83-483: Yalding House is a building at 152–156 Great Portland Street , London , United Kingdom . It was formerly owned by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) , and from 1952 until 2013 housed the corporation's music department. The BBC Central Music Library was located on the ground floor and basement: the building's former role as a car showroom made it ideal for the heavy shelving required to store
166-526: A University College London accommodation on Maple Street. Boy George lived in a squat in Carburton Street in 1981 prior to his success and Neil Howson of Age of Chance lived in Cleveland Street around the same time. Fitzrovia is also the location of Pollock's Toy Museum , home to erstwhile Toy Theatre , at 1 Scala Street . At the back of Pollocks and in the next block was the site in 1772 of
249-686: A focus on sustainability and improving air quality. In 2011, the BID came in for criticism, with damage to trees in Charlotte Street by Christmas lighting described by the Fitzrovia News as vandalism. The BID also operates a separate "consumer" facing brand – Enjoy Fitzrovia – to promote the area as a destination for shopping, eating, and art within London's West End. In October 2014, The Fitzrovia Partnership teamed up with local resident Griff Rhys Jones to create
332-565: A range of rooms available for large and small groups and individuals. Two new neighbourhood planning groups are currently in the process of formation. The Fitzrovia West and Fitzrovia East Neighbourhood Areas have been established by Westminster City Council and London Borough of Camden respectively. In addition FitzWest, as it has become known has made further application to become a Neighbourhood Forum. Paddington , Marylebone , Kings Cross and St Pancras railway stations are all relatively close to Fitzrovia although none (including Euston)
415-554: A short-term project which would allow residents to create temporary allotments on the site until a new development was started. However, the Icelandic bank Kaupthing , which had a controlling interest in the site, announced in March 2010 its intention to sell the site on the open market and cancelled the allotments project. In July 2010, the site passed into the ownership of Aviva Investments and Exemplar Properties. A planning application for
498-488: A similarly sized land holding in West Fitzrovia. A number of structural engineering consultants are based in offices on Newman Street and the world headquarters of Arup is on Fitzroy Street although they own many of the surrounding buildings (which are in the process of being redeveloped into modern offices). There were once many hospitals (including Middlesex Hospital , which closed in 2006, and St Luke's Hospital for
581-541: A tangible difference to the management of Fitzrovia." Since August 2012, the Fitzrovia Partnership has been a formal Business Improvement District (BID). Activities have included installation of Christmas lighting in Tottenham Court Road, Charlotte Street and Fitzroy Street, an annual Christmas market, Feast at Fitzrovia summer festival, and a commitment to local job creation, support for small businesses and
664-689: A time in Howland Street in a house on a site now occupied by offices. Modernist painter Wyndham Lewis lived on Percy Street . The house of Charles Laughton and Elsa Lanchester on Tottenham Street now shows a commemorative blue plaque . 97 Mortimer Street, where H. H. Munro ( Saki ) lived, now has a blue plaque commemorating his time there. Colin MacInnes author of Absolute Beginners (1959) also resided on Tottenham Street, at number 28, with his publisher Martin Green and his wife Fiona Green. X. Trapnel,
747-686: Is a district of central London , England, near the West End . The eastern part of the area is in the London Borough of Camden , and the western in the City of Westminster . It has its roots in the Manor of Tottenham Court , and was urbanised in the 18th century. Its name was coined in the late 1930s by Tom Driberg . It is characterised by its mixed-use of residential, business, retail, education and healthcare, with no single activity dominating. The once bohemian area
830-616: Is a road in the West End of London which links Oxford Street with the A501 Marylebone Road . A commercial street, it divides Fitzrovia , to the east, from Marylebone to the west. It delineates areas with contrasting identities, the west at strongest in grandiose Portland Place and Harley Street , the east at strongest in artists' and independent businesses of Fitzrovia . Long sections of Great Portland Street fall in two Westminster City Council conservation areas , named after Harley Street and East Marylebone. The street
