Aldwych
Aldwych (pronounced
The name means "old port", and in Anglo-Saxon times it was the port of the City of London.
The semi-circular design of the street of Aldwych arises from its function, making navigable the gradient of the fall in levels between the roads connected by the street: the south end of
It forms part of the A4 road from London to Avonmouth, Bristol.The Aldwych area forms part of the Northbank business improvement district.
Landmarks
Aldwych, the street, is a crescent, connected to the
Theatres:
- Aldwych Theatre, opened in 1905
- Novello Theatre, opened in 1905
High Commissions:
- India House, the High Commission of India in London
- Australia House, the High Commission of Australia in London
Hotels and Restaurants:
- The Waldorf Hilton, London, a hotel opened in 1908
- The ME Hotel, designed by Richard Rogers
- One Aldwych
Universities:
- Bush House, King House, Melbourne House and Strand House - making up the Aldwych Quarter - formerly the office headquarters of the BBC World Service from 1941 to 2012 and now part of the Strand Campus of King's College London
- Connaught House, Columbia House, Aldwych House, and Clement House, buildings of the London School of Economics
Former buildings include:
- Gaiety Theatre, opened in 1864 and closed in 1939
- Television House (now known as 61 Aldwych), former headquarters of several defunct ITV franchise contractors and ITN
Facing one end of the street on the Strand is closed-in-1994 Aldwych station, originally named Strand station. It has been used when closed for scenes of films and television dramas.
History
In the seventh century, the area was an
St Clement Danes is one of the four ancient Westminster parishes and was first recorded in the 1190s; it once covered the whole of Aldwych and all adjoining areas.[4] Its church, which features in the first line of the nursery rhyme Oranges and Lemons, was rebuilt by Wren. The civil parish was abolished in 1922. It is open to - and it is known by residents and businesses to - use the term St Clement Danes interchangeably with Aldwych, which also covered in its final, smallest form the Adelphi and much of the Strand.
The urban centre of Lundenwic was unearthed in the 1980s after extensive excavations, and were reinterpreted as being urban in character. These conclusions were reached independently by two archaeologists (
The street was created in the early 20th century in a project that saw a new street layout destroying Wych Street which was full of overhangs and projections, and the construction of Australia House (built 1913–18) and Bush House (completed 1925). A statue of the 19th-century prime minister William Ewart Gladstone was installed in 1905 near St Clement Danes church, at the eastern end of Aldwych.
In 1906, Aldwych tramway station was opened underneath Kingsway; it closed in 1952. In 1907, Aldwych station was opened on the Strand opposite Aldwych; it closed in 1994.
In 2021, the Strand was pedestrianised between Melbourne Place and Lancaster Place, and Aldwych was converted into a two-way street.
References
- ^ Macartney, Mervyn Edmund (June–December 1899). "From Holborn to the Strand: An Ideal Street". The Architectural Review. 6: 239–244.
- ^ "The Northbank District". Archived from the original on 12 March 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
- Clarendon Press(1910), at p. 357
- ^ "Middlesex and London". Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
- ^ Hobley B, Lundenwic and Lundenburh: two cities rediscovered, AHDS Archaeology, University of York (PDF)