Adelphi, London

Adelphi (/əˈdɛlfi/; from the Greek ἀδελφοί adelphoi, meaning "brothers") is a district of the City of Westminster in Greater London.

The district is named after the Adelphi Buildings, a block of 24 unified neoclassical terrace houses that occupied the land between The Strand and the River Thames in the parish of St Martin in the Fields, which also included a headquarters building for the "Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce" (now generally known as the Royal Society of Arts).

[4] Rowland Hill was secretary to this body, and it was during this period that he devised his penny postage scheme.

Adelphi has no formally defined boundaries, though they are generally agreed to be: Strand to the north, Lancaster Place to the east, Victoria Embankment to the south and Charing Cross station to the west.

Several streets are or were named using the words George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham after the first Duke, 17th century courtier, who acquired York House which formerly stood on this site; his son sold the area to developers on condition that his father and titles were commemorated on the new streets.

The Adam Brothers' Adelphi (1768–72) was London's first neoclassical building. Eleven large houses fronted a vaulted terrace, with wharves beneath, known as the Adelphi Arches' .
11 Adelphi Terrace
Current view of the remaining building at 11 Adelphi Terrace, the furthest left house of the original buildings when viewed from the river.
A prospect of London by Alexander Nasmyth , 1826. The Adelphi Buildings can be seen to the left of Waterloo Bridge .
The Art Deco Adelphi building from the 1930s, located at 1-10 John Adam Street.
Past and Present, no. 3 Despair , by Augustus Egg , 1858, set in the Adelphi Arches