913-538: Is based at Ridgmount Street and the Royal Anthropological Institute Main office is at 50 Fitzroy Street. All Souls' Church of England Primary School is at Foley Street. The building is Grade II listed . Southbank International School has two of its campuses located within the area, one on Portland Place and another on the northern end of Conway street (just off Warren Street). The Conway campus houses students from grade 11 and 12 where they study
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#1733085885125996-517: Is cited as one of "London's 50 Outstanding Classical Music Landmarks" because Felix Mendelssohn lodged there during the premiere of Fingal's Cave . Other notables living on the street include James Boswell , 9th Laird of Auchinleck, biographer at №122, Leigh Hunt the essayist and poet at №98, and the artist David Wilkie at №117 (1808–09). Sir Charles Barry , the architect, lived at №94 Great Portland Street from 1828 to 1841. Pagani's restaurant, with its art nouveau frontage by Beresford Pite ,
1079-417: Is currently based on Newman Street, with additional offices at 1 Stephen Street. Dennis Publishing is based close by, on Cleveland Street, and London's Time Out magazine and City Guide is created and edited on Tottenham Court Road on the eastern border of Fitzrovia. Many other media companies are based within the area, including Informa , Arqiva and Digital UK . Reflecting Fitzrovia's connections with
1162-591: Is now mainly represented on the street by a few garment importers. The street is split among Westminster Council 's Harley Street Conservation and East Marylebone Conservation Areas. The street has a commercial character with a majority of its buildings dating from the late Victorian or Edwardian period. The street has four Grade II listed buildings , the most common category: Most of the remaining structures on Great Portland Street have been designated as 'Unlisted Buildings of Merit' by Westminster . The Portland Hospital for Women and Children (at first, from 1858,
1245-471: Is of 1930 date and is constructed from cream faience tile with a slate mansard roof. Regent's Park tube station is also close to the north end of the street. Buses numbered 88 , 18 , 27 , 30 , 205 , 189 , 3 , 12 and 55 stop on or within a close distance of the road. 51°31′13″N 0°08′34″W / 51.52041°N 0.14287°W / 51.52041; -0.14287 Fitzrovia Fitzrovia ( / f ɪ t s ˈ r oʊ v i ə / )
1328-546: Is produced four times a year by volunteers drawn from the residential community. An advice and information service and community projects, including the annual Fitzrovia Festival, are also delivered from the Neighbourhood Centre. The Fitzrovia News and Fitzrovia Festival are both supported by the Fitzrovia Neighbourhood Association. The new Fitzrovia Community Centre is located at 2 Foley Street in
1411-521: Is the first mention of hash in that era's music. Donovan was the first of his ilk to be busted for it, by no coincidence he points out. The song is a Fitzrovia source for its mention of the Goodge Street platform, perhaps the dollhouses, the song's then-new jazzy feel, and overall lyrics, that foreshadowed life in urban London. In its early days, Fitzrovia was largely an area of well-to-do tradesmen and craft workshops, with Edwardian mansion blocks built by
1494-459: Is the most distinguished of the original architectural features of the district, having been designed in part by Robert Adam . The south-western area was first developed by the Duke of Newcastle who established Oxford Market, now the area around Market Place. By the beginning of the 19th century, this part of London was heavily built upon, severing one of the main routes through it, Marylebone Passage, into
1577-466: The Domesday Book of 1086, Totenhale in 1184 and Totenhale Court by 1487. Tottenham Court formed the south-western part of the parish and later borough of St Pancras . The Fitzroy Tavern was named after Charles FitzRoy (later Baron Southampton) , who purchased the Manor of Tottenham Court and built Fitzroy Square , to which he gave his name; nearby Fitzroy Street also bears his name. The square
1660-484: The Edwardian period. The Blitz made it necessary for further re-building after the war, although the damage incurred along the street was not particularly extensive so there are few modern buildings, and although the aesthetic today is a jumble of architectural styles and eras, the overall feel is that of an historic street. Maps from close to the outset of building help to identify the street's changes. The BBC Trust
