57-504: Pimlico ( / ˈ p ɪ m l ɪ k oʊ / ) is an area of Central London in the City of Westminster , built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia . It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture . Pimlico is demarcated to the north by Victoria Station , by the River Thames to the south, Vauxhall Bridge Road to the east and the former Grosvenor Canal to
114-560: A 2001 population of 1,525,000. The sub-region was replaced in 2008 with a new structure which amalgamated inner and outer boroughs together. This was altered in 2011 when a new Central London sub-region was created, now including the City of London and excluding Wandsworth. The 1901 Census defined Central London as the City of London and the metropolitan boroughs (subdivisions that existed from 1900 to 1965) of Bermondsey , Bethnal Green , Finsbury , Holborn , Shoreditch , Southwark , Stepney , St Marylebone and Westminster . During
171-419: A cut above Chelsea, which is only commercial." Although the area was dominated by the well-to-do middle and upper-middle classes as late as Booth's 1889 Map of London Poverty, parts of Pimlico are said to have declined significantly by the 1890s. When Rev Gerald Olivier moved to the neighbourhood in 1912 with his family, including the young Laurence Olivier , to minister to the parishioners of St Saviour , it
228-462: A dozen docking stations for the Santander Cycles scheme. Pimlico would be connected at Victoria to the proposed Chelsea-Hackney line (Crossrail 2). Plans under consideration for the redevelopment of Nine Elms and Battersea Power Station include a pedestrian bridge stretching across the river from St George's Square ; in 2015, Wandsworth council awarded Bystrup and partners the design for
285-536: A high-density built environment, high land values, an elevated daytime population and a concentration of regionally, nationally and internationally significant organisations and facilities. Road distances to London are traditionally measured from a central point at Charing Cross (in the City of Westminster ), which is marked by the statue of King Charles I at the junction of the Strand , Whitehall and Cockspur Street , just south of Trafalgar Square . The central area
342-533: A history of street name etymologies in the area see: Street names of Pimlico and Victoria Dolphin Square is a block of private apartments built between 1935 and 1937. At the time of their construction the development was billed as the largest self-contained block of flats in Europe. It is home to many Members of Parliament (MPs). Churchill Gardens is a large housing estate covering the south-west corner of Pimlico. It
399-597: A part of Coldwell Banker. Brian Alexander's friend, Colin Tennant, Lord Glenconner, owner of Mustique island in the Caribbean was friends with Henry Cubitt, Baron Ashcombe the chairman of the builders, Holland, Hannen and Cubbits who developed the estate comprising 480 homes in the 19th Century and were major shareholders in partnership with Harry Reynolds of Reynolds Engineering of then owners CR Developments. Brian Alexander after leaving Previews International, eventually became MD of
456-611: A popular leisure destination. The east dock is now dominated by the City Quay residential development, comprising more than 200 privately owned flats overlooking the marina. The south side of the east dock is surrounded by the South Quay Estate which was originally social housing. The dock is still used by small to medium-sized boats on a daily basis. The anchor from the wreck of the Dutch East Indiaman Amsterdam
513-656: Is a former dock and now a mixed-used district in Central London , in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets and within the East End . It lies on the north bank of the River Thames , immediately downstream of the Tower of London and Tower Bridge . From 1828 to 1968, it was one of the commercial docks that made up the Port of London . It is in the redevelopment zone known as Docklands and
570-553: Is close to the St Katharine Dock, providing river transport services managed by London River Services . The main service from Tower Bridge Quay is a circular river cruise operated by Crown River Cruises which goes non-stop to Westminster Millennium Pier before returning via the South Bank arts centre, as well as a Westminster-Greenwich express service run by Thames River Services . The nearby Tower Millennium Pier , located on
627-748: Is distinguished, according to the Royal Commission , by the inclusion within its boundaries of Parliament and the Royal Palaces, the headquarters of Government, the Law Courts , the head offices of a very large number of commercial and industrial firms, as well as institutions of great influence in the intellectual life of the nation such as the British Museum , the National Gallery , the Tate Gallery ,
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#1732847489341684-454: Is now Mayfair and Knightsbridge . Understandably, she was much pursued but in 1677, at the age of twelve, married Sir Thomas Grosvenor, 3rd Baronet . The Grosvenors were a family of Norman descent long seated at Eaton Hall in Cheshire who, until this auspicious marriage, were of but local consequence in their native county of Cheshire . Through the development and good management of this land
