The Calthorpe Estate

The development of The Grays Inn Lane, as it was termed in the extant early papers, The Calthorpe Estate and how that intersects with Thomas Cubitt’s work on the London Institution is pivotal to understanding his later approaches. As well being Cubitt’s first known speculative development at any scale. Some of the missteps in the management of the Calthorpe Estate, possibly, informed Cubitt’s later approach.

Lord Calthorpe was planning to develop the Grays Inn Lane Estate, for housing, from about 1810. Engaging James Spiller (~1761–1829) a well-known architect and surveyor who, likely, trained with John Nash to plan and superintend the project.¹ There were many stumbling blocks including how some of the lands had been left to Lord Calthorpe, which restricted his freedom to develop or sell lands, as well as the need for the usual Act of Parliament to enable the 99 year leases that would prove attractive to the builder/developers of the time.

The 1814 [Lease] Private Act of Parliament

With his workshop and dwelling, at Eagle Street from 2011 on The Estate, Thomas Cubitt was well positioned to observe its development.

The development did not follow the form of the later Cubitt ventures. Cubitt would have been able to observe an object lesson in how not to go about developing an area. The speed was excruciatingly slow and the costs eye wateringly high as well as a massive management task for the surveyor. This likely influenced Cubitt’s later decision to have an in-house legal team [from around 1831 John Hopgood worked directly for Thomas Cubitt] that was capable of drafting successful parliamentary legislation for a private act with the Grosvenor Estate in the 1851.

Lord Calthorpe had already procured a private Act of Parliament in 17th June 1814 [click link for full text – we have disambiguated this by calling it the 1814 Lease Act to distinguish it from the 1814 Paving Act] allowing him to issue building leases etc on his St Pancras lands before Thomas Cubitt was involved in the development of the Estate. That Act cost Lord Calthorpe £468 1s 8d from the bill entitled Bill for obtaining the act for granting building leases on the Grays Inn Lane Estate – cover fold above. Inside it there is a very detailed breakdown and presentation of costs accrued [click to open PDF].

Calthorpe’s agent/architect/surveyor was James Spiller – you can see his name on the top right hand side of the plan that is extracted from the 1814 Act [below] and on a large portion of the extant correspondence.

Hobhouse [Cubitt: Master Builder, Universe Books, NY, 1971 pgs. 22-23] states that:-

‘There were no elevations attached to the building contracts, but merely the stipulation that they should be approved by Lord Calthorpe or his surveyor. As often happened in small estates at this time, the terms of the specification leave a great deal to the competent supervision of the surveyor and the integrity and good faith of the builder.’

This indeed was form of the later Calthorpe – Cubitt leases as well. You can almost sense the upcoming arguments with a clause as vague as this and a character as difficult as James Spiller.

Spiller had extensive correspondence with Sir John Soane, which survives at the eponymous museum. This includes a typically acidic declamation on the four types of Speculators in Building dated 30th December 1814 – click for full PDF. Could it be too much of a coincidence that this was written just as Spiller was becoming acquainted with Thomas Cubitt?

You can sense the architectural hand in those three central houses on Frederick Street [above]. Was the architect James Spiller, with Cubitt agreeing to them for a quiet life; or maybe Charles Augustin Busby, who has similar designs in his various pattern books; or even a youthful Lewis Cubitt, who became a well-considered architect, who designed them? It is intriguing to speculate. But they are certainly not standard Thomas Cubitt, Italianate.

Our considered, best guess is that as James Spiller was no longer in post as Estate Surveyor, as of 28th April 1823 [Hampshire Archives, 26M62/F/C637] and that Lewis Cubitt had joined his brothers in the business [variously given as ~1822], after his architectural training with Henry Edward Kendall, coupled with the later date of the granting of the leases for these houses. Taken together points strongly towards their being designed by Lewis Cubitt. With the brothers, possibly, indulging their younger brother in this design flourish.