1743-490: The IB Diploma Programme . Fashion Retail Academy is at Gresse Street. Although often described as upmarket and home to some celebrities, like much of inner London, Fitzrovia residents have a wide disparity of wealth and the area contains a mix of affluent property owners as well as many private, council and housing association tenants. The neighbourhood is classified as above-averagely deprived, and parts of it have
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#17330858851251826-477: The John F. Kennedy memorial bust adorns the lobby. The street is served at the northern end by Great Portland Street station and at the southern end by Oxford Circus station . Great Portland Street station opened as Portland Road on 10 January 1863 as a station on London's then Metropolitan Railway . The station was renamed Great Portland Street in March 1917. The present station building, designed by Charles Clark,
1909-622: The Quakers to allow theatre employees to be close to work. Modern property uses are diverse, but Fitzrovia is still well known for its fashion industry, now mainly comprising wholesalers and HQs of the likes of Arcadia Group . New media outfits have replaced the photographic studios of the 1970s–90s, often housed in warehouses built to store the changing clothes of their original industry — fashion. Dewar Studios, leading fashion and modelling photographers based in Great Titchfield Street continue
1992-1070: The Scala Theatre , Tottenham Street – then known as the Cognoscenti Theatre – but it had many names over history: the King's Concert Rooms, the New Theatre, the Regency Theatre, the West London Theatre, the Queen's Theatre, the Fitzroy Theatre, the Prince of Wales and the Royal Theatre until its demolition in 1903 when the Scala Theatre was built on the site for Frank Verity and modelled on La Scala in Milan. It
2075-788: The Ami Portland Hospital for the same), at №s 205-209. The street has larger Edwardian buildings in the Marylebone Conservation Area such as №s 160-180; №206; and №228 (The Armitage). The latter building was the headquarters of the Royal National Institute of Blind People from 1914 to 2002. №s45-49 host the Embassy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo . №229 houses International Students House, London , where
2158-707: The Black Horse, the Burglar's Rest, the Marquess of Granby, The Wheatsheaf... in Fitzrovia." Maclaren-Ross replied: "I know the Fitzroy" to which Tambimuttu said: "Ah, that was in the Thirties, now they go to other places. Wait and see." Tambimuttu then took him on a pub crawl. The name was largely forgotten as the avant-garde set moved out in the late-1940's, but was revived in the 1970s, with
2241-474: The British textile industry. The growing dominance of UK chain stores, with their requirement for supply chain efficiencies from foreign low-cost suppliers, meant that new orders by-passed the showrooms and manufacturer's agents on the street and its vicinity. Major names of the garment industry associated with the street include Shubette of London, Coppernob, Alfred Young, Hildebrand and French Connection. The sector
2324-558: The City of Westminster, just across from the Camden borough boundary. The Centre arose from a town planning (section 106) agreement between University College London Hospital (UCLH) and the London Borough of Camden. This agreement provided funding to provide the new community centre. The building has undergone a major refurbishment and designed to be a modern and welcoming multi-purpose building, with
2407-518: The Clergy , now re-opened after refurbishment). A handful of embassies ( El Salvador , Mozambique , Turkmenistan and Croatia ) nestle amongst the many and varied public houses. Retail use spills into parts of Fitzrovia from Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road, which are two of the principal shopping streets in central London. The Fitzrovia Partnership was formed in 2009 as "a business-led initiative bringing together local businesses to add value and make
2490-550: The Dylan Thomas in Fitzrovia festival, a week of poetry, art and comedy across the area, celebrating the life and times of Dylan Thomas in the area. The University of Westminster has buildings on New Cavendish Street, Wells Street and Great Portland Street. University College London has buildings on Torrington Place, Huntley Street and New Cavendish Street. There are University of London halls of residences on Charlotte Street and Fitzroy Street. The Institute for Fiscal Studies
2573-515: The English textile industry to many West End stores. The sector's activities were most pronounced where the street intersects with Mortimer Street and Margaret Street . Its proximity to buying officers working for the big stores on Oxford Street gave businesses in the area a competitive edge. The sector's local presence declined in the late 1970-80s with the disappearance of both the UK's independent retailer and