741-671: Is now a popular housing and leisure complex. St Katharine Docks took their name from the former hospital of St Katharine's by the Tower , built in the 12th century, which stood on the site. An intensely built-up area, the entire 23-acre (9.5 hectares) Precinct of St Katharine by the Tower and part of East Smithfield , was earmarked for redevelopment by an act of Parliament, the St. Katharine's Dock Act 1825 ( 6 Geo. 4 . c. cv), with construction commencing in May 1827. Some 1,250 houses were demolished, together with
798-502: Is on display at the entrance to the east dock. Notable boats regularly moored in the docks include: Several Thames sailing barges are also based in the docks. The area was used as one of the main filming locations for the Hammer Film Productions version of Dennis Wheatley 's novel To The Devil - A Daughter in 1976, with the character played by Richard Widmark living in one of the residential flats. Scenes featured
855-615: Is part of the West Central constituency on the London Assembly , which is represented by James Small-Edwards AM. Central London Central London is the innermost part of London , in England , spanning the City of London and several boroughs . Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteristics are understood to include
912-684: Is set in Pimlico. Pimlico is served by Pimlico station on the Victoria line and Victoria station on the Victoria, District and Circle lines. It is also served by National Rail services to London Victoria Station . Bus routes that run centrally through Pimlico are the 24 , 360 and the C10 . Many more buses run along Vauxhall Bridge Road (Pimlico's eastern boundary). Riverboat services to Waterloo and Southwark run from Millbank Millennium Pier . The area has
969-598: Is the home of Francis Urquhart in Michael Dobbs 's 1989 novel, House of Cards . While still only partially built, the area is the abode of a criminal gang in Charles Palliser 's 1989 novel, The Quincunx . They live in 'carcasses', part-built houses on which work has ceased owing to the drying-up of funds, due in turn to an involved conspiracy central to the book's convoluted plot. Alexander McCall Smith 's on-line Daily Telegraph serial novel Corduroy Mansions
1026-528: Is used as an example of "a desperate thing." Arguing that things are not loved because they are great but become great because they are loved, he asserts that if merely approved of, Pimlico "will remain Pimlico, which would be awful," but if "loved with a transcendental tie and without any earthly reason" it "in a year or two might be fairer than Florence." Barbara Pym used St Gabriel's Church as her inspiration for St Mary's in Excellent Women . The area
1083-578: The Great Plague of London and the Great Fire of London , Pimlico had become ripe for development. In 1825, Thomas Cubitt was contracted by Lord Grosvenor to develop Pimlico. The land up to this time had been marshy but was reclaimed using soil excavated during the construction of St Katharine Docks . Cubitt developed Pimlico as a grid of handsome white stucco terraces. The largest and most opulent houses were built along St George's Drive and Belgrave Road ,
1140-731: The Herbert Commission and the subsequent passage of the London Government Bill , three unsuccessful attempts were made to define an area that would form a central London borough . The first two were detailed in the 1959 Memorandum of Evidence of the Greater London Group of the London School of Economics . "Scheme A" envisaged a central London borough, one of 25, consisting of the City of London, Westminster, Holborn, Finsbury and
1197-704: The Jubilee line , but took a different route south of the Thames . The closest stations to the Docks today are Tower Hill (tube) and Tower Gateway DLR station , both roughly equidistant from the north-west corner of the Docks. Vodafone made the first ever cellular telephone call in the United Kingdom on 1 January 1985, from St Katharine Docks to Newbury , and launched the UK's first cellular network later that year. Between 2005 and 2008,
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#17328474893411254-571: The University of London , the headquarters of the national ballet and opera, together with the headquarters of many national associations, the great professions, the trade unions, the trade associations, social service societies, as well as shopping centres and centres of entertainment which attract people from the whole of Greater London and farther afield. In many other respects the central area differs from areas farther out in London. The rateable value of
1311-421: The 1961 census. It consisted of the City of London, all of Westminster, Holborn and Finsbury; and the inner parts of Shoreditch, Stepney, Bermondsey, Southwark, Lambeth, Chelsea, Kensington, Paddington, St Marylebone and St Pancras. The population was estimated to be 270,000. 51°30′N 0°08′W / 51.50°N 0.13°W / 51.50; -0.13 St Katharine Docks St Katharine Docks
