Strand, London
Part of | A4 |
---|---|
Maintained by | Transport for London |
Length | 0.8 mi (1.3 km)[1] |
Postal code | WC2 |
Nearest Tube station | |
Coordinates | 51°30′41″N 0°07′08″W / 51.5114°N 0.1190°W |
Strand (or the Strand)
The road's name comes from the
At the east end of the street are two
Several authors, poets and philosophers have lived on or near the Strand, including Charles Dickens, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Virginia Woolf. The street has been commemorated in the 19th century music hall song "Let's All Go Down the Strand".
Geography
The street is the main link between the two cities of Westminster and London.[8] It runs eastward from Trafalgar Square, parallel to the River Thames, to Temple Bar which is the boundary between the two cities at this point; the road ahead being Fleet Street.[1] Traffic travelling eastbound follows a short crescent around Aldwych, connected at both ends to the Strand. The road marks the southern boundary of the Covent Garden district[9] and forms part of the Northbank business improvement district.[10]
The name was first recorded in 1002 as strondway,[11][8] then in 1185 as Stronde and in 1220 as la Stranda.[12] It is formed from the Old English word 'strond', meaning the edge of a river.[8] Initially it referred to the shallow bank of the once much wider Thames, before the construction of the Victoria Embankment. The name was later applied to the road itself. In the 13th century it was known as 'Densemanestret' or 'street of the Danes', referring to the community of Danes in the area.[12]
Two London Underground stations were once named Strand: a Piccadilly line station (which was renamed Aldwych station) that operated between 1907 and 1994[13] and a former Northern line station which today forms part of Charing Cross station. 'Strand Bridge' was the name given to Waterloo Bridge during its construction; it was renamed for its official opening on the second anniversary of the coalition victory in the Battle of Waterloo.[14] London Bus routes 6, 23, 139 and 176 all run along the Strand, as do numerous night bus services.[15]
History
During
In the
The west part of the Strand was in the parish of St Martin in the Fields[23] and in the east it extended into the parishes of St Clement Danes and St Mary le Strand. Most of its length was in the Liberty of Westminster,[24] although part of the eastern section in St Clement Danes was in the Ossulstone hundred of Middlesex.[25] The Strand was the northern boundary of the precinct of the Savoy, which was approximately where the approach to Waterloo Bridge is now.[26] All of these parishes and places became part of the Strand District in 1855, except St Martin in the Fields which was governed separately.[27] The Strand District Board of Works was based at No. 22, Tavistock Street.[28] Strand District was abolished in October 1900 and became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Westminster.[29]
Palaces
From the 12th century onwards, large mansions lined the Strand including several palaces and townhouses inhabited by bishops and royal courtiers, mainly on the south side, with their own river gates and landings directly on the Thames. The road was poorly maintained, with many pits and sloughs, and a paving order was issued in 1532 to improve traffic.[30]
What later became
Other significant palaces along the Strand include Worcester House, formerly the Inn, or residence, of the
Apart from the rebuilt Somerset House, all of these buildings have been demolished and replaced from the 17th century onwards.[30] A New Exchange was built on part of the gardens of Durham House, in 1608–1609, facing the Strand. This high-class shopping centre enjoyed considerable popularity but was eventually destroyed in 1737.[44]
Modern era
During the 17th century, many of the grand mansions on the Strand were demolished as the aristocracy moved to the West End.[30] The Duck and Drake tavern on Strand was famed as a venue for the conspirators involved in the Gunpowder Plot.[43][45] In the time of the Civil War, the Nag's Head tavern was the venue of a meeting between Henry Ireton and some of the Levellers which resulted in the production of Remonstrance of the Army, demanding the abolition of the monarchy and the trial of King Charles I.[46]
In the 18th century,
In the 19th century, much of the Strand was rebuilt, and the houses to the south no longer backed onto the Thames and no longer had direct boat access, separated from the river by the
The architect John Nash redeveloped the western end of the Strand in the 1830s, including the construction of Charing Cross Hospital,[49] later (1990s) converted for use as Charing Cross police station.[54]
The street became well known for theatres, and at one point contained more than any other; including the Tivoli Music Hall at No. 65, the Adelphi, Gaiety, Savoy, Terry's and Vaudeville. In the 21st century, only the Adelphi, Vaudeville and Savoy remain.[55] The Piccadilly branch line from Holborn to Aldwych was built partly to serve theatre traffic.[13]
The
Charing Cross railway station was built on the Strand in 1864, providing a boat train service to Europe, which stimulated the growth of hotels in the area to cater for travellers. These included the Charing Cross Hotel, attached to the station itself. Today, there are several luggage outlets and tourist agents on the Strand, as well as old postage stamp dealers.[58] The philatelist Stanley Gibbons opened a shop at No. 435 in 1891. It moved to No. 391 in 1893, and is now currently based at No. 399.[59]
The
Between January 2021[64] and December 2022[65] Westminster City Council's Strand Aldwych Scheme works took place, pedestrianising Strand between Melbourne Place and Lancaster Place whilst Aldwych was converted into a two-way street.[66]
