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21-512: Swallow Street is a small street in the West End of London , running north from Piccadilly . It is about 341 feet (104 m) long. The street was previously much longer and stretched as far north as Oxford Street . The first section of the street was built in 1671 as Swallow Close, and was named after the 16th-century tenant Thomas Swallow. On John Ogilby 's map of London in 1681, it is shown as running as far as Beak Street, which continues to what

42-399: Is now Oxford Street. Beak Street was developed by the end of the 17th century, and the road became known as Little Swallow Street as far as Glasshouse Street, then Swallow Street to Oxford Street, ending opposite Princes Street. It was the main road between Piccadilly and Oxford Street by the 18th century, and is marked as such on John Rocque's Map of London, 1746 . In 1815, the majority of

63-404: The 4th Middlesex Rifle Volunteer , who converted the church into a drill hall . The lease was bought in 1884 by Charles Voysey , a Church of England cleric who had been deprived of his living for the unorthodoxy of his popular printed sermons. In 1885 he created a Theistic Church, which he maintained until his death in 1912, after which it split into two sects, one retaining the original name,

84-520: The City of London and north of the River Thames , in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings and entertainment venues, including West End theatres , are concentrated. The term was first used in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross . The West End covers parts of the boroughs of Westminster and Camden . While

105-584: The City of London is the main financial district in London, the West End is the main commercial and entertainment centre of the city. It is the largest central business district in the United Kingdom. It is one of the most expensive locations in the world in which to rent commercial and office space. Medieval London comprised two adjacent cities – the City of London in the east, and the City of Westminster in

126-530: The City of Westminster wards is called " West End ". This electoral unit includes some of the most prosperous areas of the borough, including Soho , Mayfair and parts of southern Marylebone . The population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 10,575. The West End is laid out with many notable public squares and circuses. London Underground stations in the West End include: 51°30′48″N 0°07′43″W  /  51.51333°N 0.12861°W  / 51.51333; -0.12861 Al Burnett He

147-503: The Palace of Westminster (now home to parliament ), and is largely contained within the City of Westminster (one of the 32 London boroughs ). Following initial development by Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans in the 1660s, during the late 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, it was built as a series of palaces, expensive town houses, fashionable shops and places of entertainment. The areas closest to

168-485: The City around Holborn , Seven Dials , and Covent Garden contained poorer communities that were cleared and redeveloped in the 19th century. As the West End is a term used colloquially by Londoners and is not an official geographical or municipal definition, its exact constituent parts are up for debate. Westminster City Council 's 2005 report Vision for the West End included the following areas in its definition: Covent Garden , Soho , Chinatown , Leicester Square ,

189-407: The districts falling within the West End are Mayfair , Soho , Covent Garden , Fitzrovia and Marylebone . By this definition, the West End borders Temple , Holborn and Bloomsbury to the east, Regent's Park to the north, Paddington , Hyde Park and Knightsbridge to the west, and Victoria and Westminster to the south. Other definitions include Bloomsbury within the West End. One of

210-400: The government, and home to universities and embassies . The modern West End is closely associated with this area of central London. Lying to the west of the historic Roman and medieval City of London, the West End was long favoured by the rich elite as a place of residence because it was usually upwind of the smoke drifting from the crowded City. It was close to the royal seat of power at

231-563: The huge rise in the population of the parish, from 19,000 in 1660 to 69,000 in 1685. Thomas Frognall Dibdin for a time held a preachership at the chapel. A Huguenot chapel, L'Eglise de Piccadilly , and known as the French Chapel was opened on Swallow Street in 1694 by a congregation removing from York Street. It continued until circa 1709, when the chapel lease was taken by a Scottish Presbyterian congregation which had previously met at Glasshouse Street. The church, led by James Anderson ,