1368-500: The City of London, most of Westminster and the inner parts of Camden, Islington, Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Southwark, Lambeth, Kensington & Chelsea and Wandsworth. It is described as "a unique cluster of vitally important activities including central government offices, headquarters and embassies, the largest concentration of London's financial and business services sector and the offices of trade, professional bodies, institutions, associations, communications, publishing, advertising and
1425-470: The City of London, the whole of Finsbury and Holborn, most of Westminster and Southwark, parts of St Pancras, St Marylebone, Paddington and a small part of Kensington. The area had an estimated population of 400,000 and occupied 8,000 acres (32 km ). During the passage of the London Government Bill an amendment was put forward to create a central borough corresponding to the definition used at
1482-494: The Grosvenors acquired enormous wealth. At some point in the late seventeenth or early eighteenth century, the area ceased to be known as Ebury or "The Five Fields" and gained the name by which it is now known. While its origins are disputed, it is "clearly of foreign derivation.... [William] Gifford , in a note in his edition of Ben Jonson , tells us that 'Pimlico is sometimes spoken of as a person, and may not improbably have been
1539-581: The Ivory House and the retractable bridge . In April 2021, it was filmed for Men , a folk horror film directed by Alex Garland and starring Jessie Buckley , released in 2022. It was used for Buckley's character's apartment with her abusive husband, and also where he died. The inner gatefold photograph for The Rolling Stones album Through the Past Darkly (Big Hits Vol. 2) was taken at St Katherine Docks by Ethan Russell in May 1969. Tower Bridge Quay
1596-609: The Mustique Company for many decades.. https://www.twsg.co.uk > Pimlico was connected to the London Underground in 1972 as a late addition to the Victoria line . Following the designation of a conservation area in 1968 (extended in 1973 and again in 1990), the area has seen extensive regeneration. Successive waves of development have given Pimlico an interesting social mix, combining exclusive restaurants and residences with Westminster City Council -run facilities. For
1653-583: The Thames docks, including St Katharine Dock. By the 1930s the only regular use was by ships of the General Steam Navigation Company . St Katharine Docks were badly damaged by German bombing during the Second World War . All the warehouses around the eastern basin were destroyed, and the site they had occupied remained derelict until the 1960s. The dock entrance lock was rebuilt in 1957 but
1710-425: The architect Philip Hardwick ) be built right on the quayside so that goods could be unloaded directly into them. The docks were officially opened on 25 October 1828. Although well used, they were not a great commercial success and were unable to accommodate large ships. They were amalgamated in 1864 with the neighbouring London Docks . In 1909, the Port of London Authority took over the management of almost all of
1767-545: The central area is exceptionally high. Its day population is very much larger than its night population. Its traffic problems reach an intensity not encountered anywhere else in the Metropolis or in any provincial city, and the enormous office developments which have taken place recently constitute a totally new phenomenon. Starting in 2004, the London Plan defined a 'Central Activities Zone' policy area, which as of 2008 comprised
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1824-400: The complex; the listing price was £435m. In October 2017, however, Blackstone withdrew the property from the market because bids were below the asking price. The area now features offices, public and private housing, a large hotel, shops and restaurants, a pub (The Dickens Inn, a former brewery dating back to the 18th century), a yachting marina and other recreational facilities. It remains
1881-530: The docks ceased commercial use in 1968. The remaining wharehouses on the western side were demolished to make way for redevelopment. Because of their very restricted capacity and inability to cope with large modern ships, the St Katharine Docks were among the first to be closed in 1968, and were sold to the Greater London Council . The site was leased to the developers Taylor Woodrow and most of
1938-427: The eastern basin was completed in the 1990s; the docks themselves becoming a marina . The development has often been cited as a model example of successful urban redevelopment. In 1980, a plan was approved to open a St Katharine Docks Underground station on the proposed extension of the Jubilee line . It would have been between Fenchurch Street and Wapping . An eastwards extension was eventually built as part of