It is likely that the houses were built, as with most developments of the era, with the basements at or close to true ground level and the streets built up. You can see the top of the basement window detailing behind the railings in the image above.

The 1814 [Paving] Private Act of Parliament

Lord Calthorpe also needed to procure a paving bill to enable him to set out the roads and their maintenance.

‘An Act for paving, lighting, watching, cleansing and regulating the Streets and other Public Places on the Estate of Lord Calthorpe, near Grays Inn Lane Road, in the Parish of Saint Pancras, in the County of Middlesex.’

Thus a private Act of Parliament 54 George III, c. ccxxix [Parliamentary Archives ref HL/PO/PB/1/1814/54G3n448 – it has not been digitised but we are in the process of tracking down a physical copy] was procured.

The phrase ‘should be excluded from the operations of the bill‘, in the legend on the above plan in future tense, strongly suggests that this plan is for discussion as a precursor to the 1814 Paving Act .

The 1814 Paving Act cost Lord Calthorpe £523 0s 3d from the bill entitled Bill for obtaining the act for Paving the Grays Inn Lane Estate [cover fold above] that was presented by Hall & Wigley. Inside it there is a very detailed breakdown and presentation of costs accrued [click link to open PDF].

The 1815 agreement 

‘That part taken by Cubitt’

‘That part taken by Cubitt’ is an office copy of a document dated 5th April, 1819 document [presumably from James Spiller’s office] setting out in remarkably negative language how Cubitt has seemingly deviated from the agreement(s). This provides an interesting insight into Cubitt’s early modus operandi well away from the hyperbole that was retrospectively attached to this period by many contemporaries including The Builder. It is well worth reading it in full either as we have copied it out [below] or as the original as a PDF here.

April 5th 1819. Relating to Lord Calthorpe’s 
Estate in Grays Inn Lane

That part taken by Cubitt

This person has undertaken
amongst other covenants
to fill up [word struck out]
[word struck out] the Site taken by him
which was very much below
the required level of the
Road & Street intended upon
the Estate and he has about
2 years left in which this
filling up & levelling was
to be completed.

He has done a certain
portion so as to ready the
place for for his own
purposes, he has however
unduly excavated a part
for the clay of which he has
made many indifferent
Bricks and has taken
possession of the whole of
the street which is not
let to him turning it with
part of the ground taken
into a yard for the purposes
of this Trade & has fenced it
in.

He has built some
of the Houses under his
covenants for building but
if he is suffered to remain
with the Street enclosed
and the Ground not leveld
he will procrastinate his
building and levelling and
should he not complete his
engagements his Lordship
will find all of the frontage
ground occupied and the
excavations unfilled and
levelling incoplete.
He has also contracted for
the completion of the Calthorpe
Sewer but which he has
not proceeded in owing to
circumstance which have
reference to his own interest
and may perhaps involve his
Lordship in greater expenses than
would be incurred if he
were to fulfil at once his
engagement.

He should be called upon to
complete the Sewer and to
quit the use & occupation of
the Street and be confined
within his own ground
with respect to digging clay
he has been desired to desist
for the filling up of [illegible] his
Time is [e]xpired he cannot
be taken to have [illegible]
his agreement.

Generally that does not present a very positive picture of Cubitt’s relations with the Calthorpe Estate or his approach to contractual matters. This is perhaps unsurprising given the enormous undertaking that he was engaged in with the London Institution contract that was still rumbling on due to, in a large part, William Brook’s ineptitude.

It is relatively hard to understand why Cubitt is being so dilatory with respect to completing the sewer as Lord Calthorpe is actually paying for it by way of rent credits as is made plain in a document entitled Sewer Accounts [full PDF here – which details Cubitt’s works to date at the not inconsiderable sum of £837 0s 3d] and those credits are made plain in the 1821 estate accounts other than the effect of the London Institution was overstretching his manpower and management.

However, none of this deters Thomas Cubitt from proposing to take more lands from Lord Calthorpe.