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2656-478: The Fitzrovia Neighbourhood Association was formed and raised money to create a neighbourhood centre in a Grade II listed disused glass shop on the corner of Tottenham Street and Goodge Place. The Fitzrovia Neighbourhood Centre was opened in 1975. The Fitzrovia Neighbourhood Centre continues to be a place of community action and a venue for voluntary groups to meet, and is the office of the Fitzrovia News which
2739-506: The Grafton family's country estate is Euston Hall, in Euston, Suffolk , and this is the origin of the name for Euston Station and Euston Road. Two of London's oldest surviving residential walkways can be found in Fitzrovia. Colville Place and the pre-Victorian Middleton Buildings (built 1759 ) are in the old London style of a way. When the parishes of St Pancras and Marylebone became boroughs in 1900,
2822-623: The Revolution in France , 1790), who lived at 18 Charlotte Street. Artists Richard Wilson and John Constable lived at 76 Charlotte Street at various times. During the 19th century, painters Walter Sickert , Ford Madox Brown , Thomas Musgrave Joy and Whistler lived in Fitzroy Square. George Bernard Shaw and Virginia Woolf also resided at different times on the square, at number 29. French poets Arthur Rimbaud and Paul Verlaine lived for
2905-421: The area, and its redevelopment as Fitzroy Place was completed in 2016. The site of the hospital had initially been acquired by the property developer Candy and Candy which demolished the existing buildings to make way for a housing and retail development. The Candy brothers' scheme, which was unpopular with local people, failed during the 2008 credit crunch . Stanhope plc took over the project and proposed
2988-475: The area. Chartist meetings were hosted in the area, some attended by Karl Marx , who is known to have been to venues at Charlotte Street , Tottenham Street and Rathbone Place . The area became a focus of Chartist activities after the Reform Act 1832 and was host to a number of working men's clubs including The Communist Club at 49 Tottenham Street. The UFO Club , home to Pink Floyd during their spell as
3071-673: The avant-garde the area has a concentration of commercial art galleries and dealers. Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum , an international firm of architects, interior designers, landscape architects, urban planners and advanced strategists are based in the Qube on Whitfield Street, along with Make Architects . Derwent London also have a showroom in Whitfield Street. Derwent London own about one million square feet of property in Fitzrovia: about one fifth of their total portfolio The Langham Estate have
3154-400: The block between Clipstone and Carburton Streets. The trend of period groupings is another result of the slowness of the first development. As buildings in the south were built earlier than those in the north, their leases expired earlier, setting off a wave of redevelopment which meant that rebuilding in the south took place in the late- Victorian era, whilst that in the north was delayed until
3237-723: The collection. The BBC Third Programme, later renamed Radio 3, was also based at Yalding House. It became the home of BBC Radio 1 , together with Newsbeat , in 1996 when the Radio 1 studios were moved from Egton House . BBC Radio 1Xtra was launched at Yalding House. On 14 December 2012, Radio 1 broadcast its last show from Yalding House which was The Radio 1 Breakfast Show with Nick Grimshaw . Yalding House contained five studios which were used to broadcast shows on Radio 1 and 1Xtra. 51°31′15″N 0°08′34″W / 51.52074°N 0.142822°W / 51.52074; -0.142822 Great Portland Street Great Portland Street
3320-543: The company announced plans to transform part of Fitzrovia into a new retail destination with cafes and restaurants. Derwent London created the Fitzrovia Partnership, a then-business partnership with Arup , Make Architects and City of London Corporation, with the support of the London Borough of Camden. In July 2010 Derwent London showcased plans for the redevelopment of the Saatchi & Saatchi building in Charlotte Street. Plans produced by Make Architects proposed increasing
3403-417: The contrasting areas to either side. To the east, are artistic areas such as Fitzrovia , which have historically been less well-to-do than the west, with its grand parade of Portland Place , residential areas for the gentry, and doctors and medical institutions on Harley Street . Development of the estate was gradual but particularly so on Great Portland Street. This had an effect during its redevelopment in
