Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Pickering Place looking out to St James's Street through the passage
where Berry Bros and Rudd's old shutters hang.
You come almost immediately to the beautiful early nineteenth-century shop front of
Berry Bros and Rudd. The perfectly preserved interior has sloping wooden floors and their
famous scales. Over the fireplace a Hanoverian coat of royal arms has the misspelt motto
'Dieu et Mon Drit.' Apparently the carver ran out of space when he tried to fit in 'Droit'!
Here the cream of Society, including Byron, the Prince Regent, William Pitt, Nelson and
Lady Hamilton, were weighed and records kept in topics that are still retained. The original
shop on the site in 1698 was a grocer and coffee seller but the business moved into wine
in the eighteenth century. When Henry Austen had his bank offices in the area this was the
obvious place for him to buy his wines.
Immediately after Berry Bros is the narrow entrance to Pickering Place, an atmospheric
little court that was the home of a number of notorious gaming hells.
A few shops up from the Pickering Place entrance is Lock and Co. The hatters were
founded in the seventeenth century and have been here since 1765. The shop front dates to
c.
1810 and there are all sorts of early hats gathering dust on top of the display shelves. In a
showcase at the foot of the stairs there is one of the Duke of Wellington's hats and a replica
of the hat with a green eyeshade designed to Lord Nelson's specifications after he lost the
sight of one eye. The original order book entry and sketch are also displayed.
Almost next door is Lobb's the boot makers, a relative newcomer, established in 1849.
Inside you can see the workshop where wooden lasts are still handmade to the customer's
measurements. The shop is next to the site of Lord Byron's apartments at No. 8 where he
was living when he found himself an overnight success with
Childe Harold
. Lady Caroline
Lamb created a scandal when she arrived in boy's clothing to visit him.
Across the road is the barbers Trufitt and Hill, who moved here from Old Bond Street
where we encounter them on Walk 2.
Turn right into King Street, the location of Almack's, a cornerstone of Georgian Society.
In contrast to this elegant respectability, the warren of courts and passages of St James
were home to the courtesans, the demi-reps and the 'fashionable impures' who found this
wealthy district so profitable. Look down Crown Passage on the right and you will see a
narrow alley very evocative of this seamier side of Georgian life.
Almack's Assembly Rooms opened in 1765 on the site of the modern Almack House,
No. 28. By 1800 it provided a venue for men and women of the upper classes to meet,
dance and socialise on Wednesday nights - in effect it was
the
'Marriage Mart' for young
ladies of breeding.
