No listings found in this category yet
Check back soon — we're always adding new businesses.
Spanish Place
Spanish Place is a short street running along the eastern side of Manchester Square in Marylebone, within the W1U postal district. Its name records a specific episode in the area's diplomatic history: Hertford House, which stands on Manchester Square and now houses the Wallace Collection, was formerly the residence of the Spanish ambassador, and the street abutting it took its name from that connection. The official link between the embassy and the locality is most clearly expressed in the nearby church of St James's, Spanish Place, on George Street, which grew directly from the chapel of the Spanish Embassy.
That chapel was built between 1793 and 1796, shortly after the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791 eased restrictions on Catholic worship. It was designed by Joseph Bonomi on the corner of Spanish Place and the street then known as Charles Street. Thomas Hussey, the embassy chaplain, was instrumental in its foundation. The official connection with the Spanish Embassy ceased in 1827, when the chapel passed to the London Vicariate. The present church on George Street, designed by Edward Goldie, opened on 29 September 1890 and is a large Gothic Revival structure that remains an important Catholic parish.
Spanish Place today is a quiet residential and professional street, overlooking the garden square at Manchester Square. The combination of diplomatic heritage, Catholic institutional history and the Wallace Collection nearby gives this short street an unusually layered background for its modest length.
The Our Gazette
Delivered weekly to your inbox
Join 12,000+ Our insiders