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3486-472: The decision was taken to make minor modifications to the ancient boundaries, whose pre-urban origin meant it cut awkwardly across the built environment in some places. The western half of Charlotte Place the western part of part of Charlotte Street and the eastern half of Rathbone Street were transferred to Marylebone, despite these streets long history within St Pancras and their being more closely integrated with
3569-458: The density of the site by 50 per cent and adding shops, cafes and a small open space. Today, over 128,000 people work within 0.5 miles of Fitzrovia, according to the Fitzrovia Partnership's 2014 Economic Report . Objection was raised by the local community over plans announced in July 2010 to demolish and redevelop the site of an 18th-century building in Cleveland Street, originally a poorhouse for
3652-601: The dissolute novelist (based on the real Julian MacLaren-Ross ) in Anthony Powell 's Books Do Furnish a Room (1971), spends much of his time holding forth in Fitzrovia pubs. In Saul Bellow 's The Dean's December (1982), the eponym , Corde dines at the Étoile, Charlotte Street, on his trips to London, and thinks he "could live happily ever after on Charlotte Street"; Ian McEwan quotes this in Saturday (2005). McEwan lived in Fitzroy Square, and his novel takes place in
3735-404: The film Peeping Tom (1960) were shot in and around Newman Passage and Rathbone Street. Parts of Sapphire (1959) were filmed around Charlotte Street. Parts of Phantom Thread (2017) were filmed on Fitzroy Square and Grafton Mews. British singer-songwriter Donovan 's second album Fairytale features the evocative song Sunny Goodge Street about scoring hashish in the neighborhood. This
3818-555: The house band of psychedelic London, was held in the basement of 31 Tottenham Court Road. Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix also played at the Speakeasy on Margaret Street and Bob Dylan made his London debut at the King & Queen pub on Foley Street. Oxford Street's 100 Club is a major hot-bed for music from the 1960s to the present day, and has roots in 1970s Britain's burgeoning Punk rock movement. The band Coldplay formed in Ramsay Hall,
3901-459: The late-19th/early-20th centuries when rebuilding was dictated by the expiration of individual 99-year leases, and is evident in the buildings in existence today. The most coherent element to the architecture is the predominance of Edwardian buildings to the north and Victorian buildings towards Oxford Street , particularly noticeable when there has been occasional consolidation of plots, leading to consistent façades above street level such as in
3984-469: The motor trade on the street. They were represented by the Carlton Carriage Co; and well-established firms included light car specialists Mebes & Mebes, founded in 1893 amongst numerous others. Speedometer House, built in 1913 at №179, was a London motor industry landmark. Its top two floors were devoted to the production of Smiths speedometers, gauges and other instruments, while the basement
4067-516: The name Fitzrovia, perhaps as a take on Belgravia. By the time Julian Maclaren-Ross met Tambimuttu and Dylan Thomas in the early 1940s this literary group had moved away from the Fitzroy Tavern, which had become a victim of its own success, and were hanging out in the lesser-known Wheatsheaf and others in Rathbone Place and Gresse Street . Maclaren-Ross recalls Tambimuttu saying: "Now we go to
4150-646: The new Middlesex Hospital project was submitted in August 2011 and it is understood that Exemplar would commence the redevelopment works in January 2012. The new Middlesex Hospital development was completed in 2014. Separately, Derwent London plc acquired 800,000 square feet (74,000 m ) of property in the area to add to its existing Fitzrovia portfolio after a merger with London Merchant Securities. The company then held about 1,000,000 square feet (93,000 m ) of property over more than 30 sites in Fitzrovia. In November 2009
4233-438: The north, Oxford Street to the south and Great Portland Street to the west. Some interpretations take Tottenham Court Road as the eastern boundary, but others prefer a wider interpretation, extending to the more easterly Gower Street . By these definitions, the area overlaps the long established and once formally defined districts of Marylebone in the City of Westminster (Western Fitzrovia overlaps almost completely with
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#17330858851254316-445: The officially designated East Marylebone Conservation Area within the modern borough of Westminster ), with the core area forming the south-west part of St Pancras in the London Borough of Camden. If the eastern boundary is taken to extend beyond Tottenham Court Road (i.e., to Gower Street) and to also extend south of Torrington Place, then the area also overlaps the historic boundaries of Bloomsbury (including St Giles with which it
