Place Name
Previously called Green’s Row after its original developer Richard Greene a brewer from Westminster, who also held extensive land to the west covering both Kensington and Chelsea. He built the first five houses (today’s Numbers 26 – 30) towards the western end of the strip between what is now Royal Avenue and Smith Street in 1765. The properties faced the Royal Hospital and overlooked Burton’s Court. In the early 19thCentury a Mr Rayner acquired land on the corner at the south end of Royal Avenue (then called White Stiles) and in 1808 five more houses to match the original ones, set back from the alignment of Greene’s houses, were built. These which are now Numbers 14 to 18 St Leonard’s Terrace were then known as Rayner Place. A little later he began building Hemus Terrace which now comprises 26 – 48 St Leonard’s Terrace on the west side of Royal Avenue. The building of the eastern section of St Leonard’s Terrace (Numbers 1 – 13), now used as a name for the first time, started from east to west in 1845. It took its name from developer John Tombs who was originally from Gloucestershire and it is thought that he chose the name after a local village Upton St Leonards. It also explains the choice of the name Cheltenham Terrace and the City of Gloucester pub. By 1867 the names of Green’s Row and Rayner Place disappeared, as they were absorbed into a larger St Leonard’s Terrace.
