St George Hanover Square

“PIMLICO, a parochial district, formerly a chapelry, in the parish of St. George Hanover Square, borough and city of Westminster, county Middlesex, 3 miles W. by S. of St. Paul's. It was constituted a separate ecclesiastical district by an order in council in July, 1830. It is bounded on the E. by St. James's and the Green Parks, and belongs to the Grosvenor family.

Though of comparatively recent origin, it is one of the finest quarters of the metropolis, and the site of Buckingham Palace, the town residence of her Majesty the Queen; so called, because the palace occupies the site of a house, built in 1703, by John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham, in the Mulberry Gardens. The palace was rebuilt by Nash, and altered by Barry, in 1849. The entrance is through a triumphal arch, of Italian marble, executed with much skill, and equalling in its dimensions and general effect the arch of Constantine at Rome. Considerable alterations have recently been made in this part of the town, by pulling down Stafford-row, building new stables for the Queen's stud, and widening the road in front. Among the streets and squares, Grosvenor-place, Wilton-crescent, Wilton-place, Eaton-place, Eaton-square, Chester-square, Ebury-square, Eccleston-square, and Belgrave-square, deserve special notice, the last being the largest square in London. Here are situated St. George's Hospital, founded in 1733, and subsequently rebuilt near the Wellington statue, in Grosvenor-place, where are also the Lock Hospital, St. Peter's Grammar-school in Eaton-square, St. Michael's schools, erected in 1848, Ebury proprietary school, Tattersall's well-known betting and auction-rooms in Grosvenor-place, and the police station of the 'B' division of metropolitan police. There are several churches and chapels, including St. Peter's, St. Michael's in Chester-square, and Buckingham Palace chapel; also Belgrave proprietary chapel, in Halkin-street; Charlotte chapel, in Charlotte-street; the Lock chapel, in Grosvenor-place; Eaton chapel and Ebury chapel, near Chelsea; and the College of St. Barnabas, erected in 1849, with chapels and schools attached. Here are also the Grosvenor basin and canal, communicating with the Thames, the banks of which are lined with wharfs for coal, stone, and timber. See articles London and Westminster

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from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868