REGENT STREET

ADDRESS:
London
W1
between Piccadilly Circus and Regents park

nearest train station:
Piccadilly Circus (south end) 0.0 miles (0.0 km)
Oxford Circus Circus (Middle) 0.1 miles (0.1 km)
Regents park (north end) 0.5 miles (0.8 km)

Regent Street is one of the best known shopping areas not just in London but in the country as a whole. In fact its far more than a shopping area as it borders the heart of London nightlife, theatreland and tourist heart of London. The section between Piccadilly Circus and South to Pall Mall is Called Lower Regent Street. North of Piccadilly Circus up to Langham Place is the main Regent Street with the vast majority of shops and amenities.
Today the Street is home some 142 different shops, hotels, restaurants, boutiques and stores. One of the more recent arrivals is the Apple Mac store in keeping with the renovation and facelift the Street has seen in the 21st century. Some names have been around for many years and become associated with the Street such as Liberty (since 1875), Burberrys, Dickins & Jones and of course Hamleys toy store (one of the largest toy stores in the world). Other stores and restaurants are new kids on the blocks and represent the changing nature of the High Street such as the ubiquitous McDonalds (actually two of them), the Body Shop, Café Nero, French Connection, Gap Kids and many many more.

In the early part of the nineteenth century the area around Regents Park was rural in nature and detached from central London. At this time Regents Park was actually called ‘Marylebone Park’ and was a Royal owned Crowne Estate with some new residential properties. The background to how the development of the area came about was a long drawn out affair that started back in 1793 with a prize of £1,000 being put up by John Fordyce, the Surveyor of General Land Revenues for the best plan for the development of Marylebone park. Only two planes were drawn up and these were both by John White in 1809. In 1810 the then Surveyor of General Land Revenues, Lord Glenbervie, instructed John Nash and also Leverton & Chawner (Land Revenue surveyors), to come up with plans not just to develop Marylebone park but also construct a street to connect with Charing Cross. It was John nashes' plan that was chosen and proposed to the treasury who sanctioned the scheme in 1811. Finally the whole project was discussed with the Prince Regent (was to become King George IV from 1820 till 1830). The final plan was to develop the area between Marylebone Park and the home of the Prince Regent at Carlton House. This would give the new properties in the North and Marylebone Park links to the viable parts of the capital at Charring Cross and Westminster. Today Carlton House no longer exists but it was roughly sited at the point where Pall Mall and Waterloo Place meet. By 1825 Regent Street (named after Prince Regent who funded the construction) was completed and formed a ceremonial route that connected Regents Park (the Prince had planned to build a place here but it never came to fruition) to the princess’s home at Carlton House. The actual area of construction was much more than just Regent Street, it also took in the surrounding areas and roads North of Marylebone Road such as Albany Street. The Street was pronounced a great success on completion and was famed for its use of sweeping curves. Most notably just opposite Regents park in park Crescent and at the bottom of Regent Street as it winds in a semi circle down to Piccadilly Circus. Some say it was the first purpose built shopping street in the world. Part of the original Street were Quadrant Colonnades, a covered walkway, which was demolished in 1848 as they became a favourite place for working girls to ply their trade hidden from direct light and proved unpopular with shop keepers who said it blocked their light.
Today the only building that still survives from Nashes' construction is All Souls Church at the very top of Regent Street and opposite the BBC building on Langham Place. The Street was completely rebuilt between 1904 and 1925 after it was agreed it needed large scale modernisation. Today the Regent Street Estate is the largest publicly owned real estate holding in the United Kingdom. One of the oldest existing establishments is the The Café Royal which was opened in 1865.

Synonymous with Regent Street are its famous Christmas Lights which go up in December each year. However it was only after newspaper criticism about the dreary look London had during the Xmas period that Regents Street started the lights tradition with the first display in 1954. However there was no display during 1972-1977 because of a lack of funding. The displayed is paid for by the Streets retailers and other sponsors. Costs can be as much as £500,000 to fund the display. Every year the turning on of the lights has become a huge event and the switch is always throne by a celebrity or someone in the current media spotlight.

Another annual event is Street festival held around September when Street is closed off to traffic and becomes the venue for a themed street event.

>>>View Pictures of Regent Street

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