1862 - 2012 Peabody Cycle Tour: Westminster 80 Eaton Square – Westminster Abbey The first ever Peabody Cycle Tour has been created to celebrate Peabody’s 150th anniversary. Since its creation in 1862, Peabody has strived to ‘ameliorate the conditions of the poor in London’, carrying out the vision of its founder, George Peabody. An American banker and philanthropist who made his home in London, George Peabody donated a staggering £500,000 to improve the lives of people working in the capital. His legacy lives on - today, the organisation provides homes for over 55,000 Londoners. Stop 1: 80 Eaton Square Just to the right of the main entrance to this magnificent building is a blue plaque. During the last month of his life, George Peabody lived here with his friend, Curtis Miranda Lampson. Peabody had arrived in London 32 years before, and lived at various addresses, including Cork Street and Regent Street. Since Peabody’s death in 1869, a variety of famous names have lived on Eaton Square, including Neville Chamberlain, Sean Connery, and Roman Abramovich. Directions Pedal to Sloane Square and turn left into Holbein Place beside the tube station. Turn left into Pimlico Road (passing the shop frontages beneath the flats) and then turn left into Passmore Place. The estate is through the arch on the left. blog.splendia.com Stop 2: Lumley Buildings, Ebury estate Built in 1875 by the Improved Industrial Dwellings Company, the land had originally been acquired on a long lease from the Marquis of Westminster. In most cases, the IIDC did not employ an architect. Normally, the blocks constructed by the IIDC were designed by their builder, Matthew Allen, and it is believed he designed the Ebury blocks. Along with the Coleshill Buildings, the lease for the estate was acquired from the IIDC by Peabody in 1984. Directions Retrace your route down Passmore Street, and turn left down Pimlico Road. Coleshill Buildings is approximately ¼ mile on your left (opposite St Barnabas Street). Stop 3: Coleshill Buildings, Ebury estate Built in 1871, the completed blocks provided accommodation for 120 families, plus ten shops. More than half the dwellings had only one bedroom, which prompted criticism of the design in an issue of The Builder, which was otherwise generally complimentary about the design. In 1989, Coleshill Flats were given a Grade II listing. Directions Head down St Barnabas Street, turn right into Ebury Bridge Road, and turn left into the courtyard, between the two Peabody buildings which make up the Chelsea Gardens estate. Stop 4: Chelsea Gardens Originally built in 1879, there have been several famous names based on the estate. While living at flat 104, the author Jerome K Jerome (1857-1927) wrote Three Men in a Boat. Kenneth Grahame, who would later write The Wind in the Willows, lived at 65 Chelsea Gardens from 1882 to 1894, and worked as a clerk at the Bank of England. Although he was unmarried, he occupied an apartment of four rooms. Directions Continue down Lower Sloane Street, past the Lister hospital, towards the river. Turn left onto the Barclays Cycle SuperHighway. Continue down Grosvenor Road, past the Victoria Station sidings, then turn left into Lupus Street, and left again into Peabody Avenue. Stop 5: Peabody Avenue All the way along Peabody Avenue, you can see Peabody architecture, old and new. Blocks A to M were completed in 1876 – a report published in The Builder in April 1876 stated that these blocks were visited by members of the Architectural Association. On the wall of Block N there is a memorial to 67 men who died on active service in the First World War. In November 2005, a Channel 4 TV series, entitled ‘Not Forgotten’, featured the war memorial. Presenter Ian Hislop interviewed the granddaughter of William Buckland, the first man from the estate to be killed. During the Second World War, the estate received a visit from Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who came to see the damage caused by an air raid. Directions Leave Peabody Avenue (to the north) by the Sutherland Street exit, turning right. Turn left at the junction with Lupus Street. Keep pedalling for ½ mile, until you are opposite Pimlico tube station, just past the junction of Aylesford Street. Look for the sign showing the entrance to Tachbrook estate - you can cycle between the blocks through the estate. Stop 6: Tachbrook estate The earliest part of the estate was built for the Westminster Housing Trust between 1933 and 1935, and was the first working-class flats in London to be served by self-operative electric lifts. On 16th February 1938, Queen Elizabeth, wife of King George VI, paid a personal visit to the estate. The visit was kept secret, so that the Queen could see tenants in their everyday circumstances. In 1972, the entire estate was acquired by Peabody. Directions Exit from