Royal Crescent (most beautiful street in England?)
Royal Crescent is a sweeping row of 30 Georgian houses built in a perfect curve, framing a wide lawn.
You can explore the Crescent’s gardens or visit No. 1 Royal Crescent, a house museum that shows how people lived here in the 18th century.
Built between 1767 and 1774, the houses are linked with a communal ‘front lawn, which was used during World War II to grow cabbages for local people, during times of rationing.
Today most homes are not residential, the buildings range from a museum to a hotel (used in one of the later episodes of Inspector Morse, when he takes his singing teacher girlfriend Adele Cecile away for a weekend break).
Royal Crescent featured a ‘haha fence’, which back in the day was used to keep sheep and other barnyard animals away from the lawn!
Designed by John Wood the Younger (who also designed the Bath Assembly Rooms), he died in debt, due to his beloved father’s building projects – they are buried next to each other.
It’s believed that the curved architectural style of Royal Crescent was designed to represent the moon, while The Circus (another nearby development) was to represent the sun (designed by John’s father and completed after his father’s death – he then designed Royal Crescent).
This is made up of three curved segments of Georgian townhouses, to form a circle. It has three entrances, and a central round lawn, with plane trees (also London’s most popular street trees).
Let’s take a moment to thank both father and son for these beautiful buildings. They have got to be some of the most attractive architecture in England – it’s a pity they weren’t around to teach some modern architects!