The 1820’s negotiation(s) & agreement(s)

James Spiller’s bill of 1821 is interesting as in the first paragraph [below] it states that he was the surveyor to The Grays Inn Lane Estate from 1810. It is also detailed and it sets out pretty much how everything was administered and what Spiller’s role in matters was [full PDF here].

James Spiller, in characteristically negative tone [image below], ‘For Surveys of the several Houses created by Thomas Cubitt in fulfilment of his building agreement to ascertain if he had complies with the Terms of his agreement being 29 third rate houses there being yet to erect 7 on the South side of Compton Street.’

Even by 1821, Thomas Cubitt is a bit part player on the Grays Inn Lane Estate. In the Estate’s 1821 accounts [click to open a PDF of the full accounts – Hampshire Record Office 26M62/BOX/25], out of a combined total income of £3161 11s 0d, Thomas Cubitt is responsible for only £307 0s 0d so less than 10% of it making his voice in estate affairs correspondingly minor.

Cubitt treats for more lands in 1822. However, Cubitt’s three successive proposals meet with a relatively negative response as detailed in Proposals for Ground part of the Calthorpe Estate East of Great Inn Road….Thomas Cubitt Aug[ust] 13th 1822.

Some of the objections to Cubitt’s requests appear, at first glance, pretty reasonable. Cubitt requests 7 years at Pepper Corn rent whereas the 1814 Act is stated to set out that a maximum of 5 years may be given [full PDF here]. The only thing is that the 1814 Act doesn’t really say that explicitly. The Act is not written with great clarity bit the section that deals with peppercorn rents state:-

and then goes on to expand this after a clause in the Act [pg. 10] that talks about five years but this would appear to actually say that phased development is permitted with each phase being allowed five years:

So this would appear, on the face of it, to be slightly dubious advice.

However, Cubitt does get his wish and a lease for three parcels of land is granted on 29th September 1823 [deed plan below]. The Frederick Street houses are on plot ‘W’ marked in pink on the plans. Oddly the deed plan states ‘Grays Inn Road’ and the deeds title panel states ‘Grays Inn Lane’.

The deed states on pg. 5:-

‘according to plans elevations and specifications to be settled and approved of by the Architect or Surveyor for the time being of the said George Lord Calthorpe assigns or such other person or persons for the time being entitled agreeably to the dimensions as aforesaid with sound good and proper new materials of the best description and and quality set forth in such specifications and in a substantial and workmanlike manner…’

This could have been a tricky proposition with an individual, such as James Spiller, having such control and my well have lead to Cubitt to agreeing sample elevation(s) and layout(s) in the building leases as he did for The Wise Estate. But this was for the future but the friction could well have been part of the explanation for Spiller’s prior departure as Estate Surveyor.

It is clear from the letter from James Spiller to Lord Calthorpe, dated 28th April 1823, [Hampshire Archives, 26M62/F/C637 – below] that he was to be replaced as Estate Surveyor.

He was, replaced, in the office of surveyor, by a Mr Powell. It is unfortunately impossible to pinpoint this more accurately, or indeed if there was a temporary appointment between these dates, as the first of the Paving Commission’s Minute Books is missing so there are no known records covering 1814 [inception] to February 1826.

Probably the most interesting part of the bill is the schedule on pg. 746 which sets out to which existing leaseholders, which include William and Thomas Cubitt. This bill was presumably to regularise some issue that had come to light given the wording in its title, An Act for confirming certain Building leases etc [our emphasis] this was, undoubtedly, an expensive tidying up exercise that Thomas Cubitt would have learned from.

The administration of the Estate

Despite this, by 1823, Thomas Cubitt is clearly a growing force for reason in the administration of The Grays Inn Lane Estate judging from the remarkable surviving volume A report on the Norfolk Business, Culford Estate, London Business and Building Land, Letters and different reports, with a, Minute of the Value, of Freehold Land in, London. From Aug[ust] to Oct[obe]r 1823 [click here for full PDF of pages 18-33 – we missed imaging pages 27 & 28, these will be added in the future] which looks to have been prepared by James Spiller’s office. Sadly, this is the only year for which this remarkable summary volume survives, assuming it was a part of a series, as it shows so much of the thinking and relationship management of the Estate.

