Great Queen Street Covent Garden, WC2

GREAT QUEEN STREET

COVENT GARDEN, WC2

Former Royal Regalia workshops at 20 Great Queen Street transformed into Covent Garden’s finest boutique residential address.

This incredible property was once the grand London premises of Toye, Kenning & Spencer, manufacturers of regalia for the Royal family. 20 Great Queen Street, has been transformed into Covent Garden’s finest luxury boutique address with interiors by Rigby & Rigby, a London based design studio.

Great Queen Street was originally laid out in 1605-1609 with the first homes built from 1646 by William Newton and the road named in honour of Queen Anne of Denmark, wife of King James I. This property at 20 Great Queen Street was originally built in the late 1640s as a London townhouse. However, Great Queen Street began to be transformed into a commercial address when the original Freemason’s Hall was

built on the thoroughfare in 1774-1775. The Freemason’s Tavern followed in 1786, with additional premises for the Freemasonry built in 1815 and 1829.

Freemasonry involves ornate regalia and therefore in 1860 number 20 was acquired by George Kenning, who converted the building into commercial COVENT GARDEN’S premises, manufacturing regalia FINEST LUXURY such as collars, headgear and BOUTIQUE ADDRESS sashes for the Freemasons, the British army, and the Royal Household.

The son of an East End oyster seller, Kenning not only manufactured regalia, but set up a regalia mail order business which operated across the British Empire and USA. In March 1869 Kenning even established his own newspaper, The Freemason, which was circulated to the 2,000 Masonic Lodges across the British Empire.

In 1901 George Kenning died, his son George Henry Kenning inherited the business and gave 20 Great Queen Street a grand Edwardian makeover, providing George Kenning & Sons with a regalia shop on the ground floor, offices above and workshops on the upper floors.

In 1947 the firm acquired rival Spencer & Co and in 1956 it merged with Toye & Co (another regalia manufacturer founded in 1685) to create Toye, Kenning & Spencer.

The regalia premises at 20 Great Queen Street were involved in providing robes, banners and emblems for the cancelled coronation of King Edward VIII, the actual coronations of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth in 1937 and Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, and the wedding and coronation of the Shah of Iran in 1959 and 1967 respectively. In 2013 Toye, Kenning & Spencer sold 20 Great Queen Street for redevelopment. After a major conversion project by Latis, a property development company, between 20172019, involving a complete refurbishment with new build additions behind the retained Edwardian façade, 20 Great Queen Street was transformed to provide four ultra-prime residences, with bespoke interiors and specifications by luxury design house Rigby & Rigby.