Keeping the Ladbroke area special​

Lansdowne Rise

Lansdowne Rise marked an unofficial boundary between the south-western part of the Ladbroke estate largely developed in the 1840s and the north-western part developed in the 1850s and 1860s. Its original name was Montpelier Road. The Survey of London suggests that this was in conscious imitation of the slightly earlier and much-admired Monpelier Estate in Cheltenham which was one of the inspirations of the designers of the Ladbroke estate. The name was not changed to Lansdowne Rise until 1937.

Lansdowne Rise has always been very much a link road, running from Lansdowne Crescent across Lansdowne Road down to Clarendon Road, and along the sides of two communal gardens. Originally it had no houses of its own – although the entrances to the corner-houses Nos. 43 Lansdowne Road and 58 Clarendon Road face onto Lansdowne Rise. Looking east, there is a good and no doubt deliberately planned vista up towards the symmetrical semi-detached pair of villas at Nos. 9 and 10 Lansdowne Crescent – although the trees that line the street impede the view somewhat, especially in summer. 

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Looking east up Lansdowne Rise

At the top of Lansdowne Rise on the southern side, the corner house in Lansdowne Crescent had a garden that used to run down as far as Lansdowne Road, with its side wall on Lansdowne Rise. The corner house has, however, long since disappeared, and in the early 1930s a purpose-built block of flats was built on its site. At the same time an accompanying block to the same design was erected in the garden, facing Lansdowne Rise. Together, the blocks are called Lansdowne Court, and both come under the number 42 Lansdowne Crescent, though the second block is entirely in Lansdowne Rise.

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Lansdowne Court on Lansdowne Rise in 2006. It now has an extra floor in glass.

On the northern corner with Lansdowne Crescent, there used to be a large villa, built in the 1840s, called Shelburne Lodge with large grounds running down Lansdowne Rise as far as Lansdowne Road. The old maps show a “Fountain” in the grounds. In the 1950s, the villa was demolished and six modern houses built in the grounds, three facing Lansdowne Crescent and three facing Lansdowne Rise – the present Nos. 2, 4 and 6 Lansdowne Rise. This was not a good period for architecture, but as 1950s houses go, they are among the better ones on the estate. They are the only dwellings on the northern side of the street and the only ones officially numbered in Lansdowne Rise.

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2, 4 and 6 Lansdowne Rise in 2006

Page last updated 2.4.2016