It is always interesting and highly unusual to see both sides of the fence in negotiations. Particularly, as this is a unique view of a process that probably shaped Cubitt’s future approach.

There is an amusing attempt [pgs. 30-33] to compare the values of land being sold and leased in Chelsea Neighbourhood – based on comparing two non-comparables. It is suggested that Lord Calthorpe would gain 42 years worth of lease income with a straight sale of the lands. In today’s perspective the idea is unbelievably naive but it is reflective of knowledge and practice in the moment.

1824 letter from Thomas Cubitt to Lord Calthorpe

Whilst the letter [below] is an irrelevance to the story of the development of the Calthorpe Estate it is significant for two reasons

• the tone of it suggests that Thomas Cubitt and Lord Calthorpe are not on corresponding or social terms and that everyone else had gone through James Spiller; and
• therefore we can be pretty sure that Lord Calthorpe was not Cubitt’s mysterious early backer; and
• the writing of the letter is interesting as it is a long letter in a firm confident hand that is even in spacing, pressure and letter formation as well as consistent in spelling: perhaps, indicating a higher level of education than that usually ascribed to Thomas Cubitt.

Therefore we have reproduced it in full below.

After the initial development of the Estate

The Thomas, William & Lewis Cubitt partnership split in 1827 with William retaining the Gray’s Inn Road yard and workshops and Thomas taking on a new base closer to his newly acquired developing areas with Lewis still as his partner.

From 1827 it is also clear that the Estate was managed by William Cubitt from these a survey of press cuttings such as the one below. Thomas had clearly severed all connection with this development.

It is also clear from The Paving Commission Minutes [Camden Archives P/PN1/PA4/1] that Thomas ceases to attend or chair meetings during the course of 1826. William then takes over as the driving force, chairing most of the meetings. It is interesting looking at the development of William’s signature from 1826  through to the 1830’s when Thomas ceases to be involved. The signature grows in flow and confidence as time passes. Maybe it is an over interpretation but William is, perhaps, emerging from the shadow of his older brother?

Lewis carries on charing the meetings even when he has left building behind and is practicing as an architect.

Thomas also assigned his remaining interests in the 29th September 1823 lease to William in December 1827 [below].

[London Archives – we are awaiting permission to reproduce this one image being, Extract from Cubitt’s Lease Book, summary of the 1823 lease and the assignment of the residual interested by Thomas to William Cubitt in 1827. The London Archives. Pg. 551 LA/4608/01/02/001. Once this is received this page will be updated with the image. In the mean time we have transcribed the text from the page].

Sept 29 1823

By agreement of this date, Lord Calthorpe agreed

to demise the three pieces of land marked on the

plan on the contra page …….W. X. Y –

for building – – from Sept 29 1823 for the

term of 99 years – at the rent and under the covenants therein specified. –

Mr Cubitt erected on part of the plot marked

W* – Twelve Messuages which have been leased 

to W Cubitt or his nominees at rents amounting 

to £73 p[er] annum. –

December 1827

Mr Tho[ma]s Cubitt, with the consent of 

Lord Calthorpe,  – assigned 

to Mr William Cubitt all his interest

in the said agreement, receiving…

…are more particularly 

set forth at pages 553 & 564

*W is the plot on the far side of Frederick Street to Ampton Street.

The 1829 Estate Accounts make no mention of William Cubitt with respect to the Gray’s Inn Road Yard. It seemingly took a while for the Calthorpe Estate to catch up with this, indeed why would they if the rent was paid on time? The easiest reference to William [or Wm.] Cubitt that we could find in the Calthorpe Estate, Grays Inn Lane, accounts was 1845 [below].

