Cadogan Hotel
Encyclopedia
The Cadogan Hotel is a hotel located in Sloane Street
, Knightsbridge
, London
, England that was built in 1887.
The Earls Cadogan, via their company Cadogan Estates
have owned Sloane Street and the surrounding area for many generations.
The private garden houses tennis courts, a jogging track, and a children's playground. Its restaurant offers modern British cuisine
with a French influence. There is a cocktail
bar and afternoon tea is served in the drawing room
.
Lillie Langtry
, famous actress and close friend of Edward VII, lived at 21 Pont Street
from 1892 to 1897. Long after she had sold the house, Lillie would stay in her old bedroom, by then a part of the hotel. A blue plaque
commemorates this.
on 6 April 1895, in room no. 118. He was charged with "committing acts of gross indecency with other male persons" (a euphemism for any sex between males) under Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885
. Despite pleas by friends to flee the country, Wilde chose to stay and was found guilty and served two years hard labour. The events in the room were immortalised by the poet laureate
John Betjeman
in his tragic poem The Arrest of Oscar Wilde at the Cadogan Hotel.
Sloane Street
Sloane Street is a major London street which runs north to south, from Knightsbridge to Sloane Square, crossing Pont Street about half way along, entirely in The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Sloane Street takes its name from Sir Hans Sloane, who purchased the surrounding area in 1712...
, Knightsbridge
Knightsbridge
Knightsbridge is a road which gives its name to an exclusive district lying to the west of central London. The road runs along the south side of Hyde Park, west from Hyde Park Corner, spanning the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England that was built in 1887.
The Earls Cadogan, via their company Cadogan Estates
Cadogan Estates
Cadogan Estates Ltd is a property company owned by the Earl Cadogan, one of the richest families in the United Kingdom. It is the main landlord in the central London districts of Chelsea and Knightsbridge, and is now the second largest of the surviving aristocratic freehold estates in central...
have owned Sloane Street and the surrounding area for many generations.
The private garden houses tennis courts, a jogging track, and a children's playground. Its restaurant offers modern British cuisine
Cuisine
Cuisine is a characteristic style of cooking practices and traditions, often associated with a specific culture. Cuisines are often named after the geographic areas or regions that they originate from...
with a French influence. There is a cocktail
Cocktail
A cocktail is an alcoholic mixed drink that contains two or more ingredients—at least one of the ingredients must be a spirit.Cocktails were originally a mixture of spirits, sugar, water, and bitters. The word has come to mean almost any mixed drink that contains alcohol...
bar and afternoon tea is served in the drawing room
Drawing room
A drawing room is a room in a house where visitors may be entertained. The name is derived from the sixteenth-century terms "withdrawing room" and "withdrawing chamber", which remained in use through the seventeenth century, and made its first written appearance in 1642...
.
Lillie Langtry
Lillie Langtry
Lillie Langtry , usually spelled Lily Langtry when she was in the U.S., born Emilie Charlotte Le Breton, was a British actress born on the island of Jersey...
, famous actress and close friend of Edward VII, lived at 21 Pont Street
Pont Street
Pont Street is a fashionable street in Knightsbridge and Belgravia, central London, England, not far from the Knightsbridge department store Harrods to the north-west. The street crosses Sloane Street in the middle, with Beauchamp Place to the west and Cadogan Place, and Chesham Place, to the east,...
from 1892 to 1897. Long after she had sold the house, Lillie would stay in her old bedroom, by then a part of the hotel. A blue plaque
Blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event, serving as a historical marker....
commemorates this.
Oscar Wilde
Shortly after opening, the hotel became infamous for the arrest of Oscar WildeOscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish writer and poet. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of London's most popular playwrights in the early 1890s...
on 6 April 1895, in room no. 118. He was charged with "committing acts of gross indecency with other male persons" (a euphemism for any sex between males) under Section 11 of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885
Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885
The Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885 , or "An Act to make further provision for the Protection of Women and Girls, the suppression of brothels, and other purposes", was the latest in a 25-year series of legislation in the United Kingdom beginning with the Offences against the Person Act 1861 that...
. Despite pleas by friends to flee the country, Wilde chose to stay and was found guilty and served two years hard labour. The events in the room were immortalised by the poet laureate
Poet Laureate
A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...
John Betjeman
John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman, CBE was an English poet, writer and broadcaster who described himself in Who's Who as a "poet and hack".He was a founding member of the Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architecture...
in his tragic poem The Arrest of Oscar Wilde at the Cadogan Hotel.