Oxford Street
Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running between Marble Arch and Tottenham Court Road via Oxford Circus. It marks the notional boundary between the areas of Fitzrovia and Marylebone to the north, with Soho and Mayfair to its immediate south. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around 300,000 daily visitors, and as of 2012 had approximately 300 shops. It is designated as part of the A40, a major road between London and Fishguard, though it is not signed as such, and traffic is regularly restricted to buses and taxis.
The road was originally part of the Via Trinobantina, a Roman road between Essex and Hampshire via London. It was known as Tyburn Road through the Middle Ages when it was notorious for public hangings of prisoners at Tyburn Gallows. It became known as Oxford Road and then Oxford Street in the 18th century and began to change from residential to commercial and retail use, attracting street traders, confidence tricksters, and prostitution. Department stores began to dominate the streetscape in the early 20th century, the most imposing of all being Selfridges. The street suffered heavy bombing during World War II, and several longstanding stores including John Lewis & Partners were completely destroyed and rebuilt from scratch.
Despite competition from out-of-town shopping centres and online retailers, Oxford Street remains in high demand as a retail location, with many British retail chains having their flagship stores on the street, and having a number of listed buildings. Unlike nearby shopping streets such as Bond Street, it has retained an element of downmarket trading alongside more prestigious retail stores. Generally speaking, the eastern end of Oxford Street features a higher proportion of more downmarket retailers, fast food restaurants, and souvenir shops whilst more exclusive and upmarket stores can be found towards its western end which passes close to the wealthy Mayfair district. The construction of Crossrail in the 2010s and early 2020s has changed the eastern end of Oxford Street markedly, with several major buildings having to be demolished completely to facilitate its construction, which in turn has brought new retailers and entertainment venues to the area.
The annual switching on of Christmas lights by a celebrity has been a popular event since 1959. As a popular retail area and a main thoroughfare for London buses and taxis, Oxford Street has suffered from traffic congestion, pedestrian congestion, a poor safety record, and pollution. Various traffic management schemes have been implemented by Transport for London and others, including a ban on private vehicles during daytime hours on weekdays and Saturdays, widened pavements, and improved pedestrian crossings.
Location
Oxford Street runs for approximately and is entirely within the City of Westminster. The road begins at St Giles Circus as a westward continuation of New Oxford Street, meeting Charing Cross Road, Tottenham Court Road. It runs past Rathbone Place, Wardour Street, and Great Portland Street to Oxford Circus, where it meets Regent Street. From there it continues past New Bond Street, Bond Street station, and Vere Street, ending at Marble Arch. The route continues as Bayswater Road and Holland Park Avenue towards Shepherd's Bush.The road is within the London congestion charging zone. It is part of the A40, most of which is a trunk road running from London to Fishguard. Like many roads in Central London that are no longer through routes, it is not signposted with that number. Numerous bus routes run along Oxford Street, including the 55, 73, 94, 98, 159, 390, and Night Buses N8, N55, N73, N98 and N207.
History
Early history
Oxford Street follows the route of a Roman road, the Via Trinobantina, which linked Calleva Atrebatum with Camulodunum via London and became one of the major routes in and out of the city.Between the 12th century and 1782, it was variously known as Tyburn Road, Uxbridge Road, Worcester Road, and Oxford Road. On Ralph Aggas' "Plan of London", published in the 16th century, the road is described partly as "The Waye to Uxbridge" followed by "Oxford Road", showing rural farmland at the present junction of Oxford Street and Rathbone Place. By 1678 it was known as the "King's Highway", and the "Road To Oxford" by 1682.
Tyburn Parish Church stood on the north side of the road, at the point where it crossed the river. This church was demolished in 1400, a replacement church having been built further to the north. Later a court house was constructed on the site, which went on to serve as vestry hall for the parish; it continued to function as such until 1920, when it was superseded by Marylebone Town Hall. Tyburn gallows, near where Marble Arch now stands, was a place of public execution from 1388 to 1783.
The Georgian era
Though a major coaching route, there were several obstacles along it, including the bridge over the Tyburn. A turnpike trust was established in 1721 to improve the upkeep of the road. It became notorious as the route taken by prisoners on their final journey from Newgate Prison to the gallows at Tyburn. Spectators jeered as the prisoners were carted along the road, and could buy rope used in the executions from the hangman in taverns. By about 1729, the road had become known as Oxford Street.Development began in the 18th century after many surrounding fields were purchased by the Earl of Oxford. In 1739, a local gardener, Thomas Huddle, built property on the north side. After Lord Oxford's death the estate was inherited by his daughter the Duchess of Portland; it then passed down to successive dukes as the Portland Estate, before becoming the Howard de Walden Estate in 1879. The Howard de Walden Estate progressively sold off its Oxford Street holdings in the first half of the twentieth century. Other landowning estates held sway over the western end of Oxford Street: most of the northern side west of Duke Street was and is owned by the Portman Estate, while facing it most of the land west of Davies Street was and is part of the Grosvenor estate; east of both of these, the smaller but significant Conduit Mead Estate has been held by the City of London Corporation since the twelfth century. John Rocque's Map of London, published in 1746, shows urban buildings extending as far west as North Audley Street and Marylebone Lane, but only intermittent rural property beyond. Further development to the west occurred between 1763 and 1793 when building began on the Portman Estate.
