London Neighbourhoods
St John's Wood
The first time I visited the Church of St Martin-in-the-Fields I half expected to find the church in a field - or at least remanants of one, but as I found out upon arrival, there's not a blade of grass in site these days. St John's Wood has a similarly deceptive name - once part of the Forest of Middlesex, an area with extensive woodland, it is now an inner suburb of the City of London.
The area's name originates in the Manor of Lileston, served by the Parish of Marylebone. The Manor was taken from the Knights Templar on their suppression in 1312 and passed to the Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem whose English headquarter were at Clerkenwell Priory. The name of the knights was applied to a former wood within the area of the Manor, which in turn gave its name to St John's Farm, the farmhouse of which is now occupied by St John's Wood Barracks. The St John's Wood estate came to be known as the Eyre estate in the 19th century after it was developed by the Eyre brothers. The estate still exists, much reduced geographically.
A masterplan for the development of St John's Wood was prepared in 1794 but development did not start until 1804 when St John's Wood became one of the first London suburbs with lower-density villa housing and frequent avenues but fewer communal garden squares. Most of the villas have since been subdivided and replaced by small apartment blocks or terraces. This pattern of development has made it one of the most expensive areas of London.
St. John's Wood Church Grounds contains the only nature reserve in the City of Westminster. Much of the neighbourhood is covered by a conservation area, a small part of which extends into neighbouring Camden.
St John's Wood is home to EMI's Abbey Road Studios where The Beatles and many other artists recorded some of the most memorable music of the 20th century. The cover of The Beatles Abbey Road album, which features the band crossing the road at the crosswalk outside the studios, is perhaps the most famous and iconic album cover ever.
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Marylebone Cricket Club
Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) was founded in 1787 and based since 1814 at Lord's Cricket Ground, which it owns, in St John's Wood, London. The club was formerly the governing body of cricket retaining considerable global influence. In 1788, the MCC took responsibility for the laws of cricket, issuing a revised version that year. Changes to these Laws are now determined by the International Cricket Council (ICC), but the copyright is still owned by MCC. When the ICC was established in 1909, it was administered by the secretary of the MCC, and the president of MCC automatically assumed the chairmanship of ICC until 1989.
There have been three Lord's grounds: the original on the Portman Estate and leased until 1810. All three sites lie to the west of Regent's Park. Thomas Lord leased all three grounds, and all three were named after him. Lord was forced to abandon the second ground because of the Regents Canal construction. The third ground was the present Lord's, now home to MCC for over 200 years.
Abbey Road
Penny Lane (in Liverpool) and Abbey Road in the London suburb of St John's Wood are two famous streets whose names are synonymous with The Beatles. A nondescript road which runs through the centre of St John's Wood, Abbey Road is just a few minutes’ walk from St John’s Wood Underground station on the Jubilee line. When you leave the station, cross the road onto Grove End Road and walk down the hill until you reach Abbey Road. Turn right and the iconic zebra crossing is immediately in front of you.
Without doubt the most famous sound recording studio in the world, Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music company EMI. The studio's most notable client was the Beatles, who used the studio – particularly its Studio Two room – as the venue for many of the innovative recording techniques that they adopted throughout the 1960s. In 1976, the studio was renamed from EMI in honour of their final recorded album, Abbey Road.
Originally a nine-bedroom Georgian townhouse built in 1831 on the footpath leading to Kilburn Abbey, the building was later converted to flats where the best-known resident was Maundy Gregory, who was famous (or infamous) for selling political honours. In 1929, the Gramophone Company acquired the premises. Three purpose-built studios were constructed and the existing house was adapted for use as administration offices.
The Beatles and Abbey Road
Abbey Road is a pilgrimage site for Beatles fans from all around the world. Between 1962 and 1970, almost all their albums were recorded at Abbey Road. Many other bands made ionic albums recorded there but the graffiti on the walls and road sign is mainly for the Beatles. The zebra crossing outside the studios seems more famous than the building itself with people taking pictures of their friends crossing the road, replicating the photograph from the Abbey Road album cover.
Abbey Road Studios has been a recording venue that has seen some of the biggest names in music come through the doors. Pink Floyd, Cliff Richard, Kylie Minogue and – of course – the Beatles all recorded here. During the time of The Beatles, the Studios here were owned by EMI and is today a property of Universal Music. The Beatles didn’t just record their Abbey Road album here, but nearly all of their albums and singles dating from 1962 to 1970 here. The building itself is still used for recordings but it is also a protected building, holding English Heritage Grade II Listed status which means the building will now always be preserved from major alterations and changed in recognition of its’ musical historical impact.
