Cross Buckingham Palace Road into Lower Belgrave Street. The Plumbers Arms pub is at 14 Lower Belgrave Street.
Thomas Cubitt, leasing land from Lord Grosvenor, was planning to remove and redevelop the temporary ale house which was here. A group of plumbers rose to block the plan.
The Plumbers Arms was the 1974 venue which witnessed Lord Lucan’s wife bursting in distress over finding their nanny dead in her home.
Turn left into the far side of Eaton Square
Eaton Square was designed by Thomas Cubitt in the Palazzo style. Born in Norfolk in 1788, he was a ship’s carpenter before setting up as a speculative builder in 1811. One of three garden squares built by the Grosvenor family, it is named after Eaton Hall, Cheshire, the family’s principal seat.
Construction of the Square began in 1826 but wasn’t completed until 1855. During the layout of Belgravia, Cubitt lived nearby at 3 Lyall Street. The long construction period is reflected in the variety of architecture in the square.
The grand façades with Corinthian-style column capitals overlook private gardens, part of the 16 acres of gardens within Grosvenor’s Belgravia and Mayfair Estates. Eaton Square was originally the beginning of the royal route (the King’s Road) from St James’s Palace to Hampton Court.
Past residents of the Square include Stanley Baldwin, Lord Boothby, Neville Chamberlain, Vivien Leigh and Lord John Russell.
At the east end of the square is St Peter’s Church, designed by Henry Hakewill and built between 1824 and 1827. The first church was destroyed by fire in 1836 and rebuilt by Hakewill.
Turn right into Lyall Street. Lyall Street extends southward from Chesham Place to Eaton Square, transitioning into Elizabeth Street at Eaton Square.
The street’s construction dates to 1838 and is credited to the master builder Thomas Cubitt, whose headquarters were at 3-4 Lyall Street. The street was named in honour of Charles Lyall, who served as a trustee of the Lowndes Estate.
Notably, John Aspinall, associated with the prominent Aspinall’s gaming club, resided at No. 1 Lyall Street.
Take a peak along Eaton Mews North and after that left into Eaton Place.
Eaton Place is an extension to the square, developed by Cubitt between 1826 and 1845. The scientist William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin lived here, as did the Irish Unionist Edward Carson. Sir Henry Wilson, 1st Baronet was assassinated by Irish Republicans in 1922 as he was leaving No. 36.
More cheerfully, the fictional Bellamy family from Upstairs Downstairs lived here at number “165”.
On the corner of West Eaton Place and Eaton Place stands the house where Frederick Chopin gave his first London performance in 1848.
Take West Eaton Place and Eaton Terrace into Sloane Square.
Sloane Square holds historical significance as it serves as a boundary between two major aristocratic estates in London—the Grosvenor Estate and the Cadogan Estate. The square was named after Sir Hans Sloane, an Anglo-Irish doctor who, along with his appointed trustees, owned the land when the square was laid out in 1771.
In the 1980s, Sloane Square gained additional cultural recognition as it became associated with the rise of yuppiedom and the term “Sloane Rangers,” a concept popularised by Peter York. While the square has seen changes in its clientele over the years, with Ralph Lauren and Tiffany stores catering to a different demographic, it still maintains a certain level of exclusivity. The area is known for luxury shopping, and despite the shifts in cultural associations, it continues to attract attention for its upscale character, complete with high-end stores and occasional appearances of marauding Range Rovers.