However, we would suggest that Thomas had increasingly little active interest in the further development of the Calthorpe Estate as he had much more substantial and rewarding projects to attend to in the form of Belgravia and Pimlico. We would further suggest that most of the post 1827 works were in fact overseen by William Cubitt from, what were by that time, his works and offices at Grays Inn Lane.

We can, quite accurately, chart the Cubitts as they progressively leased and developed plots: this is made very clear from the many extant annual Estate account sheets. Whilst the Cubitts get off to a slow start they are steady in hoovering up more and more of the lands and it may well be this dogged and reliable style that appealed to Lord Calthorpe and later other landowners. You can see in the full Estate accounts a number of builder/developers who fall by the wayside and their lands are subsumed into those of the Cubitts.

The Estate Account Books

The Calthorpe Grays Inn Lane Estate appears to have kept thorough records and issued a summary report on an annual basis back to Lord Calthorpe’s office. It is these summaries that survive. They list the plots, lease dates, who holds them, how much the lease/rent is worth and the payment status and the deposits made in the Estate’s account at 1821 – Hall & Co; 1828 – Hall Thompson & Sewell; 1845 & 1849 – Thompson & Debenham. They also then show disposals including those in Lord Calthorpe’s bank account at Hoare & Co.

We have imaged the 1821 [first extant], 1829, 1845 and 1849 books. There are far more surviving years and it is, likely, worth looking at the intervening years.

The Estate account books are written out on pages of A3 sized paper. The booklets range from eight A3 pages in 1821 to fifteen A3 pages by 1849. These are used right across with the left side listing the names and locations and the right side the amounts and payments. They are bound together in the fold line. They are generally in good condition with the paper and bindings handling well and the ink appears to be quite stable.³

In the 1821 Estate accounts:-

You can read the full 1821 Estate accounts here as a PDF.

• Thomas Cubitt – plot of ground with part of the workshops on Grays Inn Lane £100
• Thomas Cubitt – another  plot of ground with part of the workshops on Grays Inn Lane £200 – partially leased out

In the 1829 Estate accounts:-

You can read the full 1829 Estate accounts here as a PDF – unfortunately due to the very lively document it was not possible to photograph it as a double fold as it required a lot of weights.

• Thomas Cubitt – Calthorpe Place – plot of ground with part of the workshops on Grays Inn Lane £100
• Thomas Cubitt – Calthorpe Place – another plot of ground with part of the workshops on Grays Inn Lane £200
• Thomas Cubitt – Frederick Street – escalating ground rents to incentivise development 1823-1830 @ £80

Then there is a veritable explosion of activity.

In the 1845 Estate accounts:-

You can read the full 1845 Estate accounts here as a PDF – unfortunately due to the very lively document it was not possible to photograph it as a double fold as it required a lot of weights.

• Thomas Cubitt [now Wm. Cubbit] – Calthorpe Place – plot of ground with part of the workshops on Grays Inn Lane £100
• Thomas Cubitt [now Wm. Cubbit] – Calthorpe Place – another plot of ground with part of the workshops on Grays Inn Lane £200
• Thomas Cubitt – 6 Calthorpe Place – £4

All the land from Bagnigge Wells [essentially the undeveloped around Frederick St.] – lease 29th September 1823

• Thomas Cubitt –  – 1823-1830 @ £540

Frederick Street – lease 19th June 1826 [date of lease taken from the 1849 edition as obscured by a weight in our image of the 1845 edition]

• Thomas Cubitt – 50 Frederick St. – £7
• Thomas Cubitt – 49 Frederick St. – £7
• Thomas Cubitt – 48 Frederick St. – £7
• Thomas Cubitt – 47 Frederick St. – £7
• Thomas Cubitt – 20 Frederick St. – £7
• Thomas Cubitt – 21 Frederick St. – £7
• Thomas Cubitt – 22 Frederick St. – £7
• Thomas Cubitt – 23 Frederick St. – £7