Probably the most famous road crossing in the world, Abbey Road was brought to popular attention when it became the location for the shooting of the cover of The Beatles last album: Abbey Road. For many visitors to London, Abbey road is a must-see and recreating the famous photograph of Paul, George, John and Ringo has been a popular exercise for decades. Originally, Abbey Road was simply another thoroughfare through Northwest London and was primarily used by visitors heading toward Lord’s Cricket Ground. But in 1969, Abbey Road was changed forever when a photograph of the Beatles crossing the road (since it just so happened to be outside the studio where the album was recorded) was used as the cover for their album of the same name.
All four Beatles gathered at EMI Studios on the morning of Friday 8th August 1969 for one of the most famous photo shoots of their career. Photographer Iain Macmillan took the famous image that adorned their last-recorded album, Abbey Road. Macmillan was a freelance photographer and a friend to John Lennon and Yoko Ono. He used a Hasselblad camera with a 50mm wide-angle lens, aperture f22, at 1/500 seconds. Prior to the shoot, Paul McCartney had sketched his ideas for the cover, to which Macmillan added a more detailed illustration. As the group waited outside the studio for the shoot to begin, Linda McCartney took a number of extra photographs. A policeman held up the traffic as Macmillan, from a stepladder positioned in the middle of the road, took six shots as the group walked across the zebra crossing just outside the studio.
The Beatles crossed the road a number of times while Macmillan photographed them. 8 August was a hot day in north London, and for four of the six photographs McCartney walked barefoot; for the other two he wore sandals. Shortly after the shoot, McCartney studied the transparencies and chose the fifth one for the album cover. It was the only one when all four Beatles were walking in time. It also satisfied The Beatles' desire for the world to see them walking away from the studios they had spent so much of the last seven years inside. Macmillan also took a photograph of a nearby tiled street sign for the back cover.
The sign has since been replaced, but was situated at the corner of Abbey Road and Alexandra Road. The junction no longer exists; the road was later replaced by the Abbey Road housing estate, between Boundary Road and Belsize Road. On 22 May 2012 one of the outtakes from the photography session sold at auction in London for £16,000 ($25,000).
RAK Studios
RAK Studios, founded by producer Mickie Most, are located near Regent's Park. A number of notable songs were recorded there, including the Thompson Twins' "Hold Me Now", Johnny Hates Jazz's "Shattered Dreams", Kim Wilde's "Kids in America" and Big Country's "In a Big Country". The studios have a Nubian Jak Community Trust plaque for Errol Brown, who recorded there as lead singer for Hot Chocolate. The RAK complex was originally a Victorian school and church hall.
Address Book
7 Cavendish Avenue, St John's Wood, London
This lavish mansion has belonged to Sir Paul McCartney since 1966. In 1966 he moved into Cavendish Avenue with Jane Asher. He later married Linda Eastman who sadly died in 1998. In 2002 he married Heather Mills but they were divorced in 2008. In 2011 he married Nancy Shevell. He still lives in Cavendish Avenue.
Owing to the proximity to the Abbey Road studios, the Beatles had frequently used this house as a meeting place before and after recording. As he owns many properties over the world he is not here all of the time, but it is not unusual to see him in the shops and pubs on the nearby St. John’s Wood High Street.
1 Cavendish Avenue, St John's Wood, London
A few doors up from Sir Paul McCartney's house, at No. 1 Cavendish Street, is the former home of 1950s rocker, Billy Fury (1940-83). After achieving a handful of hit singles in 1959, Billy went on to have another twenty three in the 1960s, but he suffered from heart problems and was forced to become much less active. Despite ongoing trouble with his heart, he continued to work through until his death in 1983.
In January 1983 he collapsed after a recording session with a heart attack and was taken to St Marys Hospital where he died, at the early age of 42. The funeral service took place in St Johns Wood Church.
78 Carlton Hill, St John's Wood, London
The magnificent townhouse at 78 Carlton Hill once hosted an unusual evening of frivolity between some of the biggest icons of 1980s pop culture.The actress Carrie Fisher stayed up all night with Harrison Ford and the Rolling Stones while she was staying in London to play Princess Leia in the first Star Wars sequel, The Empire Strikes Back.
