mayfair

mayfair

mayfair history

The first neighbourhood the Grosvenors developed, in the 17th and 18th centuries, was Mayfair. But by the time Richard Grosvenor, 2nd Marquess of Westminster, became head of the family, work there was almost complete. So he turned his attention to another area he owned: a rural swamp south-west of Buckingham Palace known as the “five fields” and the “lagoon of the Thames”.

In 1826 a special Act of Parliament was passed allowing Lord Grosvenor to drain the site. He did and later commissioned master builder Thomas Cubitt, who would later be responsible for the east front of Buckingham Palace, to lay out the new neighbourhood, Belgravia.

Cubitt was chosen for the quality of his work - unlike other builders at the time, who used sub-contractors, he employed his own large staff - and the classic white stucco houses around Eaton Square and Belgrave Square that he bulit are still coveted.

Grosvenor himself continued to live in Mayfair, in Old Grosvenor House on Upper Grosvenor Street, overlooking Hyde Park, which was eventually demolished in 1927. There is no question, however, that building Belgravia was his legacy.

Mayfair is named after the annual fortnight-long May Fair that took place on the site that is Shepherd Market today (from 1686 until it was banned in that location in 1764). Until 1686, the May Fair was held in Haymarket, and after 1764, it moved to Fair Field in Bow.

Mayfair is roughly bordered by Hyde Park to the west, Oxford Street to the north, Piccadilly and Green Park to the south and Regent Street to the east. Most of the area was first developed between the mid 17th century and the mid 18th century as a fashionable residential district, by a number of landlords, the most important of them the Grosvenor family. The freehold of a large section of Mayfair also belongs to the Crown Estate.

The district is now mainly commercial, with many offices in converted houses and new buildings, including major corporate headquarters, a concentration of hedge funds, and real estate businesses. Rents are among the highest in London and the world. There remains a substantial quantity of residential property as well as some exclusive shopping and London's largest concentration of luxury hotels and many restaurants. Buildings in Mayfair include the United States embassy in Grosvenor Square, the Royal Academy of Arts, The Handel House Museum, the Grosvenor House Hotel and Claridge's.

The renown and prestige of Mayfair has grown in the popular mind due to its designation as the most expensive property on the British Monopoly set.

Famous past residents have included:

▪Queen Elizabeth II, who was born in Bruton Street and lived in Mayfair during her infant years.

▪John Adams, 2nd American president (1735–1826)

▪Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, surgeon and mayor (1836–1917)

▪Elizabeth Barrett Browning, poet (1806–1861)

▪Robert Clive, soldier & administrator (1725–1774)

▪A.J. Cronin, novelist (1896-1981)

▪Benjamin Disraeli, prime minister (1804–1881)

▪Dwight David Eisenhower, 34th American president (1890–1969)

▪Charles James Fox, British statesman (1749–1806)

▪George Frideric Handel, composer (1695–1759)

▪Jimi Hendrix, guitarist & songwriter (1942–1970)

▪William Somerset Maugham, novelist (1874–1965)

▪Sir Robert Peel, prime minister (1788–1850)

▪Sir Henry Pelham, prime minister (1695–1754)

▪Richard Brinsley Sheridan, dramatist (1751–1816)

▪Da! collective, a squatter art collective (2008–)

Mayfair W1

Mayfair extends east of Hyde Park, south of St. Marylebone, and north of Green Park. It is a fashionable district that includes the most important retail shopping activity in the United Kingdom.

From Oxford Street, the home of famous department store Selfridges and teenage shopping heaven TopShop, its main shopping concentration stretches southward along Regent Street and the Quadrant to Piccadilly Circus and then turns right (west) along Piccadilly; northward branches extend along Sackville Street and Savile Row, where eminent tailors make some of the world's finest men's clothing. Just alongside Burlington House is one of London's most luxurious shopping areas, the Burlington Arcade, which has housed shops under its glass-roofed promenade since 1819.

Parallel and a little farther west, Bond Street, with its long-established art auctioneers and exclusive boutiques and designer flagship stores, is a magnet for lavish spenders from around the world. Archaeological excavations at Mayfair have shown that the area was a junction of Roman roads, which has led some researchers to postulate that Romans settled the area before establishing Londinium (now London). Mayfair was developed from the mid-17th century and its proximity to St. James's Palace made it a fashionable neighbourhood.

Outstanding among Mayfair's museums and galleries are the Museum of Mankind, which is administratively part of the British Museum, and the 18th- and 19th-century Burlington House, which is the home of the Royal Academy of Arts (1768), the Royal Astronomical Society (1820), the British Astronomical Association (1890), the Society of Antiquaries of London (1707), the Linnean Society of London (1788), the Geological Society (1807), and other learned societies.

