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The Great Britain Guide

Stately homes · London

Leicester House

Tudor & Stuart♿ Wheelchair: limited

Leicester House — townhouse in Westminster, London, demolished 1791.

Leicester House, stately homes in London

Wikimedia Commons contributors — see linked file page for photographer and licence licence

Plan your visit

Typical visit
2 h–4 h
Nearest railway station
Leicester Square · 0.2 km
  • Family-friendly
  • Limited wheelchair access

About

Leicester House is a stately home in the United Kingdom. Records date its origin to 1635. Named after Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester. Wikidata describes it as: "townhouse in Westminster, London, demolished 1791". Coordinates: 51.5111°, -0.1306°.

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From the Wikipedia article

Leicester House was a large aristocratic townhouse in Westminster, Middlesex, to the north of where Leicester Square now is. Built by the Earl of Leicester and completed in 1635, it was later occupied by Elizabeth Stuart, a British princess and former Queen of Bohemia, and in the 1700s by the two successive Hanoverian princes of Wales. From 1775 to 1788, the Leverian collection was on display in Leicester House. The house was sold and demolished in 1791.

Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.

Background

History

Leicester House was named for Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester, who bought four acres of land in this part of Westminster, St Martin's Field, intending to build a new town house there. The area was not then built up, and the only nearby buildings were the armoury of the Military Company in Westminster to the north and the new town house of Sir William Howard, called Newport House, to the east. In August 1631, King Charles I ordered his Attorney General, Sir Robert Heath, to prepare a licence for Leicester to build a house "with necessary outhouses buildinges and gardens", but this stipulated that the outer walls must be wholly of brick or stone and added also "the forefronts to bee made…

Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Coordinates
51.5111, -0.1306
District
Westminster
Parish
Westminster, unparished area
Postcode
WC2H 7NA
Parliamentary constituency
Cities of London and Westminster
Phone
+44 20 7734 2222
Established
1635
Nearest railway station
Leicester Square0.2 km

Sources

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Frequently asked questions

Where is Leicester House?
Leicester House is in London, United Kingdom (postcode WC2H 7NA), in the parish of Westminster, unparished area.
When was Leicester House built?
Built or established in 1635.
How do I get to Leicester House?
The nearest railway station is Leicester Square, about 0.2 km away. Drivers can navigate to postcode WC2H 7NA.