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252-469: The other the "Free Religious Movement". The building's lease was ended in 1915 and the church building demolished in the same year. Olive Willis attended and George May, 1st Baron May was married there. The Goat & Star pub was at No. 12 and contained a music hall. It was rebuilt in 1899 and renamed the Swallow, incorporating a concert hall. In 1919, it was turned into offices. The Flyfishers' Club

273-513: The seafood restaurant Fishworks. Swallow Street is the location of The (fictional) Monster Club in Ronald Chetwynd-Hayes 's eponymous 1976 horror novel. Citations Sources 51°30′34″N 0°08′15″W  /  51.50949°N 0.13751°W  / 51.50949; -0.13751 West End of London The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End ) is a district of Central London , London, England, west of

294-526: The shopping streets of Oxford Street , Regent Street and Bond Street , the area encompassing Trafalgar Square , the Strand and Aldwych , and the district known as Theatreland . The Edgware Road to the north-west and the Victoria Embankment to the south-east were also covered by the document but were treated as "adjacent areas" to the West End. According to Ed Glinert's West End Chronicles (2006)

315-490: The street was demolished to construct Regent Street , a modern thoroughfare designed by John Nash . The former line of Swallow Street is roughly now where properties on the west side of Regent Street are. A small section of Swallow Street survives to the south, where Regent Street bends away at the Quadrant to reach Piccadilly Circus . The northern part of the street also survives as Swallow Passage and Swallow Place, parallel to

336-462: The west of Regent Street. Richard Baxter , a Puritan church leader, preached from rooms hired in Swallow Street between April and November 1676. Thomas Tenison , a future Archbishop of Canterbury , is recorded to have established a chapel of ease in Swallow Street in the late 17th century, during the 1680-1691 period of his incumbency of St Martin-in-the-Fields , and perhaps in response to

357-429: The west. Over time they came to form the centre of modern London, although each kept its own distinct character and its separate legal identity (for example, the City of London has its own police force and is a distinct county ). The City of London became a centre for the banking, financial, legal and professional sectors, while Westminster became associated with the leisure, shopping, commerce, and entertainment sectors,

378-402: Was Burnett's son, Barry Burnett, for refusing to sit with a customer, even though she was not working as a hostess at the time. It was later owned by Oscar Owide , eventually becoming a "sleazy hostess joint", before Marco Pierre White and Piers Adam tried (and failed) to revive it as a glamorous destination. Burnett owned The Astor , which was later acquired by Bertie Green. He owned

399-762: Was based in Swallow Street from 1907 to 1941. George Harrison was part-owner of Sibylla's , a nightclub at No. 9 Swallow Street which opened on 22 June 1966. John Keyse Sherwin , a notable engraver, is said to have died whilst staying at the 'Hog in the Pound' alehouse in Swallow Street in 1790. Al Burnett ran the Stork Club in Swallow Street in the 1950s, where guests included Harold Macmillan , John Profumo , Peter Sellers , Frank Sinatra , Lana Turner , Bette Davis , Ava Gardner , Elizabeth Taylor , King Hussein of Jordan , and Jean Simmons . The remaining stub of Swallow Street houses several dining places, including

420-613: Was born Aaron Isaacs in Mile End , London. Burnett was master of ceremonies (MC) at a nightclub in London's Regent Street called The Nut House, which was popular with jazz musicians during the war. In the late 1950s, notable guests at the Stork Club included Harold Macmillan , John Profumo , Peter Sellers , Frank Sinatra , Lana Turner , Bette Davis , Ava Gardner , Elizabeth Taylor , King Hussein of Jordan , and Jean Simmons . In about 1969, he banned Barbara Windsor , whose agent

441-488: Was known as the Scotch Church, and during Anderson's life - perhaps in 1734 - a new meeting-house was built on Swallow Street. The merchant and philanthropist Alexander Birnie was an elder. The Presbyterian built a new church on Swallow Street in the 1801-1804 period. The missionary Robert Morrison was ordained at the Scotch Church in 1807. The church failed in the 1840s, and the lease was taken by Colonel Somers Lewis of

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