1995-415: The form of two linked basins (East and West), both accessed via an entrance lock from the Thames. Steam engines designed by James Watt and Matthew Boulton kept the water level in the basins about four feet above that of the tidal river. By 1830, the docks had cost over £2 million to build. Telford aimed to minimise the amount of quayside activity and specified that the docks' warehouses (designed by
2052-458: The former Royal Army Medical College next to the Tate. Pimlico School , a comprehensive built between 1967 and 1970, was a notable example of Brutalist architecture . It was demolished in 2010. Pimlico is the setting of the 1940 version of Gaslight . Post World War II , Pimlico was the setting of the 1949 Ealing comedy Passport To Pimlico . In G. K. Chesterton 's Orthodoxy , Pimlico
2109-447: The former Danish lightship "Lightship X" (Ten) was moored on the west dock, and used as a restaurant, before returning to Denmark. The marina, including restaurants and offices, was owned by Max Property Group, operated by investor Nick Leslau , since 2011, and was sold to Blackstone Group in 2014. Over the next three years, Blackstone completed a major restoration. In May 2017, the company retained agents to find potential buyers for
2166-637: The headquarters of the Free French for much of the Second World War. Pimlico survived the war with its essential character intact, although parts sustained significant bomb damage. Through the 1950s these areas were the focus of large-scale redevelopment as the Churchill Gardens and Lillington and Longmoore Gardens estates, and many of the larger Victorian houses were converted to hotels and other uses. To provide affordable and efficient heating to
2223-570: The headquarters of the National Audit Office . The area contains a number of Anglican churches, most constructed at the time the neighbourhood was laid out. Among them are St Gabriel's (of which a former Vicar is now Archdeacon of Chichester ), St Saviour and St James the Less . From its founding St Peter's, Eaton Square, Belgravia was usually recorded as St Peter's, Pimlico (at least prior to 1878). The area's Catholic church, Holy Apostles,
2280-456: The inner parts of St Marylebone, St Pancras, Chelsea, Southwark and Lambeth. The boundary deviated from existing lines to include all central London railway stations , the Tower of London and the museums, such that it included small parts of Kensington, Shoreditch, Stepney and Bermondsey. It had an estimated population of 350,000 and occupied 7,000 acres (28 km ). "Scheme B" delineated central London, as one of 7 boroughs, including most of
2337-419: The master of a house once famous for ale of a particular description'." Supporting this etymology, E. Cobham Brewer describes the area as "a district of public gardens much frequented on holidays. According to tradition, it received its name from Ben Pimlico, famous for his nut-brown ale. His tea-gardens, however, were near Hoxton , and the road to them was termed Pimlico Path, so that what is now called Pimlico
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2394-480: The media". For strategic planning, since 2011 there has been a Central London sub-region comprising the boroughs of Camden , Islington , Kensington and Chelsea , Lambeth , Southwark , Westminster and the City of London . From 2004 to 2008, the London Plan included a sub-region called Central London comprising Camden, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth, Southwark, Wandsworth and Westminster. It had
2451-406: The medieval hospital of St. Katharine. Around 11,300 inhabitants, mostly port workers crammed into unsanitary slums, lost their homes; only the property owners received compensation. The scheme was designed by engineer Thomas Telford and was his only major project in London. George Turnbull and James Waylen were working for Telford. To create as much quayside as possible, the docks were designed in
2508-578: The now-disused Battersea Power Station on the south side of the River Thames. It is still in operation, the water now being heated locally by a new energy centre which incorporates 3.1 MWe /4.0 MWTh of gas-fired CHP engines and 3 × 8 MW gas-fired boilers. In 1953, the Second Duke of Westminster sold the part of the Grosvenor estate on which Pimlico is built. In 1970, whilst Roger Byron-Collins
2565-578: The original warehouses around the western basin were demolished and replaced by modern commercial buildings in the early 1970s, beginning with the bulky Tower Hotel (designed by Renton Howard Wood Partnership ; opened in September 1973) on a site parallel to the river just to the east of Tower Bridge. This was followed by the World Trade Centre Building and Commodity Quay (both designed by architects Watkins Gray International). Development around
2622-440: The pre– World War II Dolphin Square and the Churchill Gardens and Lillington and Longmoore Gardens estates, now conservation areas in their own right. The area has over 350 Grade II listed buildings and several Grade II* listed churches. At the western edge of Pimlico, on the borders of Chelsea, Pimlico Road has been ruined in recent years by a proliferation of interiors and design stores, driving all other business away. In
