St. Dunstan's was so called because one of its early homes was St. Dunstan's Lodge in Regent's Park, London. This was an alternative name for Hertford Villa, which was built as part of the original development of Regent's Park. The alternative name came from the distinctive clock that hung in front of the villa; the clock came from the church of St. Dunstan–in–the–West, in Fleet Street, as part of an auction in 1829–30 in preparation for the demolition of the church.
Hertford Villa was damaged by fire in 1935, and subsequently demolished. It was replaced by Winfield House, a mansion built in the Neo–Georgian style, which since 1955 has been the official residence of the United States Ambassador to the UK.
The legend about St. Dunstan and the Devil (mentioned in one of the pages that links to this popup, but not in the other) is referred to by Dickens in A Christmas Carol: "Foggier yet, and colder! Piercing, searching, biting cold. If the good Saint Dunstan had but nipped the Evil Spirit's nose with a touch of such weather as that, instead of using his familiar weapons, then, indeed, he would have roared to lusty purpose."
© Haydn Thompson 2017