page_title: Northumberland Avenue
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Northumberland Avenue / History
caption_attribution_description: A Metropolitan Police Officer stands outside Northumberland House which was demolished in 1874 to make way for Northumberland Avenue. The 'Percy Lion' (heraldic crest of Percy family) on top of the building now resides at Syon Park in west London.
context_page_description: Northumberland Avenue is a street in the City of Westminster, Central London, running from Trafalgar Square in the west to the Thames Embankment in the east. The road was built on the site of Northumberland House, the London home of the Percy family, the Dukes of Northumberland between 1874 and 1876, and on part of the parallel Northumberland Street.
  When built, the street was designed for luxury accommodation, including the seven-storey Grand Hotel, the Victoria and the Metropole. The Playhouse Theatre opened in 1882 and become a significant venue in London. From the 1930s onwards, hotels disappeared from Northumberland Avenue and were replaced by offices used by departments of the British Government, including the War Office and Air Ministry, later the Ministry of Defence. The street has been commemorated in the Sherlock Holmes novels including The Hound of the Baskervilles, and is a square on the British Monopoly board.
context_section_description: The area which is now occupied by Northumberland Avenue was originally called Hartshorn Lane. It was formed around 1491 after the Abbott of Westminster granted land to the grocer, Thomas Walker, including an inn known as the Christopher and stables. The land was sold to Humfrey Cooke in 1516, then to John Russell in 1531. In 1546, it was sold back to Henry VIII.
  In 1608–09, Henry Howard, 1st Earl of Northampton built a house on the eastern side of the former Chapel and Hospital of St. Mary Rounceval, at Charing Cross, including gardens running to the River Thames and adjoining Scotland Yard to the west. The estate became the property of Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland when he married Howard's great-great niece, Lady Elizabeth, in 1642, whereupon it was known as Northumberland House. In turn, the street was named Northumberland Street. The house was damaged in the Wilkes' election riots of 1768, but was saved after its owner, Hugh Percy, 1st Duke of Northumberland opened the nearby Ship Ale House, driving off rioters.
  By the 18th century, Northumberland Street was primarily used as a thoroughfare between markets in the West End of London and the wharfs along the Thames. In 1720, historian John Strype wrote that Northumberland Street was "much clogged and pestered with Carts repairing to the Wharfs".
  In June 1874, the whole of Northumberland House was purchased by the Metropolitan Board of Works and demolished to form Northumberland Avenue, which would accommodate hotels. Contemporary planning permissions forbade hotels to be taller than the width of the road they were on; consequently Northumberland Avenue was built with a wide carriageway. Part of the parallel Northumberland Street was demolished in order to make way for the avenue's eastern end. The street was open by 1876. The hotels were popular for American visitors as they were near to the West End, government buildings on Whitehall and all the mainline stations.
  By the 1930s, accommodation on Park Lane and Piccadilly was more popular, leading to closures on Northumberland Avenue. The seven floor Grand Hotel at No. 8 became a retail headquarters. It is now an events venue for corporations including Marks & Spencer. The venue is the first in Europe to install amBX lighting.
caption: Northumberland House was built in 1609 and demolished in 1874 to form Northumberland Avenue
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Elements 9.0 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2014:06:22 14:46:51", "Image ExifOffset": "172", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "310", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7641", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "325", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "450"}