4399-569: The parish of St Paul's, Covent Garden , and later the Cleveland Street Workhouse . Fitzrovia was a notable artistic and bohemian centre from roughly from the mid-1920s to the present day. Amongst those known to have lived locally and frequented public houses in the area such as the Fitzroy Tavern and the Wheatsheaf are Augustus John , Quentin Crisp , Dylan Thomas , Aleister Crowley ,
4482-560: The photographer Richard Ansett have shown at the chapel. The chapel is also used for weddings and fashion shows. Books about Fitzrovia include: London's Old Latin Quarter , by E. Beresford Chancellor, published by Jonathan Cape, 1930; Fitzrovia , by Nick Bailey, published by Historical Publications, 1981, ISBN 0-9503656-2-9 ; and Characters of Fitzrovia by Mike Pentelow and Marsha Rowe , published by Chatto & Windus (2001) and Pimlico (2002), ISBN 0-7126-8015-2 . Parts of
4565-406: The prevalence of use having waxed and waned since that time. The core area of Fitzrovia has its roots in the ancient manor (estate) of Tottenham Court – first recorded as Þottanheale, from a charter from around AD 1000 (though the initial 'Þ', pronounced 'th', may have been a mistake by the scribe, all subsequent records using an initial 'T'). The manor was subsequently described as Totehele in
4648-566: The pub's customers. The name was recorded in print for the first time by Tom Driberg MP in the William Hickey gossip column of the Daily Express in 1940. The writer and dandy Julian MacLaren-Ross recalled in his Memoirs of the Forties that Meary James Thurairajah Tambimuttu aka "Tambi", editor of Poetry London , had used the name Fitzrovia. Tambi had apparently claimed to have coined
4731-606: The racing tipster Prince Monolulu , Nina Hamnett and George Orwell . The Newman Arms on Rathbone Street , features in Orwell's novels Keep the Aspidistra Flying (1936) and Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), as well as the Michael Powell film Peeping Tom (1960). Thomas Paine 's Rights of Man (1791) was published during his residence at 154 New Cavendish Street, in reply to Edmund Burke (author of Reflections on
4814-543: The site of the Scala Cinema and later still of Channel 4 Television. The branch of Bertorelli's Italian Restaurant on Charlotte Street was prominently featured in the film Sliding Doors . Guy Ritchie more recently made RocknRolla using Charlotte Mews. The Fitzrovia Chapel , in Pearson Square, is a Grade II* listed building which hosts exhibitions throughout the year. Stephen Friedman Gallery, Erskine, Hall and Coe and
4897-477: The square and the tavern are in the east of the area). Until the end of the 19th century the area was an estate of the Dukes of Grafton , descended from Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton , a son of Charles II and Barbara Villiers who bore the royal bastard surname FitzRoy, Norman-French for "son of the king". ) The name Fitzrovia came into use in the late 1930s among an artistic, bohemian circle that were among
4980-404: The street as a basis; from the street many others start or end. Great Portland Street runs straight, north-south. The layout, combined with its width and the concentration of shops along its length, means it has for a long time been a local centre and thoroughfare, connecting the residential areas around Regent's Park with the West End . It has also resulted in it becoming a divider, emphasising
5063-528: The street in the first decades of the last century. Other manufacturers with offices and or showrooms on Great Portland Street included Beardmore Motors Limited as well as the Le Zebre , Maxwell , Morgan Motor and Phoenix Car companies. The Indian Motorcycle Company opened its showroom at №s 168-202 in 1908. Coach builders in Great Portland Street were a crucial prerequisite for the development of
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#17330858851255146-497: The street's layout and character. Edward Harley – Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, who married Lady Henrietta Cavendish – was responsible for the development of the Portland Estate , building up Cavendish Square in 1717 then the rest of its land to the north and east. Great Portland stresses the descent of the land and buildings through Dukes' successive ownerships. Many local street names reflect their overall ownership, albeit less obviously. Development up to Great Titchfield Street
