St James Mansions

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History

Resident for nearly 20 years, Mr. G.B. Atkinson commented, “My guess is that the flats were initially rented by middle class families and that they probably had house servants”. The evidence of servants comes from the heavy wear on some of the steps leading down to the basement area.

“The other evidence of servants was the original installation of service hoists on the outside rear of the block. There were hoists for every flat and I presume they were used to lift coal and to lower the rubbish.” said Mr Atkinson. The remaining ironwork supporting the hoists was removed during refurbishment in 1995. St James Mansions has been the home, at some time or another, to several television personalities, the President of the Guinness Book of Records and internationally renowned singer Sheena Easton.

We Know Mansion Blocks

The first Mansion Blocks were built in the early 19th Century, providing luxurious residences for the growing urban upper middle classes. As the Industrial Revolution spread throughout Europe it brought about a population boom in the major cities, and Mansion Blocks were devised to provide luxurious housing for
wealthy white collar workers. As the centre of the cities became increasingly crowded, the blocks provided this growing class with housing that boasted impressive entrances, generous elevations and balconies reminiscent of mansions. They were a particularly popular innovation in polite Parisian society.

In spite of their popularity on the continent, Londoners were initially sceptical about this new style of accommodation. In the 1850s a spacious Mansion flat would set back the buyer somewhere in the order of £50-£200 per annum, but the idea of living in such a communal manner was entirely contradictory to the dominant Victorian social ideals of the age. Firstly, and most importantly, apartment dwellings were simply not considered ‘proper’, but it was not just a case of old English snobbery; there was also widely held fear that this new type of residence would increase the risk of burglary and the spread
of infection and disease. By the 1880s London society had gradually warmed to the idea and the decade was marked by a flurry of Mansion Block construction across the city.

We Know West Hampstead

In Medieval times the hamlet of West End was first established as a small – and rather poor – conurbation set on the vacant strip of land nestled between Hampstead and Kilburn. Some years later in the early 18th Century, as Hampstead became an increasingly popular resort for wealthy Londoners on retreat, many of the residents of West End found employment serving in the
grand houses and estates. It was not until the latter half of the 19th Century that the village really started to grow. The arrival of the railway in the 1850s brought a new source of employment and transport access and by the 1890s the suburbs of London were gradually creeping towards Willesden and Cricklewood. During a
20 year period West End experienced a population explosion – up from 8 000 in
1881 to 30 000 in 1901. It was also during this time that West End picked up a new name – West Hampstead.