the corner of Malcolmson House, to Aylesford Street, and turn left towards the river. Turn left again, picking up the Cycle Superhighway. Turn left at Vauxhall Bridge, left again into Bessborough Street and left again into Bessborough Place. The estate is past the barrier. Stop 7: Millbank estate: Bessborough Place In 2011 the Crown decided to dispose of 4 residential London estates, including Pimlico, generating interest from private investors and also a campaign by residents backed by MPs concerned about loss of affordable housing. After the terms of the sale were varied Peabody was accepted as the preferred purchaser which ensured continued protection for existing tenants and future use of the properties for low cost rental. You can see the mix of key worker/intermediate rent housing and long leasehold around Bessborough Street, Bessborough Place, Buonaparte Mews and at Thomson House. The remainder of this prestigious Bessborough Gardens estate is private long leasehold and was retained by The Crown Estate. Directions From Bessborough Place, return down Bessborough Street, turn right into Vauxhall Bridge Road, and then left into John Islip Street. Stop 8: Millbank estate: John Islip Street, Ponsonby Place, Causton Street and Relish Cafeteria John Islip Street was named after the renowned Abbot of the Monastery of Westminster during the Tudor era. Islip was in office from 1500 until his death in 1532, when like George Peabody, he was buried at Westminster Abbey. There are about 120 properties in these streets and Peabody also owns and manages some of the ground floor corner shops. On the east side of the junction between Ponsonby Place and Causton Street stands Mary Smith House identified by a plaque. Mary Smith MBE was a senior manager for The Crown in the post war years in charge of the Millbank Office and later a governor of the Peabody Trust from 1988 – 1992. She was an important figure in the development of housing management and also held the office of President of the Institute of Housing 1978 -1979. The café ‘Relish’ is part of the commercial portfolio and you may wish to stop for a break. Directions Turn left into Ponsonby Place, down Causton Street, right into Regency Street. Turn left into Vincent Street then round Vincent Square to the far corner. Left into Rochester Row and right into Vauxhall Bridge Road towards Victoria station, with Vauxhall estate on your right. Stop 9: Vauxhall estate Prior to the acquisition by Peabody, the land was occupied by terraces of houses which were built in the mid-1840s. The estate was built in 1912 – at that time, there was a constant supply of hot water from a tap in the courtyard, and for a penny a week, residents could make use of the pram and bicycle sheds. In 1913, a brochure was prepared for the visit of Peabody’s Governors. The frontispiece of the brochure was a perspective drawing of the estate, and it was described as having been ‘exhibited in last year’s Royal Academy Exhibition’. Vauxhall estate was damaged several times in bomb attacks during the Second World War, but fortunately, no lives were claimed. Directions Go down Francis Street (due east) for ¼ mile, passing Willow Place, then turn right into Greencoat Row. Greencoat Mansions is on your right, on the corner with Greencoat Place. Stop 10: Greencoat Mansions Originally built in 1892, the estate was acquired by Peabody in 1978. Greencoat Mansions falls within the Westminster Cathedral conservation area. The estate is comprised of 11 bedsits and 15 one bedroom flats. For many years, a café was situated on the ground level of the estate, where the Mexican Grill is today. Directions Continue down Greencoat Place, left into Emery Hill Street, and cross Rochester Row, and go along the Northeast side of Vincent Square. Turn left into Elverton Street (by Royal Horticultural Halls), at end of Elverton Street turn left again, past the Channel 4 HQ sculpture on your right. The Horseferry Road estate is on your right. Keep going down Horseferry Road, turn right at the mini-roundabout into Great Peter Street, rear entrance on right through black metal gates. Stop 11: Horseferry Road estate In February 1914, it was reported to the Governors that the nearby Westminster Estate, opened in 1868, was ‘hardly satisfactory for the purposes of the Fund’, and it was hoped that the tenants would be re-housed ‘under much more favourable conditions in another part of Westminster’. Delayed by the onset of the First World War, the Horseferry Road estate opened in 1922. On 31st October 1940, in the height of the Blitz, the estate received a direct hit and two residents were killed. Despite several further bomb attacks, no other deaths occurred during the war. It is reported that, during a raid in March 1944, the estate porter saved the estate from destruction by an incendiary bomb.