The district bounded by Knightsbridge and Grosvenor Place, as far as Sloane Street and Ebury Street, is known as Belgravia, after Belgrave Square, which occupies the centre. Up to 1825 it was named the Five Fields, and was bare, swampy ground on which were a few market gardens. Only one road, the King's Road (Eaton Square), crossed it, though there were numerous footpaths, rendered insecure by the highwaymen and footpads who infested them. It was also a favourite duelling-ground. In 1826 a special Act of Parliament empowered the owner, Lord Grosvenor, to drain the site, raise the level, etc., and in the course of the next few years Messrs. Cubitt and Seth Smith built the streets and squares which now rank as a fashionable centre with the neighbourhood of Grosvenor Square. The houses are mainly uniform in type—square, substantial, plaster-fronted structures, which give an aspect of monotony to the whole district.
Belgrave Square, 10 acres in extent, is 684 feet long by 637 feet wide, and was designed by Basevi and built by Cubitt in 1825-28. The detached houses in the corners are by Philip Hardwick, R.A., and H. E. Kendall (west side). An enclosed garden occupies the centre.
Inhabitants: No. 5, General Sir George Murray, d. 1846, Earl of Shaftesbury, d. 1886; 15, Duke of Bedford; 16, Sir Roderick Murchison, geologist, d. 1871; 12 (western corner house), the late Earl Brownlow, Earl of Ancaster; 18, Austro-Hungarian Embassy; 23, Viscountess Hambledon, widow of Right Hon. W. H. Smith; 32, Admiral Earl of Clanwilliam.
The south corner house was built for Mr. Kemp of Kemptown. No. 24 General Lord Hill occupied in 1837. After his death, Lord Ducie occupied it till 1853; 36, H.R.H. Duchess of Kent, 1840; 37, Earl of Sefton, 1896; 45, Duchess of Montrose, d. 1895; 48, Viscount Combermere, d. 1891; 49 was built in 1850 for Mr. Sidney Herbert, Duke of Richmond and Gordon; Earl of March.
The principal approach to Belgrave Square is by Grosvenor Crescent, a broad and handsome street commenced in 1837, but not completed until about 1860. Where is now the south-west wing of St. George's Hospital stood Tattersall's famous auction mart for horses, etc., and betting-rooms. The establishment was started by Richard Tattersall, trainer to the last Duke of Kingston, about 1774, and was long popularly known as "the Corner." It was pulled down in 1866, and removed to Knightsbridge Green.
Inhabitants: No. 5, Lord Ashbourne; 8, Right Hon. Sir George Trevelyan, Bart., M.P.; 11, Duke of Leeds; 14, C. Bulkeley Barrington, M.P.; 15, Grosvenor Crescent Club for Ladies. Behind the north-west side of the Square is Wilton Crescent, with a garden in the centre, and Wilton Place, both built by Seth Smith between 1824 and 1828.
Inhabitants, Wilton Crescent: No. 16, Right Hon. James Lowther, M.P.; 24, Henry Hallam, d. 1859; 20, Sir George Wombwell, Bart.; 26, Lord Lamington; 28, Lord De Ros; 30, Lord John Russell; 37, Lord Chewton, who was killed at the Battle of the Alma; 39, Rev. W. J. Bennett, 1850.
Wilton Place stands on the site of a cow-yard, and is a broad street with fine houses on the east side. Here is St. Paul's Church, celebrated for the ritualistic tendencies of its successive vicars. It was built in 1843 by subscription on the drill ground of the old barracks, and cost £11,000, the site being given by the Marquis of Westminster. The building by Cundy is handsome, in Early Perpendicular style, and has sittings for 1,800. It was enlarged and altered in 1889 and 1892, when a side-chapel, by Blomfield, was added. Adjoining is the Vicarage, and opposite are St. Paul's National Schools.
Here lived: No. 4, Miss Reynolds, actress; 13, Hon. Thomas Stapleton, antiquary; 15, Sir James Macdonald, the defender of Hougoumont, d. 1857; 21, Mr. Westmacott.
In the adjoining Kinnerton Street (1826), so called from one of the Grosvenor estates, stood the dissecting school and anatomical museum of St. George's Hospital, removed to the new wing in 1868. At No. 75 is an institute for providing and promoting humane treatment of animals, founded by Lady Frances Trevanion circa 1890. It is supported by voluntary contributions.