTogEnPwE0C&dq=Belgrave+Street+somoza+wife&pg=PT386 | title=Joseph Anton: A Memoir | isbn=9780679643883 | last1=Rushdie | first1=Salman | date=18 September 2012 | publisher=Random House Publishing }}</ref>
 
===Chester Square===
[[File:Chester Square1.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Chester Square]]]]
 
[[Chester Square]] is a smaller, residential garden square, the last of the three garden squares built by the Grosvenor family. It is named after the city of [[Chester]], near Eaton Hall. Members of the family also representedserved as [[ChesterMember (UKof Parliament constituency(United Kingdom)|ChesterMembers of Parliament]] as(MPs) for [[MemberChester of(UK Parliament|Members of Parliamentconstituency)|Chester]].<ref>{{cite book |title= 'The western suburbs: Belgravia', Old and New London|last= Walford|first= Edward|year= 1878|pages= 1–14|url= http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45218|access-date= 3 December 2009}}</ref> The garden, just under {{convert|1.5|acre|m2}} in size, is planted with shrubs and herbaceous borders. It was refurbished in 1997, to the layout that appears in the [[Ordnance Survey]] map of 1867. Past residents include the poet [[Matthew Arnold]] (1822–88) at No. 2, [[Mary Shelley]] (1797–1851) at No. 24, [[John Liddell (Royal Navy officer)|John Liddell]] (1794–1868) at No. 72, [[Margaret Thatcher]] (1925–2013) at No. 73, and Queen [[Wilhelmina of the Netherlands]] (1880–1962) resided at No. 77 from 1940 until 1945.<ref>{{cite book |last= Steves |first= Rick. |title= Rick Steves' England 2013 |publisher= Avalon Travel Publishing |year= 2012 |page= [https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781612383897/page/168 168] |isbn= 978-1612383897 |url-access= registration |url= https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781612383897/page/168 }}</ref>{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=161}}
 
===Wilton Crescent===
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[[File:Lowndes Street.jpg|thumb|right|Lowndes Street where it enters [[Lowndes Square]] (the trees to the right)]]
 
[[Lowndes Square]] is named after the [[Secretary to the Treasury]] [[William Lowndes (1652–1724)|William Lowndes]].{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=517}} Like much of Belgravia, it has grand terraces with white stucco houses. To the east lie Wilton Crescent and Belgrave Square. The square runs parallel with [[Sloane Street]] to the east, east of the [[Harvey Nichols]] department store and [[Knightsbridge tube station|Knightsbridge Underground station]]. It has some of the most expensive properties in the world. Russian businessman [[Roman Abramovich]] bought two stucco houses in Lowndes Square in 2008. The merged houses, with a total of eight bedrooms, are expected to be worth £150 million, which exceeds the value of the previous most expensive house in London.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/house-prices/7397939/Londons-Chester-Square-tops-list-of-Britains-priciest-addresses.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/house-prices/7397939/Londons-Chester-Square-tops-list-of-Britains-priciest-addresses.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=London's 'Chester Square' tops list of Britain's priciest addresses|date=2010-03-08|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|access-date=2020-03-15|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
 
[[George Basevi]] designed many of the houses in the square. [[Mick Jagger]] and [[James Fox (actor)|James Fox]] once filmed in [[Leonard Plugge]]'s house in Lowndes Square. The square was used as a setting for the [[Edward Frederic Benson]] novel ''The Countess of Lowndes Square''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/countessoflownde00bens |title=The Countess of Lowndes square, and the stories : Benson, E. F. (Edward Frederic), 1867–1940 : Free Download & Streaming : Internet Archive |access-date=21 August 2014}}</ref>
 
==Cultural references==
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''Flunkeyania or Belgravian Morals'', written under the pseudonym "Chawles", was one of the novels serialised in ''[[The Pearl (magazine)|The Pearl]]'', an allegedly pornographic [[Victorian era|Victorian]] magazine.<ref>{{cite web|author=Chawles, [pseud.] |url=http://www.biblio.com/books/83889816.html |title=Biblio book sales |publisher=Biblio.com |access-date=21 August 2014}}</ref>
 
A 1967 episode of the television series ''[[Batman (TV series)|Batman]]'' is set in Belgravia.<ref>{{cite episode|title=Catwoman's Dressed to Kill|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRmGhA-L5Qg|access-date=12 October 2022 |series=Batman|date=14 December 1967|season=3|number=14 }}</ref>
 
In the popular British television series ''[[Upstairs, Downstairs (1971 TV series)|Upstairs, Downstairs]]'' (1971–1975), the scene is set in the household of Richard Bellamy (later 1st Viscount Bellamy of Haversham) at 165 Eaton Place, Belgravia (65 Eaton Place was used for exterior shots; a "1" was painted in front of the house number).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.updown.org.uk/thehouse/house1.htm |title=Upstairs, Downstairs The house 1 |access-date=15 April 2016}}</ref> It depicts the lives of the Bellamys and their staff of [[domestic servants]] in the years 1903–1930, as they experience the tumultuous events of the [[Edwardian era]], World War I and the postwar 1920s, culminating with the [[stock market crash of 1929]], which ends the world they had known. In 2010, filming began on a mini-series intended to pick up the story of one of the main characters, [[Rose Buck]], in 1936, as she returns to 165 Eaton Place to serve as the Holland family's [[housekeeper (domestic worker)|housekeeper]].
 
The first episode of the second series of the television programme ''[[Sherlock (TV series)|Sherlock]]'' is "[[A Scandal in Belgravia]]", loosely based on the [[Arthur Conan Doyle]] short story "[[A Scandal in Bohemia]]".<ref name="crompton">{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/8987577/The-timeless-appeal-of-Holmess-sexy-logic.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120102095156/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/8987577/The-timeless-appeal-of-Holmess-sexy-logic.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 January 2012|title=The timeless appeal of Holmes's sexy logic|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=1 January 2012|first=Sarah|last=Crompton |access-date=5 January 2012}}</ref> Moreover, Conan Doyle's friend and literary collaborator, [[Bertram Fletcher Robinson]], died in Belgravia in 1907.
 
''[[The Princess Switch]]'', a 2018 Netflix original movie starring [[Vanessa Hudgens]], takes place largely in the fictional kingdom of Belgravia.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Princess Switch (2018) on IMDB|website=[[IMDb]] |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8954732|access-date=26 April 2023}}</ref>
 
''[[Belgravia (TV series)|Belgravia]]'' is a period television series, broadcast in 2020, based on a novel of the same name by [[Julian Fellowes]], published in 2016, which Fellowes adapted himself adapted for the series.
 
==References==
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{{Commons category|Belgravia}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070312073443/http://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=528276&y=179405&z=2&sv=528276%2C179405&st=4&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf Map of Belgravia and surrounding areas]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20170519205705/http://belgraviasociety.org/ The Belgravia Society] – Largestlargest local civic amenity body
 
{{LB City of Westminster}}
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