Once Upon a Time
Chance beyond the elaborate, massive wrought-iron gate in the heart of Westminster
on Buckingham Gate, and discover a hidden inner sanctum. You may just catch a glimpse
of a fountain glimmering in a quadrangle of porches and pillars that glitter with
sea green Faience glaze. Adorning the eight mansion blocks that surround the courtyard
is a unique frieze of Shakespearean figures carved from the bricks that dance right
round the quad, reputedly the longest frieze of its kind in existence anywhere in
the world. Restored - like the rest of the building - to its original glory, it
typifies the concealed charms of one of Britain's finest hotels.
Built by an almost unknown English gentleman - Major Charles Pawley, a Royal Engineer - St. James Court, (known today as 51 Buckingham Gate, Taj Suites & Residences and Crowne Plaza London - St. James), was Major Pawley's masterwork. St. James Court was raised just at the turn of the century when Britain ruled the waves and a third of the world. Built to Pawley's specifications, it was truly art without ostentation, to be enjoyed only by a privileged few. He meant it to be exclusive - and exclusive it has remained.
Built by an almost unknown English gentleman - Major Charles Pawley, a Royal Engineer - St. James Court, (known today as 51 Buckingham Gate, Taj Suites & Residences and Crowne Plaza London - St. James), was Major Pawley's masterwork. St. James Court was raised just at the turn of the century when Britain ruled the waves and a third of the world. Built to Pawley's specifications, it was truly art without ostentation, to be enjoyed only by a privileged few. He meant it to be exclusive - and exclusive it has remained.
The Beginning
In 1701, the simple cottages were replaced by three beautiful Queen Anne buildings laid out round three sides of the present quadrangle. The institution became known now as Emmanuel Hospital. The income from the original Dacre endowment diminished and the ghost of Lady Dacre was reported to stalk the quadrangle, vexed at the mismanagement of her charity. Finally, in 1889 the remaining one and a half acres of the Emmanuel Hospital were offered for sale at £37,500. In 1894 the site was sold and was acquired in 1897 for an unknown sum by Major Charles Pawley. His highly original concept was executed to the highest professional and artistic standards - and at great cost. It called for the erection of eight more or less self-contained six-storey houses, each with porched entrances opening onto the great central courtyard, and each named in keeping with the area's historical associations. King's, Queen's and Prior's House were the first three to be completed, followed by Falconer's, Minister's, Almoner's, Duke's and Regent's House; names that have been retained to this day in the present 51 and Crowne Plaza properties.
As far as the street is concerned, Pawley restricted himself to an elegant façade of red Bracknell brick outlined in creamy Portland stone. The ornamentation is restrained, confined to an occasional carved column or support and to the two magnificent gates that guarded the entrance and exit to the court itself. These were designed by Pawley but executed by a friend, John Starkie Gardner, probably the finest decorative ironworker alive at the time.
Pawley ran riot when it came to embellishing his hidden court. Here, the surface of brick and stone was broken into turrets, balconies, arches, columns, cornices, gable ends, consoles and copings, and all overlaid with scrollwork, bas-relief and statuary. Every portico had attendant nymphs to hold up the pediment and each balcony had supporting satyrs, while the entire brickwork up to the second floor was tiled over with a sea-green glaze. Topping this glittering green curtain is that monumental frieze - actually carved out of the brickwork - in which characters from Shakespeare's plays endlessly disport themselves in scenes from A Midsummer Night's Dream, Love's Labours Lost, As You Like It and Much Ado About Nothing. This and much more was the work of the Doulton Brothers of Lambeth, as famed in their day for their pottery and glazing, as J.S. Gardner was for his artistry in iron. The old story that the fountain was a gift from Queen Victoria herself proves to be unfounded, for the fountain post-dates her decease. Formerly the St. James Court, the hotel first opened its gates for paying guests in 1902. Pawley's goal was to secure the patronage of the highest in the land: members of the English Establishment. The then St. James Court was magnificently located at "the centre of the highest Social, Political and Literary, Artistic and Religious worlds in our Great City". All the centres of power lay within a few minutes walking distance: Buckingham Palace and the Royal Court of St James; Downing Street, Whitehall, the Home Office, the Foreign Office, the India Office and the Ministries; the House of Lords and House of Commons; Westminster Abbey, the offices of the Church Commissioners and the newly built Westminster Cathedral; even, just across the Mall and St James Park, the Athenaeum and all the more exclusive London clubs. Pawley's achievement was to provide a pied a terre in the heart of London, that was fashionably "smart", exclusive, modern without being vulgar - and quiet. In short, St. James Court offered a home away from home for members of the Establishment during the working week and for the nobility and landed gentry when "up in town".
