A diminutive green structure close to Lord’s cricket venue secured heritage protection two years prior, marking the ultimate safeguard for an unusual fragment of the capital’s heritage.
Visitors wandering through Chelsea, Pimlico or Kensington frequently encounter these characteristic timber booths positioned at the roadside or even mid-street, pondering their purpose.
Of the numerous driver rest houses that once peppered central London, merely 13 survive and each carries listed status.
The inaugural structures appeared in 1875 to offer weary horse-drawn hansom drivers a brief respite. (Image: David Kindred)
They materialised during the 1870s, when operators of horse-drawn vehicles lacked shelter from the elements yet were mandated by law to remain beside their carriages.
Many sought refuge in neighbouring taverns for sustenance and warmth, leaving prospective fares abandoned until the drivers reappeared to collect their vehicles.
George Armstrong, editor of The Globe newspaper, drew attention to this issue in 1874 and launched a campaign for purpose-built rest quarters for cab drivers.
According to legend, he dispatched his servant into a tempestuous evening to hail a cab for his journey from St. John’s Wood to Fleet Street, only to discover every driver had retreated to the local pub.
In 2024 the cabmen’s shelter in Wellington Place St John’s Wood achieved Grade II listing, becoming the final addition to the existing dozen. (Image: Google)
Charitable benefactors, among them the seventh Earl of Shaftesbury, established the Cabmen’s Shelter Fund in 1875 to erect compact structures at taxi stands, providing hot non-alcoholic refreshments.
The very initial one commenced operations in Acacia Road, St John’s Wood, during February 1875.
Constructed from timber and coated in a striking green hue, they were restricted to the dimensions of a horse and carriage to comply with Metropolitan Police regulations governing street installations.
These cramped quarters contained a modest cooking area, solid-fuel heater, and ventilation apertures, accommodating roughly twelve drivers.
More than sixty were erected at individual costs ranging from £150 to £200, financed through local patronage.
However, with the introduction of weatherproof motorised taxis, usage dwindled and numerous units succumbed to vehicular collisions, wartime bombardment, and urban development projects.
By the latter part of the twentieth century, their diminishing numbers prompted preservation advocates to secure the remainder with statutory protection.
Currently, the full set of thirteen green structures continues operating under the Cabmen’s Shelter Fund, offering licensed taxi drivers somewhere to purchase bacon sandwiches and tea, with the public also served through a serving hatch.
Beyond the Wellington Place location in St John’s Wood, another stands centrally positioned on the carriageway outside Warwick Avenue underground station.
A specimen situated in Russell Square originally occupied the Haymarket and was contributed by actor Sir Squire Bancroft. It subsequently relocated to Leicester Square before being transferred once more due to redevelopment.
Venturing further northward to Rosslyn Hill in Hampstead reveals a more recent structure from 1935, designed to an alternative blueprint.
This shelter was created by Elisabeth Scott of Scott, Chesterton and Shepherd, fashioned from elm timber with a cedar framework, concrete supports and metal-framed windows.
It features an eye-catching decorative mosaic bearing the inscription THE WHARRIE SHELTER and displaying taxi-related imagery rendered in a Cubist-inspired style.
The booth was presented by Mary Wharrie, daughter of Sir Henry Harben, inaugural Mayor of Hampstead, and superseded an earlier structure presented to the Borough of Hampstead by the Harben family for the benefit of cab drivers.