Ebury Street - History

History

An area around here called "Eia" is mentioned in the Domesday Book and is the origin of the word "Ebury".

There is a blue plaque at 22b to indicate that Ian Fleming lived here from 1934 to 1945. This building was constructed in 1830 as a Baptist church but is now divided into several flats. In 1847 Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson lived at number 42. During the period immediately following the First World War, Number 42 was the workplace or head office of the "Soldiers' Embroidery Industry". Textile bags and workboxes were labelled thus, including the words "Made by the Totally Disabled", i.e. disabled veterans doing rehabilitation work. An early photographer, William Downey (1829 - 1881), had studios at 57 and 61. He made some of the most famous photographs of celebrities of his day--Sarah Bernhardt, Oscar Wilde and the then Princess of Wales. At 65-69 is "Ken Lo's Memories of China" a celebrated restaurant established in 1981 by Ken Lo (1920 - 2001). At 109/11 is a blue plaque commemorating the actress Edith Evans. At 121 another plaque celebrates George Moore (novelist). He spent his last years here and wrote Conversations in Ebury Street (1924). Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart lived at "Fivefields Row" from 5 August to 24 September 1764. The street is now called "Mozart Terrace", but numbered in such a way that it is continuous with Ebury Street. A few yards further on is 182 Ebury Street where Vita Sackville-West lived with her husband Harold Nicolson. Their son Nigel Nicolson was born here. At 231 Ebury Street is "La Poule au Pot" an expensive, celebrated restaurant. In 2006 it was voted number one in "Best for business" and "Best for romance" in Harden's guide. Where Ebury Street meets Pimlico Road is a triangular area with seating and a bronze statue of Mozart (aged 8) by Philip Jackson. The area is unofficially called "Mozart Square". The actor Terence Stamp shared a flat on this street with Michael Caine in 1963.. Several houses on Ebury Street have been converted to hotels.