This star-studded gathering was brought together by the owner of the house, comedian Eric Idle, of Monty Python fame. He owned the six-bedroom Victorian house in St John’s Wood from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. While away filming on location, Idle would let friends live in the house for extended periods of time to accommodate their own filming schedules, often at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire. Fisher’s stay was in 1979 while Idle was in Tunisia filming The Life of Brian, and Ford returned for a stay of his own in 1983 while filming Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
Noel Gallagher (musician and songwriter) and Tony Hicks (musician) lived at the same address; Hicks recorded at Abbey Road Studios. Rolling Stone's Keith Richards lived in a flat at Carlton Hill in the mid 1960s. It was here that he wrote many of the band's 1960s hits. He referenced St John's Wood in the Rolling Stones' song "Play With Fire". Singer, song-writer and DJ, Boy George (born George Alan O’Dowd in 1961), lived for a short time in Abercorn Mews, St John's Wood, in the late 1970s.
Other notable residents of St John's Wood include:
Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema, OM (1836–1912), painter, at 44 Grove End Road
Gilbert Bayes (1872–1953), sculptor, at 4 Greville Place
Sir Joseph Bazalgette, CB (1819–1891), civil engineer, at 17 Hamilton Terrace
Sir Thomas Beecham, CH (1879–1961), conductor and impresario, at 31 Grove End Road
Sir William Reid Dick, KCVO (1879–1961), sculptor, at 95a Clifton Hill
Sir George Frampton (1860–1928), sculptor, at 32 Queen's Grove
William Powell Frith (1819–1909), painter, at 114 Clifton Hill
Dame Barbara Hepworth, DBE (1903–1975) and John Skeaping (1901–1980), sculptors, at 24 St Ann's Terrace
Thomas Hood (1799–1845), poet, at 28 Finchley Road
Thomas Huxley (1825–1895), biologist, at 38 Marlborough Place
Melanie Klein (1882–1960), psychoanalyst, at 42 Clifton Hill
Dame Laura Knight (1877–1970) and Harold Knight (1874–1961), painters, at 16 Langford Place
Oskar Kokoschka (1886–1980), painter, at Eyre Court, 1 Finchley Road
Sir Charles Santley (1834–1922), opera singer, at 13 Blenheim Road
Sir Bernard Spilsbury, Kt (1877–1947), pathologist, at 31 Marlborough Hill
William Strang (1859–1921), painter and etcher, at 20 Hamilton Terrace
Marie Tussaud (1761–1850), artist, at 24 Wellington Road
C. F. A. Voysey (1857–1941), architect and designer, at 6 Carlton Hill
John William Waterhouse (1849–1917), painter, at 10 Hall Road
Henry Barnett (banker and politician) was the original owner of a mansion at 100 Hamilton Terrace that Robbie Williams temporarily rented before the debut of his 2019 Christmas album song, "Idlewild", which mentions St John's Wood.
Charles Bradlaugh (National Secular Society founder) lived at 20 Circus Road, now the site of the St John's Wood Library.
Christabel Cockerell (painter) lived and worked in St John's Wood.
Leonard N. Fowles (organist/composer) was organist and choirmaster for the former St John's Wood English Presbyterian Church.
Meredith Frampton (painter/etcher) was born in St John's Wood and attended the St John's Wood Art School.
Stephen Hough (concert pianist) lives and has a practice studio in St John's Wood.
Albert Houthuesen (artist) and Catherine Dean (artist) lived in a flat at 20 Abbey Gardens in the 1930s.
Christmas Humphreys (barrister, judge and author) lived and died at 58 Marlborough Place.
Sir John Major (former prime minister) lived in St John's Wood, was on the Marylebone Cricket Club committee and attended matches at Lord's frequently.
Stella Margetson (novelist and author) published St John’s Wood – an Abode of Love and the Arts and was the archivist for the St John's Wood Society.
Arthur Prince (ventriloquist) died at his home in St John's Wood.
Mark Ronson (DJ, songwriter, record producer and record executive), Samantha Ronson (DJ, singer and songwriter), and
Charlotte Ronson (fashion designer) lived in St John's Wood as children, where their parents' home was a celebrity hangout.
Sachin Tendulkar (cricketer) has a home in St John's Wood and captained Middlesex County Cricket Club's squad in its victory in the 2014 Lord's Bicentenary Celebration match.
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