Long Acre – Britain’s carriage capital

Long Acre is a busy, one-way shopping street in the heart of Covent Garden which links Drury Lane with St Martin’s Lane. Lined with familiar retail names and cafés, it is easy to miss the architectural clues above eye level that hint at its extraordinary past.

For more than two centuries, Long Acre was the beating heart of Britain’s carriage-building industry, a place where innovation and craftsmanship shaped not just the street but our national standards of transport. Behind its commercial façade lies a story of land ownership, innovation, skilled labour, industrial ambition and adaptation to the motor age.

In medieval London, the 40 acres now known as Covent Garden were actually the gardens of Westminster Abbey and its Convent. Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the land was seized by the Crown and granted to John Russell by King Edward VI in 1552. (The family retained ownership of the estate until 1918). The Russell family is one of England’s great aristocratic landowning dynasties. From 1694 the head of the family bore the title Duke of Bedford, and the development of its London estates in Covent Garden and Bloomsbury played a decisive role in shaping the West End of today.

By the early 17th century, the northern boundary path of the Bedford estate had become known as Long Acre. Dissatisfied with the condition of the roads and buildings, King Charles I exerted pressure on the family, forcing it to make improvements. Despite restrictions imposed by the 1625 Buildings Proclamation, the Bedfords secured a royal licence permitting redevelopment. Under Francis Russell, Covent Garden Piazza was laid out and Inigo Jones commissioned to design St Paul’s Church, embedding Long Acre within a planned and fashionable district.

Why Long Acre became “the” carriage street

By the late 17th century, Long Acre had begun to attract coachbuilders, harness makers, and all of the industry’s allied trades. Its central location, proximity to wealthy aristocratic customers, and improving urban fabric made it an ideal base for the industry.

Over time, the name Long Acre became shorthand for coachmaking. By 1791 there were at least 25 coachmakers operating on the street, supported by dozens of related trades, including leatherworkers, wheelwrights, spring makers, painters, and upholsterers. The street was crowded, noisy, and industrious with yards opening off the main thoroughfare, showrooms at the front, and workshops behind.

Master John Hatchett and the Georgian high point

The Georgian zenith of Long Acre’s carriage trade is inseparable from John Hatchett, whose family firm operated from No.121 Long Acre from around 1750. An illustration of his premises from 1783 shows a substantial operation, employing several hundred workers.

Hatchett was not merely prolific but influential. In 1785 he became Master of the Worshipful Company of Coachmakers and Coach Harness Makers, and his designs were widely imitated. Writing in “A Treatise on Carriages”, (1794), William Felton observed that “the principal improvements that have been made in carriages for these last 20 years are originally the invention of Mr John Hatchett of Long Acre.” Through Hatchett, Long Acre set the national benchmark for carriage quality, comfort, and design.

One of the most influential builders was John Hatchett, who operated a large Long Acre premises in the 18th-19th century, employing several hundred men. He was made Master of the Coachmakers Livery Company in 1785. (This 1783 original sketch by John Miller is held in the London Metropolitan Archives and has been coloured and enhanced via AI).

During the 19th century, the business of carriage building expanded dramatically. Competition intensified and concerns over safety were widely reported in the press, prompting reputable firms to stress the quality of their materials and workmanship in their advertising. This period saw a physical transformation of Long Acre, as small workshops were replaced by larger, purpose-built premises capable of employing dozens of men.

This 1887 Goad Insurance Map lists the carriage makers operating in Long Acre towards the end of the 19th century. Although not easily legible, the list includes some of the country’s finest builders: Slatter, Morgan & Co., F. Allen, Thrupp & Maberly, Turrill & Co., C. S. Windover and D. Davies.

It is this transition from artisanal craft to industrial production that is most clearly embodied in one of Long Acre’s most important buildings to have survived: the unique Grade II listed Carriage Hall. Although a protected building, it has not survived in its entirety and its bland corporate façade gives no hint of the building’s wonderful interior.