Frederick Street – continued – lease 11th June 1826

• Lewis Cubitt – 46 Frederick St. – £7
• Lewis Cubitt – 45 Frederick St. – £7
• Lewis Cubitt – 44 Frederick St. – £7
• Wm. Cubitt – 36 Frederick St. – £6
• Wm Cubitt – 35 Frederick St. – £6
• Wm Cubitt – 34 Frederick St. – £6
• Lewis Cubitt – 28 Frederick St. – £5
• Lewis Cubitt – 27 Frederick St. – £5
• Lewis Cubitt – 26 Frederick St. – £5

Frederick Place – lease 20th March 1828

• Wm. Cubitt – 1 & 2 Frederick Place – £10
• Wm Cubitt – 3 & 4 Frederick Place – £10
• Wm Cubitt – 5, 6 & 7 Frederick Place – £15

Frederick Street Continued – North side – lease dated 24th August 1843

• Wm. Cubitt – 25 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 24 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 23 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 22 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 21 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 20 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 19 Frederick St. Ct. – £5

Frederick Street Continued – South side – lease dated 28th March 1842

• Wm. Cubitt – 10 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 11 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 12 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 13 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 14 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 15 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 16 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 17  Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 18 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 19 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 22 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 23 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 24 Frederick St. Ct. – £5

Ampton St – North Side – lease dated 25th July 1843

• Wm. Cubitt – South side 31 – 38 – £40

Ampton St – South Side – lease dated 25th July 1843

Wm. Cubitt – South side 1 – 9 – £45

Piece of ground on the North side of the old Footpath

leading from Wells Street to Bagnigge Wells from Mich[aelm]as 1835

Wm. Cubitt – South side – £10

An attempt to monetise the built portion

Interestingly, it is also clear that an attempt was made to monetise all of the built properties as a job lot in 1845 as is clear from the notice in the Morning Herald [below]. This makes sense as William retired from the company in 1851 so would likely have been thinking about how to simplify matters and this would have included disposing of some of his scattered property holdings whilst they were in prime condition.

In the 1849 Estate accounts:-

You can read the full 1849 Estate accounts here as a PDF – this document was particularly hard to image as the paper was determined to stay folded.

• Thomas Cubitt – plot of ground with part of the workshops on Grays Inn Lane £100
• Thomas Cubitt – another  plot of ground with part of the workshops on Grays Inn Lane £200 – partially leased out

Frederick Street – lease 19th June 1826 [date of lease from the 1849 edition]

• Thomas Cubitt – 50 Frederick St. – £7
• Thomas Cubitt – 49 Frederick St. – £7
• Thomas Cubitt – 48 Frederick St. – £7
• Thomas Cubitt – 47 Frederick St. – £7
• Thomas Cubitt – 20 Frederick St. – £7
• Thomas Cubitt – 21 Frederick St. – £7
• Thomas Cubitt – 22 Frederick St. – £7
• Thomas Cubitt – 23 Frederick St. – £7
• Thomas Cubitt – 11 Frederick St. – £7
• Thomas Cubitt – 1 Frederick St. – £7

Frederick Street – continued

• Thomas Cubitt – 44 Frederick St. – £7
• Wm. Cubitt – 36 Frederick St. – £6
• Wm Cubitt – 35 Frederick St. – £6
• Wm Cubitt – 34 Frederick St. – £6
• Lewis Cubitt – 29 Frederick St. – £5
• Lewis Cubitt – 28 Frederick St. – £5
• Lewis Cubitt – 27 Frederick St. – £5
• Lewis Cubitt – 26 Frederick St. – £5

Frederick Place – lease 20th March 1828

• Wm. Cubitt – 1 & 2 Frederick Place – £10
• Wm Cubitt – 3 & 4 Frederick Place – £10
• Wm Cubitt – 5, 6 & 7 Frederick Place – £15

Frederick Street Continued – North side – lease dated 24th August 1843

• Wm. Cubitt – 25 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 24 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 23 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 22 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 21 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 20 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 19 Frederick St. Ct. – £5