The Pantheon, a place for public entertainment, opened at No. 173 in 1772. The street became popular for entertainment including bear-baiters, theatres, and public houses. However, it was not attractive to the middle and upper classes due to the nearby Tyburn gallows and the notorious St Giles rookery, or slum. The gallows were removed in 1783, and by the end of the century, Oxford Street was built up from St Giles Circus to Park Lane, containing a mix of residential houses, shops and places of entertainment.
Oxford Circus was designed as part of the development of Regent Street by the architect John Nash in 1810. It was later rebuilt.
The Pantheon closed as an entertainment venue in 1814 ; this prompted another bazaar to close, and in 1836 the Princess's Theatre opened on the site.
Retail and transport development
Oxford Street changed in character from residential to retail towards the end of the 18th century. Recording an evening visit to the street in 1786, Sophie von La Roche described a multitude of shops lit by Argand lamps behind 'handsome glass windows': confectioners, fruiterers, watchmakers, silversmiths, 'spirit booths', glass shops, china shops, silk shops, lamp shops and others. There were also clothing retailers of various sorts, and furniture-makers. Street vendors sold tourist souvenirs during this time.A plan in Tallis's London Street Views, published in the late 1830s, remarks that almost all the street, save for the far western end, was primarily retail. Peter Robinson opened his draper's shop at 103 Oxford Street in the 1830s; by the 1890s the shop had expanded to fill the entire block between Great Portland Street and Regent Street. Likewise Marshall & Snelgrove opened on Vere Street in 1837; within 40 years it had expanded to fill the entire block between that street and Marylebone Lane, and was housed in a new building designed by Horace Jones and Octavius Hansard.
What would now be called department stores began to appear on Oxford Street in the 1870s. John Lewis started in 1864 in a small shop at No. 132; he took on an adjacent property in 1878, and over the next twenty years expanded further and began rebuilding. Dan Harries Evans opened a small draper's shop at No. 147 in 1879; as D H Evans the business swiftly expanded, taking in more than a dozen properties either side of Old Cavendish Street and becoming one of London's largest drapery establishments by the mid-1890s. At the same time, smaller independent retailers continued to thrive alongside their larger counterparts, specialising in all sorts of different goods, trades, and services.
Meanwhile, construction of the Central London Railway, which runs under Oxford Street for part of its course, began in 1896, which necessitated the development of four new station buildings on or near the street, at Marble Arch, Bond Street, Oxford Circus, and Tottenham Court Road. Of the three chief engineers of the project, only Benjamin Baker lived to see the railway completed. On 27 June 1900, the Prince of Wales ceremonially opened the line and public services began on 30 July. The line's route below Oxford Street made it the first railway to provide a direct service to the theatre and shopping areas of the West End and the City. The Bakerloo line came to Oxford Circus on 10 March 1906, and the Hampstead line to Tottenham Court Road on 22 June 1907.
Development continued through the first half of the 20th century, with Bourne & Hollingsworth opening in 1902. When Waring & Gillow opened their new store in 1906 it became the first West End store to occupy an entire city block. Selfridges opened on 15 March 1909 at No. 400; it promptly had a 'transformative influence on Britain's retail scene, elevating the concept of a department store as a social and cultural institution open to everyone, with innovative window dressing, exceptional customer service and masterly advertising'. Shoemakers Lilley & Skinner acquired the lease of 358–360 Oxford Street in 1914; they later expanded into Nos. 356–366, reputedly becoming the world's largest shoe store in 1921. In 1922 C&A purchased Nos. 376–384.
It is notable that all the aforementioned department stores were or are on the north side of the street. Whether this was down to a preference for south-facing shop fronts, or there being better access routes to the north for deliveries and services, or something akin to coincidence remains an open question. Some large stores were opened on the south side of the street in the 20th century: Woolworths opened its first West End store at No. 311 in 1925, followed by a handful of others in the 1930s.
By the 1930s the street was almost entirely retail, a state that still exists today. However, unlike nearby streets such as Bond Street and Park Lane, there remained a seedy element including street traders and prostitutes. Gradually, as the century progressed, independent retailers began to be replaced by chain stores.
During the Second World War, Oxford Street was bombed several times. Overnight and in the early hours of 17 to 18 September 1940, 268 Heinkel He 111 and Dornier Do 17 bombers targeted the West End, particularly Oxford Street. Many buildings were damaged, either from direct hits or subsequent fires, including four department stores: John Lewis, Selfridges, Bourne & Hollingsworth, and Peter Robinson. George Orwell wrote in his diary on 24 September that Oxford Street was "completely empty of traffic, and only a few pedestrians", and saw "innumerable fragments of broken glass". John Lewis caught fire again on 25 September and was reduced to a shell. It remained a bomb site for the remainder of the war and beyond, finally being demolished and rebuilt between 1958 and 1960. Peter Robinson partially reopened on 22 September, though the main storefront remained boarded up. The basement was converted into studios for the BBC Eastern Service. Orwell made several broadcasts here from 1941 to 1943.
Selfridges was bombed again on 17 April 1941, suffering further damage, including the destruction of the Palm Court Restaurant. The basement was converted to a communications base, with a dedicated line running along Oxford Street to Whitehall. The line allowed British Prime Minister Winston Churchill to make secure and direct telephone calls to US President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The store was damaged again on 6 December 1944 after a V2 rocket exploded on nearby Duke Street, causing its Christmas tree displays to collapse into the street outside. Damage was repaired, and the shop reopened the following day.