Polish Hearth Club | |
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Alternative names | Ognisko Polskie |
General information | |
Status | Private members' club |
Type | Victorian terrace |
Architectural style | Highly ornate italianate |
Address | 55 Princes Gate, Exhibition Road London, SW7 |
Groundbreaking | 1867 |
Completed | 1869 |
Opened | 1940 |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | William Tasker ? |
Architecture firm | Charles James Freake |
Main contractor | C.J. Freake |
Website | |
ogniskopolskie |
The Polish Hearth Club (Polish: Ognisko Polskie) is a private members' club founded soon after the outbreak of World War II by the British Government and the Polish government-in-exile at 55 Princes Gate, Exhibition Road in the City of Westminster, London, close to the South Kensington museums, in a Grade II listed building.[1] It was intended as a social meeting place for diplomats, the military cadre and other officials. The facilities included a restaurant, (now leased), a theatre and an exhibition space. It faces the main entrance to Imperial College London and is around the corner from the Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum, which was built as part of one development by Charles James Freake.[2]