Frederick Street Continued – South side – lease dated 28th March 1842

• Wm. Cubitt – 10 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 11 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 12 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 13 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 14 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 15 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 16 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 17  Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 18 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 19 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 22 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 23 Frederick St. Ct. – £5
• Wm. Cubitt – 24 Frederick St. Ct. – £5

Ampton St – North Side – lease dated 25th July 1843

• Wm. Cubitt – South side 31 – 38 – £40

Ampton St – West(?) side – lease dated 25th July 1843

Wm. Cubitt – South side 1 – 9 – £45

Piece of ground on the North side of the old Footpath

leading from Wells Street to Bagnigge Wells from Mich[aelm]as 1835.

Wm. Cubitt – South side – £10

And we can conclude that the attempt to monetise these properties in 1845 was not successful as the majority of them remain with the Cubitts.

Holland & Hannen and Cubitts Ltd vacate their historic yard & workshops

In 1921, Holland & Hannen and Cubitts Ltd vacate their workshops and yard on Grays Inn Road to make way for the Royal Free Hospital

The unusual joint instructions from Holland & Hannen and Cubitts Ltd and The Hon Mrs Calthorpe [Camden Archives A/01650/3/5] to draw up the deeds demonstrate what a substantial concern Holland & Hannen and Cubitts Ltd was at the time that it could afford to give such a valuable plot of land to charity for a relatively small consideration of £2,000 for the remainder of the lease and £1,000 to clear their plant from the yard. The Hon Mrs Calthorpe would sell the freehold for the sum of £10,000.

We had always assumed that Cubitt’s historic works were demolished when Holland & Hannen and Cubitts Ltd vacate them. This was not the case.

The end of the Calthorpe Association with the Estate

An auction held on 19th March 1964 [full catalogue PDF here] marked the end of the Calthorpe family’s association with the Estate.

The brochure states the annual rental yield [presumably 1963] as being around £41,000.

For comparison the annual rental yield of the Estate was £3,782 in 1849.

Based on the Bank of England Inflation Calculator the £3,782 [1849 value] was the equivalent of £23,459 so the £41,000 achieved was well ahead of inflation. However, that does not take account of the fact that the houses were now over 100 years old and would need full updating with electricity and heating in a way that the early 1800’s building simply wouldn’t have had. This was a major issue for the private landlords when the leases ended: a huge level of investment in the housing stock was required to bring it up to a standard when it could be leased or rented in times when there were stricter building regulations than there had been in the past and the costs of such works were escalating rapidly.

Lot 16 in yellow provided a surprise to us as it was the historic Cubitt Works. We were a bit dubious until we spotted, in the catalogue a photograph [from lot 16 below] of the famous front entrance with it Bridge of Sighs style adornment both from the inside and the outside.

As Thomas Cubitt would, probably, have know the premises [below] before the inter war makeover with the lower level cut out for plate glass windows.

The historical basement windows are clearly visible in the photos. Was the 1820’s the first time that mass basement construction was seen in Camden?

Schedule of listing for 48, 50 & 52 Frederick Street

Terrace of 3 houses. c1815-21. By Thomas Cubitt. Stucco with plain stucco 1st floor sill bands. Terrace closing the vista the north end of Ampton Place. 4 storeys and basements. 1 window each in slightly projecting bays. Round-arched ground floor openings. Doorways and panelled jambs, cornice-heads, fanlights and panelled doors. 4-light 1st floor windows with cast-iron verandahs with tented hoods with patterned wooden fringe. Segmental arched 2nd floor windows with cast-iron window guards. Individual cornices at 3rd floor level on projecting bays only. Recessed sashes to 3rds floors and parapets (formerly scrolled). INTERIORS: not inspected. SUBSIDIARY FEATURES: attached cast-iron railings with urn finials. (Survey of London: Vol. XXIV, King’s Cross Neighbourhood, Parish of St Pancras IV: London: -1952: 64).