Travel Links To Mayfair

Bond Street (Central and Jubilee lines), Hyde Park Corner (Piccadilly line), Green Park (Jubilee, Piccadilly and Victoria lines) and Oxford Circus (Central, Bakerloo and Victoria lines)

Charing Cross Railway Station

Motorway Junction M1 Junction 1

Airport London City

Primary Schools In Mayfair

All Souls’ CE Primary School

Foley Street Marylebone, London, W1P 8JJ
Tel: 020 7641 4707 Fax: 020 7641 4703

Hampden Gurney CE Primary School

Harrowby Street, Marylebone, London W1H
Tel: 020 7641 4195 Fax: 020 7641 5468

Soho Parish CE Primary School

23 Great Windmill Street, Marylebone, London W1V 7PH
Tel: 020 7641 7311 Fax: 020 7641 7334

St. George’s Hanover Square

South Street Mayfair London W1K 2XH
Tel: 020 7641 4920 Fax: 020 7641 4920

St Mary’s Branston Square CE School

Enford Street, Mayfair London W1H 1DL
Tel: 020 7641 4130 Fax: 020 7641 5438

St Vincent’s RC Primary School

St Vincent's Street, Mayfair London W1U 4DF
Tel: 020 7641 6110 Fax: 020 7641 6116

Secondary Schools In Mayfair

St Marylebone CE School

64 Marylebone High Street, Mayfair London W1U 5BA
Tel: 020 - 7935 4704 Fax: 020 - 7935 4005

Libraries In Mayfair

The Wiener Library & Institute of Contemporary History

4, Devonshire St, Marylebone, London, W1W 5BH
Tel: 020 7636 7247

Mayfair Library

25, South Audley St, Marylebone, London, W1K 2PB
Tel: 020 7641 4903

The Anaesthesia Heritage Centre

21, Portland Place, Marylebone, London, W1B 1PY
Tel: 020 7631 8811

Clips & Footage

80a, Dean St, Marylebone, London, W1D 3SN
Tel: 020 7287 7287

The Evangelical Library

78a, Chiltern St, Marylebone, London, W1U 5HB
Tel: 020 7935 6997

New Realm Entertainments Ltd

25, Margaret St, Marylebone, London, W1W 8RY
Tel: 020 7436 7800

Doctors In Mayfair

Dr R Monterosso Gynaecologist

9/89, Piccadilly, Mayfair, London, W1J 7NE
Tel: 020 7355 4551

Thomas G Wadsworth McH.Orth,FRCS,FACS

Flat 7, 7, Curzon St, Mayfair, London, W1J 5HG
Tel: 020 7723 5785

Dentists In Mayfair

smilestudio

1st floor,Wingate House,93-107 , Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1J 8DW
Tel: 020 7439 0888

Pubs, Bars, Cafés And Restaurants In Mayfair

The Running Footman

5, Charles St, Mayfair, London, W1J 5DE
Tel: 020 7499 2988

The Punchbowl

41, Farm St, Mayfair, London, W1J 5RR
Tel: 020 7493 6841

Samuel Pepy's

29, Clarges St, Mayfair, London, W1J 7EF
Tel: 020 7647 8921

Brutons

15, Bruton Lane, Mayfair, London, W1J 6JD
Tel: 020 7493 1135

O'Neill's

7, Shepherd St, Mayfair, London, W1J 7HR
Tel: 020 7408 9281

The Square Restaurant

6-10, Bruton St, Mayfair, London, W1J 6PY
Tel: 020 7495 7100

Fox Club

46, Clarges St, Mayfair, London, W1J 7ES
Tel: 020 7495 3656

The Hilton London Mews

2, Stanhope Row,Park Lane, Mayfair, London, W1J 7BS
Tel: 020 7493 7222

Washington Hotel

5, Curzon St, Mayfair, London, W1J 5HE
Tel: 020 7499 7000

Alsultan Lebanese Restaurant

51-52, Hertford St, Mayfair, London, W1J 7ST
Tel: 020 7408 1155

Kings Arms

2, Shepherd Market, Mayfair, London, W1J 7QA
Tel: 020 7629 0416

Sofra Restaurant

18, Shepherd St, Mayfair, London, W1J 7JE
Tel: 020 7493 3320

Caviar House Ltd

161, Piccadilly, Mayfair, London, W1J 9EA
Tel: 020 7409 0445

Coach & Horses

5, Bruton St, Mayfair, London, W1J 6PT

Tel: 020 7629 4123