The Carriage Hall: Industrial Long Acre preserved

Behind 22–23 Long Acre lies the former Carriage Hall, one of the most significant physical remnants of London’s carriage-building industry. In the early 19th century, the site was originally leased to coachbuilder Richard Turrill, (Turrill & Sons). After a major fire in 1832, the premises were rebuilt using iron columns and timber beams, creating a large, open manufacturing space.

The chosen method of reconstruction makes the Carriage Hall the earliest iron-framed industrial building in London, and a rare survivor of early 19th century manufacturing architecture in the West End. Its scale reflects the changing nature of coachbuilding: no longer confined to small yards, but organised on a factory-like basis with specialised labour and significant output. Note the open plan areas, which, when used in conjunction with the numerous large double doors, facilitated ease of movement as the carriages went from one department to another.

Today, the iron columns, beams, and generous internal layout remain clearly visible within the building’s modern space. Although its function has changed, the structure still communicates the industrial intensity of Long Acre at its Victorian peak.

The original building was destroyed by fire in 1832. Although Richard Turrill was the tenant, the landowner was Christ’s Hospital, a school founded by Edward VI in 1552. To ensure such a disaster did not reoccur, the Hospital hired iron founder, J Hervey & Co to give the new building an iron frame; the first of its kind in London and the second oldest in the country.

Richard Turrill and Victorian ambition

Turrill was among the most successful carriage builders of the 19th century. Leasing premises on Long Acre from 1805, the business expanded steadily and Richard became Master of the Coachmakers’ Company in 1836, following in Hatchett’s footsteps. His business exemplified the Victorian phase of Long Acre’s dominance: larger premises, greater output, and increasing industrial organisation.

Surviving vehicles such as this town coach by Turrill & Sons demonstrate the continued emphasis on elegance alongside durability, qualities that sustained Long Acre’s reputation well into the late 19th century. (Picture courtesy of the National Trust’s Carriage Museum).

30-31 Long Acre: declaring the trade

Another bold expression of Long Acre’s identity survives at 30–31 Long Acre. Built in 1878 in an Italianate style, the building bears the inscription ‘Carriage Manufactory’ across its upper storey. This rare survival openly proclaims its original function and reflects the confidence of the trade at its peak.

From horse to horsepower

The arrival of the motor car might have spelled the end of Long Acre’s transport role, but instead the street adapted. By 1906, more than 40 transport-related businesses operated there, increasingly focused on motor vehicles. Showrooms for Austin, Mercedes, Daimler, and Fiat soon replaced those previously occupied by many of the country’s best known coach-builders.

134 Long Acre, c. 1910. Austin, Mercedes and Mulliner showrooms evidence the clear shift from horse-drawn to horse power. Turrill & Sons did its best to hold on and still occupied six premises in 1900, but the shift was inevitable and they became part of Mulliner in 1906.

As Coachmakers, we are fully aware of how the skills developed in carriage manufacture – body construction, metal shaping, and finishing – translated naturally into the new automotive industry. Various firms such as Turrill bridged the transition, ensuring continuity rather than collapse and it is interesting to note that some of most valuable marques had bodies made by firms actually much better known as coachbuilders: Hooper, Barker, Offord and Mulliner, to name but a few.

Today, Long Acre is a lively shopping street, yet its past is still written into its buildings. The restored Carriage Manufactory lettering at 30–31 and the iron-framed Carriage Hall behind 22–23 Long Acre provide tangible links to a period when this street shaped how Britain travelled.

Long Acre’s reputation was such that it travelled across the Atlantic. In the late 19th century, the centre of New York’s horse-drawn carriage industry was known as Longacre Square, deliberately named after its London counterpart. Only in 1904, when The New York Times moved its headquarters to this iconic location, did it actually become known as Times Square.

If you know where to look – and look up – Long Acre remains one of London’s most important transport streets. Its industrial history is preserved in brick, iron and space and the story of those prominent early Coachmakers lies just below the surface.