2679-527: The residents of the new post-war developments, Pimlico became one of the few places in the UK to have a district heating system installed. District heating became popular after World War II to heat the large residential estates that replaced areas devastated by the Blitz. The Pimlico District Heating Undertaking (PDHU) is just north of the River Thames. The PDHU first became operational in 1950 and continues to expand to this day. The PDHU once relied on waste heat from
2736-510: The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Manor of Ebury was divided up and leased by the Crown to servants or favourites. In 1623, James I sold the freehold of Ebury for £1,151 and 15 shillings. The land was sold on several more times, until it came into the hands of heiress Mary Davies in 1666. Mary's dowry not only included "The Five Fields" of modern-day Pimlico and Belgravia , but also most of what
2793-640: The two principal streets, and Eccleston, Warwick and St George's Squares . Lupus Street contained similarly grand houses, as well as shops and, until the early twentieth century, a hospital for women and children. Smaller-scale properties, typically of three storeys, line the side streets. An 1877 newspaper article described Pimlico as "genteel, sacred to professional men… not rich enough to luxuriate in Belgravia proper, but rich enough to live in private houses." Its inhabitants were "more lively than in Kensington… and yet
2850-489: The west. At its heart is a grid of residential streets laid down by the planner Thomas Cubitt , beginning in 1825 and now protected as the Pimlico Conservation Area . The most prestigious are those on garden squares, with buildings decreasing in grandeur away from St George's Square , Warwick Square , Eccleston Square and the main thoroughfares of Belgrave Road and St. George's Drive. Additions have included
2907-453: The £40m bridge, with spiral ramps preserving parks at both ends. The area is represented on Westminster City Council by the wards of Pimlico North and Pimlico South. These all form part of the Cities of London and Westminster parliamentary constituency, currently represented by MP Nickie Aiken , a Conservative . Of the six local councillors, three are Labour and three are Conservative. Pimlico
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#17328474893412964-828: Was a partner in Mullett Booker Estate Agents in Albion Street on the Hyde Park Estate, he sold the entire 27 acre freehold Pimlico Estate for £4.4 million to Jack Dellal of Dalton Barton Bank in a JV with Peter Crane of City and Municipal Properties, being a consortium controlled by the Hanson Trust. He was introduced to the owners of the Estate by the Hon Brian Alexander, son of Field Marshal Earl Alexander of Tunis, who at that time represented Previews International,
3021-603: Was destroyed in the Blitz and rebuilt in 1957. The headquarters of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales are located in Eccleston Square . Tate Britain is located within the ward of Millbank , but is a short walk from Pimlico Underground station and is regarded as a Pimlico landmark. The district's association with fine art has been reinforced by the Chelsea College of Art and Design 's recent move to
3078-484: Was developed between 1946 and 1962 to a design by the architects Powell and Moya, replacing docks, industrial works, and several Cubitt terraces damaged in the Blitz. On Buckingham Palace Road is the former "Empire Terminal" of Imperial Airways , a striking Art Moderne building designed in 1938 by architect Albert Lakeman. Mail, freight and passengers were transported from the terminal to Southampton via rail before transferring to flying boats. The building now serves as
3135-417: Was here in 1926 that the general strike was organised. In the mid-1930s Pimlico saw a second wave of development with the construction of Dolphin Square , a self-contained "city" of 1,250 up-market flats built on the site formerly occupied by Cubitt's building works. Completed in 1937, it quickly became popular with MPs and public servants. It was home to fascist Oswald Mosley until his arrest in 1940, and
3192-583: Was part of a venture to west London "slums" that had previously taken the family to the depths of Notting Hill . Through the late nineteenth century, Pimlico saw the construction of several Peabody Estates , charitable housing projects designed to provide affordable, quality homes. Proximity to the Houses of Parliament made Pimlico a centre of political activity. Prior to 1928, the Labour Party and Trades Union Congress shared offices on Eccleston Square , and it
3249-542: Was so named from the popularity of the Hoxton resort". H. G. Wells , in his novel The Dream , says that there was a wharf at Pimlico where ships from America docked and that the word Pimlico came with the trade and was the last word left alive of the Algonquin Indian language ( Pamlico ). By the 19th century, and as a result of an increase in demand for property in the previously unfashionable West End of London following
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