Wilton Crescent was created by
Thomas Cundy II, the
Grosvenor family estate surveyor, and was drawn up with the original 1821 Wyatt plan for Belgravia. It was named at the time of
Thomas Egerton, 2nd Earl of Wilton, second son of
Robert Grosvenor, 1st Marquess of Westminster, on whose estate the road was built in 1825 through
Seth Smith (property developer) In the 19th and 20th centuries, it was home to many prominent British politicians, ambassadors and civil servants.
Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (1900–1979), lived at 2 Wilton Crescent for many years, marked today by an attributive
blue plaque. Wilton Crescent is characterised by grand terrace houses, similar to other developments in the area, albeit narrower than those on nearby Belgrave Square. The crescent is laid out with
Portland stone-clad, five-storey houses toward the north, and a straight row of stuccoed houses to the south. The curved terraces had originally been built in brick, but were- re-clad in stone between 1908 and 1912 under the supervision of architects Balfour and Turner. Wilton Crescent lies east of
Lowndes Square and Lowndes Street, to the northwest of
Belgrave Square, and south of
Wilton Place which connects it to the main road in
Knightsbridge.
Grosvenor Crescent is to the east, where the Indonesian Embassy is located. There is a private communal garden in the centre of the crescent, which won a bronze medal from the London Gardens Society in 2007. There are two diplomatic buildings in Wilton Crescent: the
High Commission of Singapore at No. 9, and the
Embassy of Luxembourg at No. 27 (formerly home to the
Luxembourgish government-in-exile).
Layout and numbering The 50 buildings forming the Crescent are Grade II listed buildings. The crescent is split into three terraces of houses, and number 31 which forms a terrace with 1-15 Grosvenor Crescent. Numbers 32 and 33 face the opposite side of a brief continuation of the eastern arm of the crescent leading into Belgrave Square which form a terrace with 1-11
Belgrave Square. The western arm of the crescent which leads into Belgrave Square is named Wilton Terrace. It dates from the same period and is built in a similar style.
References in the arts George Bernard Shaw's 1905 play
Major Barbara is partly set at Lady Britomart's house in Wilton Crescent. ==Architectural details==