3 Savile Row
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3 Savile Row is an 18th-century townhouse on Savile Row in the Mayfair district of West London. It has been notable since the late 1960s as the headquarters of Apple Corps, the multimedia corporation owned by The Beatles. It was the site of the band's rooftop concert, their final live performance, on 30 January 1969. It is currently being renovated to reopen as an exhibition about the band called "The Beatles at 3 Savile Row".[1]
Description
[edit]The building was built as a terraced townhouse in c.1733.[2] It has 4 storeys and a basement.[2] The interior retains fine panelling and plasterwork.[2] The original staircase has been lost.[2] It has been listed Grade II* on the National Heritage List for England since September 1958.[2]
History
[edit]It was built as part of the Burlington Estate in c.1733.[2] Beauchamp Seymour, 1st Baron Alcester was resident at No 3. in the 1890s.[3] Montague Guest wrote to The Times from the house in 1885 on the condition of the deteriorating Wellington Monument.[4] Lady Irene Congrave gave birth to her son at No. 3 in 1907.[5] The women's rights activist Maud Palmer, Countess of Selborne wrote to The Times on the subject of women's suffrage in June 1912.[6] The will of Lady Layard, the wife of Austen Henry Layard included No.3 and the Palazzo Cappello Layard in Venice as her properties.[7] The freehold of No.3 was put up for auction in April 1913 by Elliot, Son and Boynton. It was listed as having a total area of 4,200 ft.[8] The antiques dealer Basil Dighton exhibited his 18th-century French line engravings at the house in December 1913.[9] Dighton's exhibition was visited by Queen Mary, Edward, Prince of Wales, Princess Mary, and Princess Henry of Battenberg on 23 December.[10] A memorial plaque for the Jane Austen's House Museum in Hampshire, to mark the centenary of her birth, was displayed at the house for three weeks in July 1917.[11] The Queen and Princess Mary visited the gallery for a second time to see old English coloured engravings in July 1918.[12] Portraits in pencil by Violet Manners, Duchess of Rutland were displayed by Dighton in July 1924.[13] Almacks Club moved to No. 3 in 1936.[14]
The Beatles
[edit]In July 1968, the Beatles moved Apple Corps, their multimedia corporation, into 3 Savile Row.[15] Apple purchased the building on 22 June for £500,000 (equivalent to £4,600,000 in 2025).[16][17] A studio was built in the basement; though it was poorly designed, the Beatles recorded Let It Be there before a new studio was constructed in 1971 at an estimated cost of $1.5 million.[18] Various artists, including Badfinger, Mary Hopkin, and Marc Bolan recorded in the basement studio until it closed in May 1975.[19] The Beatles' final live performance, known as the "rooftop concert", was held on the roof of the building, on 30 January 1969, and was recorded for the documentary film Let It Be; the last words of the band, spoken by John Lennon as the police stopped the performance, were "I hope we passed the audition."[20] By 1983 Richard Williams wrote in The Times that No.3 had become "a shrine".[21] In May 2026, Apple Corps announced that the building is set to be reopened as an exhibition space, which will be opened to the public in 2027.[1]
References
[edit]- 1 2 Savage, Mark (11 May 2026). "The Beatles will open a museum on the site of their last gig". BBC News. Retrieved 7 September 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Historic England. "3 Savile Row (1236103)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 September 2026.
- ↑ Beauchamp Seymour, F. (21 March 1878). "Ships and Guns". The Times. No. 29208. p. 6. Retrieved 7 September 2026.
- ↑ Guest, Montague (2 January 1885). "The Achilles Statue". The Times. No. 31333. p. 4. Retrieved 7 September 2026.
- ↑ "Births". The Times. No. 38299. 5 April 1907. p. 1. Retrieved 7 September 2026.
- ↑ "Lady Selborne's Reply". The Times. No. 39930. 20 June 1912. p. 5. Retrieved 7 September 2026.
- ↑ "Lady Layard's Will". The Times. No. 40086. 19 December 1912. p. 5. Retrieved 7 September 2026.
- ↑ "Furnished Houses". The Times. No. 40154. 8 March 1913. p. 14. Retrieved 7 September 2026.
- ↑ "French Line Engravings". The Times. No. 40391. 10 December 1913. p. 13. Retrieved 7 September 2026.
- ↑ "Court Circular". The Times. No. 40403. 24 December 1913. p. 13. Retrieved 7 September 2026.
- ↑ "Jane Austen Centenary". The Times. No. 41527. 11 July 1917. p. 9. Retrieved 7 September 2026.
- ↑ "Court Circular". The Times. No. 41856. 31 July 1918. p. 9. Retrieved 7 September 2026.
- ↑ "Art Exhibitions". The Times. No. 43700. 10 July 1924. p. 12. Retrieved 7 September 2026.
- ↑ "News in Brief". The Times. No. 47330. 23 March 1936. p. 9. Retrieved 7 September 2026.
- ↑ Piet Schreuders; Adam Smith; Mark Lewisohn (30 June 2008). Beatles London: The Ultimate Guide to Over 400 Beatles Sites in and Around London. Anova Books. p. 53. ISBN 978-1-906032-26-5.
- ↑ Miles, Barry (2001). The Beatles Diary Volume 1: The Beatles Years. London: Omnibus Press. p. 301. ISBN 978-0-7119-8308-3.
- ↑ UK Consumer Price Index inflation figures from 1209–2024 based on data from "Inflation calculator". Bank of England. London. 18 February 2026. Retrieved 1 April 2026.
- ↑ "Fresh From Apple". Apple Records. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
- ↑ Doggett, Peter (1 December 2010). You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After the Breakup. Random House. p. 229. ISBN 978-0-09-953236-1.
- ↑ Banerjee, Subhajit (30 January 2009). "The Beatles Rooftop Concert: It Was 40 Years Ago Today". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 12 December 2012.
- ↑ "Playing the ace of clubs". The Times. No. 61509. 18 April 1983. p. 10. Retrieved 7 September 2026.
External links
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