Within three years of opening its doors, it had built up a guest list of tenants second to none. To go throughout the Electoral Rolls of the Edwardian period (1901 - 1910) listing the permanent residents of St. James Court is like reading a cross between Burkes Peerage and Landed Gentry and Who's Who. Indeed, it is said that at the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953, so many lords and ladies were in residence that two extra safes had to be installed to accommodate all the coronets, insignia and jewellery. Just like the nobility, the military were also quick to appreciate the usefulness of this new venue. Lt. General Lord Grenfell, Commander of the 14th Army Corps, took rooms in the Court in 1904. Three years later the War Office took an additional five rooms for the Headquarters of the Army Eastern Command, so it is no exaggeration to claim that the British Army was in large part run from St. James Court for quite a number of years before the Great War of 1914 - 1918.
St. James Court's military links were weakened by the advent of the Great War of 1914 - 1918. However, the royal association continued into the 1920's and 1930's. Another more direct link with royalty was the Jamasaheb of Nawanagar, an Indian Maharajah better known to millions as the cricketing prince "Ranji" or "Ranjit Singhji" who took rooms at St. James Court three years before his death in 1933. The third great cornerstone of the success of St. James Court in these early years was its role as a political meeting place. This had begun with the arrival of two important rival politicians in 1902. The Right Honourable Sir William Mather, MP was an influential power broker in the Liberal Party whose cronies included Winston Churchill and Lloyd George. Lord Chilston was an equally important member of the Conservative Party, Secretary of State for the Home Office from 1902 to 1906 and in later years, an adviser to King George V. Many Members of Parliament also took rooms at St. James Court, making it a centre for political intrigue over the years. While other great London hotels became celebrated for gaiety, frivolity and extravagant living, St. James Court remained aloof and in the background, playing host in private to the men and women of real power and influence. Here, over cigars and port and coffee and quiet dining tables, decisions were made that affected the whole world. At almost exactly the same time as Pawley was building his architectural gem in Westminster, another hotel was being built several thousand miles away that was to become the most famous grand hotel east of Suez. This was to become the Taj Mahal Hotel in Bombay - better known today simply as the Taj - the brainchild of one of independent India's founding fathers, J.N.Tata.
Industrialist and philanthropist, Tata was the founder of India's steel industry, giving Bombay a first-class modern hotel and secondly to show the world that Indian building and management was second to none.
Having established a thriving network of hotels across the sub-continent, Kerkar and his aides soon began to look further afield. In 1981, Taj International Hotels secured its first properties in Washington and New York, and a year later purchased - for a hefty but undisclosed sum - St. James Court in the heart of Westminster. In 1999, discussions commenced with Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces Chairman, Mr. Krishna Kumar, about the creation of an exclusive five star property based on the Kings, Minsters and Falconers wing of the St. James Court, with the intent to welcome visiting dignitaries, international business people and celebrities from all over the globe. Part of the thorough process to realise this vision included an invitation to Ivor Spencer MBE, highly respected butler to the British Royal Family, to join the discussions. The extensive planning culminated in the birth of the unique, five star townhouse 51 Buckingham Gate, Taj Suites & Residences Luxury Suites and Apartments, which offers privacy with wonderfully spacious apartments and suites. Noel Pearce of Portfolio Design's stunning, high-profile, contemporary interiors have catapulted 51 to the forefront of the London five star hotel market.
The five-bedroom Prime Minister's Suite echoes the very political location of 51 and the black front door to the suite numbered '10' was very fittingly opened for the first time in May 2001 by former Prime Minister The Rt. Hon. John Major MP. Designed by Dan Nelson of Vision Design, the 4500 square feet apartment has all the signatures of a Premier residence, from a spiral staircase to Jacuzzi bath to Villeroy & Bosch tableware and the finest Wedgewood china, right down to the busts and caricatures of Premiers gone before. Since then Presidents and Princes have used the townhouse as their London location- from the Prime Minister of India to Donald Trump. 51 enjoyed the privileged position as the nearest five star property to the Queen's Jubilee Celebrations in June 2002. Thus many of the most famous UK entertainers chose it as their favoured location for the party - from Lenny Henry to Shirley Bassey, Dawn French to Cliff Richard. From the beginning of the new millennium, rock stars continue to rub shoulders with sporting greats and film sirens with politicians. Most recently, the name for 51 has been amended to 51 Buckingham Gate, Taj Suites & Residences to align with the parents company Taj Hotels, Resorts and Palaces.
Today, Pawley would surely be delighted that 51 Buckingham Gate, Taj Suites & Residences well and truly matches up to his original ideal, which was to combine "beauty of form with convenience and comfort." 51 remains to this day an oasis of hospitality and service excellence in the heart of Westminster, in a most prominent regal location.
