House music

As we enter peak festival season, our latest research reveals that almost 21,000 UK addresses are inspired in some way by music; ranging from British composers and artists to famous musical genres.

In fact, the study into the impact that classical and modern music has had on our address names reveals that some of our most iconic artists from the last 60 years – including The Rolling Stones, Oasis and Adele – have served as muses for the naming of our nation’s houses.

Overall, more than 1,500 houses across the UK sport a name relating to one of our modern musical heroes, including ‘Status Quo’ in Norfolk, ‘Stone Roses’ near Manchester, ‘Dire Straits’ in Kent and simply ‘Adele’ in The Channel Islands.

British classical music composers have officially had the greatest impact on the naming of our musically-inclined streets, with more than 7,500 related addresses. Esteemed hymn writer Charles Wesley leads the charge – as more than 500 ‘Wesley’ streets, mews and crescents span our nation – followed by Christopher Shaw, Edward Elgar and Henry Purcell.

With its impressive backlog of internationally renowned musicians and a thriving cultural scene, the ‘NE’ postcode area, which serves Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, has the nation’s largest number of music-related addresses (674), ranging from ‘Viola Terrace’ to ‘Glastonbury Grove’.

Newcastle’s crown is closely followed by areas well known for their contribution to British music, including Manchester (M, 584), Bristol (BS, 572), Nottingham (NG, 566), Coventry (CV, 542), Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight (PO, 540), Loughborough (LE, 494), Doncaster (DN, 408), Birmingham (B, 406) and Sheffield (S, 332).

Other interesting facts to emerge from our research include:

• Popular musical genres have also inspired British address names – with jazz music leading the charge (70), including ‘Jazz Road’ in Aylesbury. However opera (50), dance (45) and even new wave (15) make an appearance, with several ‘New Wave Houses’ appearing from Norwich to Newcastle. There are even two ‘Heavy Metal Houses’
• The Beatles’ profound influence on British culture is also reflected in our addresses. Over 700 ‘Abbey Road’ and ‘Penny Lane’ streets span the nation, and numerous house and building names reference either the band, its members or one of their songs; including ‘Lennon Studios’ in Liverpool and ‘Imagine’ in Gloucestershire
• Some of the more unusual addresses to appear in the research include ‘Jagger Green Dean’ in Halifax and ‘Parklife’ in the Channel Islands
• Over 270 British houses owe their names to the classic ‘Greensleeves’, more than 340 to ‘Britannia’ and several to ‘Fantasia’.

Steve Rooney, head of our address management unit, said: ‘Street, house and building names chiefly reflect our nation’s heritage and primary interests. As a country with such a proud musical history spanning hundreds of years, it’s fantastic to see that we’ve chosen to reflect this passion in so many of our addresses.’