Brompton Road lies partly in Westminster and partly in Kensington and Chelsea.
As an official name,
Brompton Road did not exist until 1863. Until 1935
Brompton Road extended only as far as the junction with
Thurloe Place, after which
Fulham Road began.
There was always a lot of traffic on this old road, which linked London with parts of Surrey. From 1726 to 1826 the road was maintained by the Kensington Turnpike Trustees and was a turnpike.
Before this, the Kensington parish boundary enclosed a thin corridor encompassing
Brompton Road up to
Knightsbridge Green on the north, and up to the lane later to become
Sloane Street on the south.
Until the 1760s, little development had occurred on the road with the land around being horticultural with nurseries.
Development commenced in 1763 in several places along both sides of the eastern part of
Brompton Road, as far as Yeoman’s Row on the south and
Brompton Square on the north, during the 1763-4 London building boom in London.
The street became home to the
Brompton Oratory and much later,
Harrods.
Brompton Road Underground station closed on 30 July 1934 because of a lack of traffic following the opening of new entrances at
Knightsbridge station.
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Knightsbridge was originally a small hamlet, between the villages of Chelsea (Chelsey), Kensington (Kensing town) and Charing. In the time of Edward I, the manor of Knightsbridge appertained to the abbey of Westminster. It was named after a crossing of the River Westbourne, which is now an underground river.Knightsbridge is notable as an ultra-expensive residential area, and for the density of its upmarket retail outlets. Fourteen of Britain's two hundred most expensive streets are in the district.
Knightsbridge is leafy, especially considering its location at the heart of London. It is home to many of the world's richest people, and has some of the highest property prices in the world. In February 2007, the world's then most expensive apartment at One Hyde Park, sold off plan for £100,000,000, and was bought by a Qatari Prince, and another apartment at the same place in February 2009, of almost the same price was bought by an Afghani Prince.
The principal landowners in the area are the Duke of Westminster and Earl Cadogan. The two areas of aristocratic landholdings can be distinguished: red-brick Queen Anne Revival buildings are mostly to be found on the Cadogan Estates, whereas white stucco-fronted houses are mostly found on the Grosvenor Estate, built by Thomas Cubitt.
Knightsbridge station opened on 15 December 1906 by the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (GNP&BR, now the Piccadilly Line). When opened, the platforms were accessed in the standard manner by four lifts and an emergency staircase connecting to parallel passageways and bridges to midway along the platforms. The original station building designed by Leslie Green was located on Brompton Road a short distance west of its junction with Knightsbridge and Sloane Street.
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