5229-408: The street. Discovery Channel Europe and Mac 7 TV, among some other TV channels that were also based here. Double Negative (VFX) , a British full-service motion picture company, is located on the Great Portland Street. Great Portland Street, also known as "Motor Row", was a primary street for cars and related accessories in the early years of the 20th century. The Benz Motor dealership was located in
5312-612: The tiny remnant that remains today on Wells Street, opposite what would have been the Tiger public house — now a rubber clothing emporium. In addition to Fitzroy Square and nearby Fitzroy Street, there are numerous locations named for the FitzRoy family and Devonshire / Portland family, both significant local landowners. Charles FitzRoy was the grandson of Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton , hence Grafton Way and Grafton Mews. William Bentinck, 2nd Duke of Portland and his wife Margaret Harley lend their names to Portland Place , Great Portland Street and Harley Street . Margaret Harley
5395-425: The traditional link to studios. Charlotte Street was for many years the home of the British advertising industry and is now known for its many and diverse restaurants. Today the district still houses several major advertising agencies including Saatchi & Saatchi and TBWA as well as CHI & Partners, Fallon , Dare Digital and Target Media Group. However, the modular ex-BT building occupied by McCann-Erickson
5478-484: The urban grain of the St Pancras streets to the east. The most prominent feature of the area is the BT Tower , Cleveland Street , which is one of London's tallest buildings and was open to the public until an IRA bomb exploded in the revolving restaurant in 1971. Another notable modern building is the YMCA Indian Student Hostel on Fitzroy Square, one of the few surviving buildings by Ralph Tubbs . The Middlesex Hospital, which closed in 2005 covered an extensive part of
5561-445: The very early 20th century on the street at its intersection with Weymouth Street where Villandry Restaurant was located (now Sixes Cricket). By the mid-Twenties Great Portland Street had become a dominant motor vehicle trading venue—with no less than 33 showrooms located along the street. Other manufacturers, including the big names of Vauxhall , Jaguar , Austin , Auto-Union DKW , and the DORT Motor Company were also represented on
5644-400: The worst living environment in the country according to a government report that ranked sub-wards by quality of housing, air quality and the number of road traffic accidents. The area lost much of its housing stock to other land uses during the 1960s, leading to the creation of resident's groups seeking to preserve the residential character of the district. The Charlotte Street Association
5727-477: Was a favourite gathering place for many artists and musicians. This was perhaps due in part to the restaurant's proximity to Queen's Hall on Langham Place. Its Artist Room walls were decorated by over 5,000 notes and signatures of its many important artists of the period who included Paderewski , Puccini , Chaminade , Chevalier , Calvé , Piatti , Plançon , De Lucia , Melba , Menpes , Tosti , Sarah Bernhardt , Whistler amongst numerous others. Pagani's
5810-425: Was a residential community that wanted its voice heard. The adoption of the name by the campaign groups, covering self-defined areas, meant the name Fitzrovia became applied to a fairly well defined area, one larger than that to which it was once loosely applied. The Newspaper continued to use the names Towerland , Fitzrovia and East Marylebone (for the area in the City of Westminster) in parallel. The following year,
5893-401: Was based at №180 until 2017 BBC Radio 1 's headquarters were also on Great Portland Street in Yalding House until 2012. Similarly, Radio 2 and 6 Music were also on the street at № 99 ( Wogan House ) until 2024. Virgin Media (including Virgin Mobile ) was based at № 160 Great Portland Street, which also at one time housed UKTV, Virgin Media Television and IDS during Virgin's presence on
5976-471: Was bombed during the Blitz but survived for a time after the war. It had first opened in 1871. The Philharmonic Hall was erected on the site of the new St. James Hall on Great Portland Street in 1907. Sir Ernest Shackleton appeared in person there in 1920 when he presented a film of his Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. Some of the artistic and entertainment energy of the area dissipated after Queen's Hall
6059-603: Was daughter of Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer , for whom Oxford Street (the southern boundary of Fitzrovia) and Mortimer Street are named. The Marquessate of Titchfield is a subsidiary title to the Dukedom of Portland, hence Great Titchfield Street. William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland (Prime Minister) married Dorothy Cavendish, daughter of William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire (also Prime Minister), and they lend their names to New Cavendish Street, Cavendish Square and Devonshire Street. The name of
