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Poland Street, where Shelley fled to in April 1811 after his expulsion from Oxford, still stands, now decorated with a tremendous mural of which Shelley probably would have heartily approved. His first-floor (second floor to Americans) rooms were for rent in June 1999, and the street-level storefront housed a very good Italian restaurant. There had been a plaque designating the historical importance of the site, but the building’s residents told me it had been stolen by American tourists.
However, most London Shelley sites have fallen victim to the Victorian passion for urban renewal and the twentieth century need for vertical space. Lewis’s Hotel on St. James’ Street, and Cook’s Hotel on Abermarle Street no longer exist, nor were we able to locate the lodgings Shelley took at Half Moon Street, the Kentish town 5 Church Terrace address, Hans Place, 13 Arabella Road, Norfolk Street, or the Hunts’ houses in the Vale of Health and Lisson Grove.
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