Place Name
Originally Charles Street the name was changed by the London County Council in 1938. This was laid out over the former gardens of the Earl of Bridgewater’s residence, Bridgewater House, which was destroyed by fire in 1687. Tragically two of the Earl’s sons Charles Egerton, Viscount Brackley (May 7, 1675 – April 1687), and his eight-year-old brother Thomas Egerton (August 15, 1679 – April 1687) were burned alive in the conflagration. They was buried on April 14 at Little Gaddesden, Hertfordshire. This street, relaid in the 1890s, and nearby Brackley Street were named after 11-year-old Charles. But it was not the only tragedy to hit the Egerton family, another Charles had died in childhood at the house here in 1623. A third boy, another Charles, died aged six in 1731. The name of the street was changed to avoid confusion with nearby Charles Streets. As The Times reported objectors were told: “As to Charles Street in Cripplegate, there were 11 other Charles Streets in London, and the name Viscount was chosen because the street was named after Charles Viscount Brackley – so there was historical continuity there.”