The dating and possibly the attribution are erroneous. It is possible that the matter may be confused by a renumbering of the street which is being researched. No 52 is not mentioned in Cubitt’s Lease Book [LMA/4608/01/02/001] whereas No 50 [pg. 563] and No 48 [pg. 561] have a full page each.

The ground was not leased from Lord Calthorpe to Thomas Cubitt until a lease for three parcels of land was granted on 29th September 1823. So for sure the houses were not built until after 1823 irrespective of any renumbering that may have occured.

However, the building leases for the houses were not granted until 19th June 1826 from the date inscribed in the 1849  Estate Accounts.

The 1826 Estate Accounts do not bear any entry regarding the leases for these houses.

Even the 1828/29 Estate Accounts don’t bear any specific mention which suggests that the houses had not actually been finished or leased/let.

If houses were not, in fact, built before December 1827 when Thomas Cubitt assigned the residue of his interests in the 1823 leased lands to William Cubitt: then it is likely that it was William Cubitt who was the builder.

[future work – firstly check Streets Names & Place LCC 1923 and see if and when the street was renumbered. Then examine the 1826/7/8 Estate Account summaries to find out when the building leases were granted and to whom, this may aid in determining which of the brothers built these three houses.]

Cubitt’s Lease Book

This refers to the relevant pages in Cubitt’s Lease Book volume held by LMA [LMA/4608/01/02/001]. We have not reproduced all of the pages here as they add little to the primary sourced materials. In a few cases, where they directly add something to the understanding of the Estate, we have therefore included that material.

Pg. 473 – The 1815 agreement is set out between Lord Calthorpe and Thomas Cubitt – the plan setting out which segments A & B refer to was never completed in the Lease Book – so that record is not compete. We have therefore used the extant information from the Calthorpe Estate papers held in the Hampshire Record Office and the relevant deeds held by Camden Archives identified in the text. However, the Camden copy of the deed has no deed plan so we have used the deed plan from the 1823 Camden Archives attested copy of the later deed as it covers the same areas.

Pg. 550 – Contains the plan from the 1823 agreements that are copied into Hobhouse, setting out locations X, Y & Z and what can be built on them. There is a better colour plan in the Camden Archives attested copy of the deed 1823. However, the assignment of the interest to William Cubitt in 1827 is only covered in the lease book so we have used this page as our source.

Pg. 549 +564 – sets out various Calthorpe Estate leases.

Pgs. 537 + 545 – sets out various further Calthorpe Estate leases.

Pg. 580 – sets out various further Calthorpe Estate leases.

Calthorpe Banking

Lord Calthorpe’s bank books survive for both:-

Spooner Attwoods & Co up to 1812 and;

Hoare & Co bank book up to 1814.

The Grays Inn Lane Estate seemingly had its own acocunt by 1821 with Hall & Co from the 1821 Estate accounts summary.

¹ A number of Spillers drawings survive in the Sir John Soane museum. Spiller also worked closely with Sir John Soane.

² Hobhouse Thomas Cubitt: Master Builder Universe, NY, 1971 also gives a reference of Middlesex Land Registry, London Metropolitan Archives, 1813 Bk. 1 No. 362 for this stating that the house and workshops were leased separately and that the rents were high at £63 and £21 reactively whereas the rateable value was £48. The lease premium is not stated.

³ However, when we found the Estate account books they were very tightly folded into a legal four fold and it took some careful work to unfold them in deference to the paper being 200 years old and their being kept in this form for most of the 200 years. Oddly, the 1821 booklet was the most compliant and the 1849 booklet was the least compliant – almost to point of refusal. We hope that if the Estate account books are put into a book press for a few weeks it might be possible to image them all properly and to then do a full data extraction as to the rates of process of the development Cubitt on the Grays Inn Lane, Calthorpe Estate.

These could then potentially be mapped over time against which of the brothers held interest at that point in time. This remains a future and unresourced project.

Image Licences

Camden Archives – LOC/24/16