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51°30′32″N0°08′34″W / 51.50889°N 0.14278°W /51.50889; -0.14278
 View of Dover Street looking northwards towards Grafton Street | |
| Namesake | Henry Jermyn, 1st Baron Dover |
|---|---|
| Length | 0.1 mi (0.16 km)[1] |
| Location | Mayfair, London |
| Postal code | W1 |
| Nearest Tube station |  Green Park |
| south end | Piccadilly 51°30′27″N0°08′29″W / 51.5075°N 0.1414°W /51.5075; -0.1414 |
| north end | Grafton Street 51°30′33″N0°08′35″W / 51.5093°N 0.1431°W /51.5093; -0.1431 |
| Construction | |
| Construction start | 1683 |
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Dover Street is a street inMayfair, London. The street is notable for itsGeorgian architecture as well as the location of historic London clubs and hotels, which have been frequented by world leaders and historic figures in the arts. It also hosts a number of contemporary art galleries. An equestrian sculpture byElisabeth Frink stands on the junction of Dover Street andPiccadilly, opposite theRitz Hotel.
The street lies in the south of Mayfair in theWest End. To the south-east, the street adjoins the major thoroughfare ofPiccadilly. To the north-west, it runs up past Stafford Street to the junction with Hay Hill, then continues as Grafton Street. To the north-east isAlbemarle Street, running parallel with Dover Street and the location of theRoyal Institution. South-west isBerkeley Street (adjoiningBerkeley Square to the north), also running in parallel.
The nearest tube station isGreen Park.
Dover Street was built by a syndicate of developers headed bySir Thomas Bond. The syndicate purchased a Piccadilly mansion calledClarendon House fromChristopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle in 1683 and proceeded to demolish the house and develop the area. At that time the house backed onto open fields and the development of the various estates in Mayfair was just getting underway. The syndicate also builtBond Street andAlbemarle Street. The street is named afterHenry Jermyn, 1st Baron Dover, one of the partners in the syndicate.[2]
In June 1797John Nash moved into 28 Dover Street, a building of his own design; he built an even bigger house next door at 29 into which he moved the following year.[3]Edward Moxon moved from premises he had established in 1830 inNew Bond Street to 44 Dover Street. He publishedWordsworth from 1835 onwards and in 1839 issued the first complete edition ofShelley's poems. In 1841, he was found guilty ofblasphemy for passages in Shelley'sQueen Mab.Anne Lister (1791–1840), a notable Victorian landowner and diarist, liked to stay at Hawkins, located at 26 Dover Street.[4]
Brown's Hotel (then termed a "genteel inn") was established in 1837 by James Brown,Lord Byron's valet, who took a lease on 23 Dover Street to cater for those who were in town "for the Season". He ran it with his wife, Sarah Willis, the personal maid ofLady Byron, who gave financial support. The hotel was later enlarged and joined with backing premises on Albemarle Street. In 1876,Alexander Graham Bell made the first successful telephone call in Britain from the hotel. In 1890, The International Niagara Commission met in the hotel and their decision on distributing "Niagara power" subsequently led to the adoption of the alternating current worldwide. Other guests have includedNapoleon III,Theodore Roosevelt (at the time of his marriage),Rudyard Kipling andAgatha Christie (her bookAt Bertram's Hotel is based on Brown's).
Oliver Wendell Holmes inOur Hundred Days in Europe records staying at Mackellar's Hotel, 17 Dover Street, where "we found ourselves comfortably lodged and well cared for during the whole time we were in London".
Frédéric Chopin took lodgings in Dover Street in 1848 and performed a number of piano recitals in London and undertook piano lessons.
In the 1920s many notable photographers were based in Dover Street includingPaul Tanqueray,Hugh Cecil andAlexander Bassano.[5]Marcus Adams,Yvonne Gregory andBertram Park, the "Three Photographers", were based at 43 Dover Street.[6]
Green Park Underground station was originally known as Dover Street station. The originalLeslie Green-designed building was located in Dover Street, but, following refurbishment in the 1930s to install escalators, the entrance was moved to Piccadilly and the station was renamed.[7]
The street is historically and currently the location of a number of well-known London clubs, although the oldest and most fashionable London clubs are located inSt James's andPall Mall:
And a fictional one:
Art galleries in the street include:
