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Cromwell Road

Coordinates: 51°29′42″N 0°11′00″W / 51.495°N 0.1832°W / 51.495; -0.1832
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Looking west down Cromwell Road from Cromwell Gardens.

Cromwell Road is a major London road in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, designated as part of the A4. It was created in the 19th century and is said to be named after Richard Cromwell,[1] son of Oliver Cromwell, who once owned a house there.[2]

The Security Service (MI5) was based at 35 Cromwell Road from 1929 to 1934.[3]

Cromwell Road was not always the main traffic route it is now. When it was built, it ended at Earl's Court. In 1905 the Royal Commission on London Traffic recommended that the main approach to London should run along Uxbridge Road and Bayswater Road, which was to be widened to 140 feet. Kensington Road, Hammersmith Road and King Street, Hammersmith were to be widened to 100 feet to become a first-class arterial road. West Cromwell Road was to be connected to Talgarth Road and thence to Hammersmith Broadway but this was envisaged as a secondary route.[4]

In 1936 the London and Middlesex (Improvements &c.) Act

empower[ed] the county councils of ... London and Middlesex to make new streets street widenings and other works for the improvement of traffic facilities between West Cromwell Road and Great West Road

This Act conferred compulsory purchase powers on the Councils and specified that the Minister of Transport would make a grant to the Councils of 60% of the costs incurred, the remainder to be covered by the Councils through borrowing and from the rating precept.

The route proposed was shown in the Bressey Report (1937)[5] and corresponds to that which was implemented in the mid-1950s. The scheme envisaged a roundabout where the new road crossed Hammersmith Bridge Road, south of Hammersmith Broadway.

The extension of West Cromwell Road across the West London railway line to connect to Talgarth Road was completed in 1941. When the scheme to connect to Great West Road was revived in the 1950s, a large gyratory was proposed at Hammersmith Broadway with a flyover to follow. The Hammersmith Flyover was built in 1960-1961.

Thus it was only in the late 1950s that Cromwell Road became the main A4 route into London. Further demolition and road rearrangement beyond Earls Court Road took place between 1967 and 1972, but the main part of Cromwell Road has not had its basic building line changed. [6][7]

The 1.5 miles (2.4 km)[8] road begins as West Cromwell Road, near West Kensington Underground station, and continues eastwards from Talgarth Road. It becomes Cromwell Road proper as it crosses Earl's Court Road. It goes just south of Cromwell Hospital and then past Gloucester Road and Gloucester Road Underground station. The Kensington Forum hotel, designed by Richard Seifert and built in 1971–1972 as Penta hotel, is located across the road from the West London Air Terminal (1957–1974), which is no longer operational,[9][10] and is situated next to the Gloucester Road station.

The next major crossroads comes at the intersection with Queen's Gate, on the corner of which stands Baden-Powell House, the former headquarters of The Scout Association. The road then passes to the south of a museum-academic complex, informally known as Albertopolis, including the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, Imperial College London and the Victoria and Albert Museum, near South Kensington Underground station. Near this complex, at the junction with Exhibition Road, it becomes Cromwell Gardens for a short stretch before it joins Brompton Road. There are two embassies located on the road: the Embassy of Yemen in London at 57 Cromwell Road, opposite the Natural History Museum, and the Embassy of Venezuela.[11] France also maintain several buildings on the road, including the Consular Section of the French embassy.[12] Ireland maintains a Passport and Visa Section at 114A.[11]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Street Names". Knowledge of London. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  2. ^ "Cromwell Road". londononline.co.uk. Archived from the original on 18 May 2012. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  3. ^ Andrew, Christopher (2009). The Defence of the Realm: The Authorized History of MI5. Allen Lane. p. 134. ISBN 978-0-713-99885-6.
  4. ^ Barbour, David (1905). Report of the Royal Commission Appointed to Inquire Into and Report Upon the Means of Locomotion and Transport in London. London: HMSO. pp. 35–37.
  5. ^ Bressey, Charles; Lutyens, Edwin (1938). Highway Development Survey 1937 (Greater London). London: HMSO. pp. 42, Map of Inner London in rear pocket.
  6. ^ "Cromwell Road Extension - Hansard - UK Parliament". hansard.parliament.uk. Hansard.
  7. ^ "The Cromwell Road extension cutting its way through Chiswick, London".
  8. ^ "Driving directions to Cromwell Rd/A4". Google Maps. Retrieved 11 October 2013.
  9. ^ "Kensington Forum will just be refurbished, says new owner". The Kensington Society. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  10. ^ "London Air Terminal Built In Under Five Months". The Times. 27 September 1957. p. 13.
  11. ^ a b "The London Diplomatic List" (PDF). 8 December 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 December 2013.
  12. ^ "The London Diplomatic List" (PDF). 14 December 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 December 2013.
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Media related to Cromwell Road, London at Wikimedia Commons

51°29′42″N 0°11′00″W / 51.495°N 0.1832°W / 51.495; -0.1832

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