6142-469: Was demolished in 2006 after the firm moved to an art deco home in nearby Bloomsbury . A number of television production and post-production companies are based in the area, MTV Networks Europe , Nickelodeon , rogue and CNN Europe being headquartered here. ITN used to be based at 48 Wells Street during the 1980s, with its Factual Department still housed on Mortimer Street, and Channel 4 was, until 1994, situated on Charlotte Street, and talkbackTHAMES
6225-479: Was destroyed by incendiary bombs in May 1941. Great Portland Street still hints at its past when it was a major centre for London's women's clothing industry. During the late 1950 and 1960s, garment related businesses could be found all along the length of the street. The clothing trade took to this street, setting up small stock and workrooms in the early 1900s. Over time, these grew into larger showrooms which represented
6308-524: Was formed in 1970, and the Whitfield Study Group began issuing The Tower (later renamed Fitzrovia News) newspaper from 1973. At this time the Newspaper was distributed in an area between Euston Road and Oxford Street, Great Portland Street and Tottenham Court Road. The newspaper called the area Towerland , after the then new BT Tower. The name Fitzrovia was revived when the first Fitzrovia Festival
6391-654: Was given over to the production of carburettors. John Donald "Jack" Barclay, after leaving the Royal Flying Corps at the end of the First World War , set up the Barclay & Wyse partnership at №91 in 1922 to sell Vauxhall automobiles. The head offices of the UK's Retail Motor Industry Federation was located at №201 until 2024. The German composers Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847) and Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826) both lived and worked on Great Portland Street. №103
6474-531: Was gradually developed by a senior branch of the Cavendish-Bentinck family, the Dukes of Portland , who owned most of the eastern half of Marylebone in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was first rated as John Street in 1726. Great Portland Street then went on to have some prominence with the arts, the motor, garment and broadcast industries. A campaign to add to its trees began in 2009. Different owners and interests influenced development; these shaped
6557-400: Was held in 1973. The festival had the theme "The people live here!". The organisers sought a name for the festival and an elderly resident named Eric Singer suggested using the name Fitzrovia, a name he remembered hearing in the 1940s, but which had fallen out of use. The purpose of the festival, still held on a regular basis, was to demonstrate that among the offices, restaurants and cafes there
6640-563: Was home to music hall, ballet and pantomime. Before its demolition in 1969, to make way for the office block and hotel that exists now, it was used inside for the filming in 1964 of the Beatles' film A Hard Day's Night , the Mr Universe World competitions, and Sotheby's Auction in 1968 of the Diaghilev costumes and curtains. It was also briefly in the 1970s, in the basement of the office block,
6723-475: Was home to writers such as Virginia Woolf , George Bernard Shaw and Arthur Rimbaud . In 2016, The Sunday Times named it the best place to live in London. For a list of street name etymologies in Fitzrovia see: Street names of Fitzrovia . Fitzrovia has never been an administrative unit, so has never had formal boundaries applied, but the somewhat grid-like pattern of local streets has lent itself to informal quadrangular definitions, with Euston Road to
6806-455: Was long joined as a combined parish). In 2014 Camden Council and Westminster City Council designated east and west areas as planning policy areas. Together these relate fairly closely to the wider interpretations, described above. Fitzrovia is named after either Fitzroy Square or the Fitzroy Tavern , a public house situated on the corner of Charlotte Street and Windmill Street (both
6889-551: Was through the Portland Estate, competing against adjoining estates. The Berners family owned land to the east; they developed Wells Street and Rathbone Place in the mid-18th century. At the same time the Middlesex Hospital expanded on land on a 99-year lease around Mortimer Street, encroaching on Riding House and Cleveland Streets . These unrelated developers with different designs explains the asymmetrical street grid using
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