Churches
The church of St Clement Danes is believed to date from the 9th century. The name may have come from Harold Harefoot, a Danish king who ruled England around 1035–1040 and is buried in the church, or from a place of refuge for Danes after the conquest of Alfred the Great. It was transferred to the Order of the Knights Templar by Henry II in 1189. It survived the Great Fire in 1666, but was declared unsafe and rebuilt by Christopher Wren in 1679. The building was damaged during the Blitz in 1941, gutting much of the interior, and was rebuilt in 1958 by Sam Lloyd, since when it has served as the central church of the Royal Air Force.[67][68][69] The church is one of two possible origins for the "St Clement's" in the nursery rhyme "Oranges and Lemons", though more contemporary accounts suggest St Clement's, Eastcheap in the City of London to be more likely.[70]
St Mary le Strand was designed by James Gibbs and completed in 1717, to replace a previous church demolished to make way for Somerset House. It was the first building to be designed by Gibbs, who was influenced by Wren and Michelangelo. The column on top of the church was originally designed to support a statue of Queen Anne, but was replaced with a spire following Anne's death in 1714. It survived the Blitz but was in poor shape until John Betjeman led a campaign to restore it in the 1970s.[71] Essex Street Chapel, the birthplace of British Unitarianism, abuts onto the Strand. The original chapel was built in 1774, but damaged in the Blitz. It was restored after the war, and now serves as the denominational headquarters of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches.[72]
Notable residents
The print seller Rudolph Ackermann lived and worked at No. 101 The Strand between 1797 and 1827. His shop was one of the first to have gas lighting fitted.[30]
In the 19th century, The Strand became a newly fashionable address and many avant-garde writers and thinkers gathered here, among them
Cultural references
The Strand is the subject of a famous
The standard British Monopoly board has Strand in a group with the nearby Fleet Street and Trafalgar Square.[91]
See also
- Australia House
- Gibraltar House
- Lancaster Place
- Savoy Court
- Southampton Street
- Strand School
- Zimbabwe House
References
Explanatory notes
- ^ The official documentation from Westminster City Council calls the road simply "Strand", as do the street name-plates.[2]
- ^ The phrase "have a banana" was not part of the original song but was popularly inserted by singers; at the time the banana was an exotic delicacy.[79]
Citations
- ^ a b "1 Strand, London WC2N to 204 Strand WC2R". Google Maps. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
- ^ "Strand Detail" (PDF). Westminster City Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 January 2016. Retrieved 28 December 2015. But in colloquial speech it is normally "the Strand", especially after prepositions such as "to", "on", or "from".
- ^ "History". 24 September 2016.
- ^ "About". 5 July 2015. Archived from the original on 3 December 2017. Retrieved 3 December 2017.
- ^ "King's Collections : Online Exhibitions : The Founding of the College". www.kingscollections.org.
- ^ "History of the Strand campus – King's Alumni Community". alumni.kcl.ac.uk.
- ^ "King's College London is ripping down London's history – Apollo Magazine". 24 April 2015.
- ^ a b c d Weinreb et al. 2008, p. 882.
- ^ Weinreb et al. 2008, pp. 213–214.
- ^ "The Boundary". Northbank. Archived from the original on 12 March 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
- ^ Nikolaus Pevsner (1951). The buildings of England. Vol. 41. Penguin Books.
- ^ a b Mills 2010, p. 237.
- ^ a b c Moore 2003, p. 198.
- ^ Weinreb et al. 2008, p. 991.
- ^ "Central London Bus Map" (PDF). Transport for London. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 March 2017. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
- ^ "ANTONINE ITINERARY". www.roman-britain.org. Archived from the original on 10 July 2010. Retrieved 31 July 2010.
- ^ Thomas Codrington, Roman Roads in Britain. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, London, 1903 (republished on LacusCurtius). Retrieved 31 July 2010.
- ^ J S Cockburn; H P F King; K G T McDonnell, eds. (1969). "Archaeology: The Romano-British Period". A History of the County of Middlesex. 1, Physique, Archaeology, Domesday, Ecclesiastical Organization, the Jews, Religious Houses, Education of Working Classes To 1870, Private Education From Sixteenth Century. London: 64–74. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
- ^ a b Clark, John (Autumn 1999). "King Alfred's London and London's King Alfred" (PDF). London Archaeologist".
- ^ "Museum of London – Early years of Lundenwic". www.museumoflondon.org.uk. Retrieved 27 July 2010.
- ^ a b The Strand (southern tributaries). Old and New London: Volume 3. 1878. pp. 63–84. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
- ^ "Renovated Eleanor's Cross in Charing Cross unveiled". BBC News. 9 August 2010. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
- ^ Thornbury, Walter (1878). "St Martin-in-the-Fields". Old and New London. 3. London: 149–160. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
- ^ Noorthouck, John (1773). "The parishes of the Liberty of Westminster". A New History of London Including Westminster and Southwark. Book 4, Ch. 3. London: 717–738. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
- ^ A P Baggs, Diane K Bolton, M A Hicks and R B Pugh (1980). T F T Baker; C R Elrington (eds.). "Ossulstone Hundred". A History of the County of Middlesex. 6 : Friern Barnet, Finchley, Hornsey With Highgate. London: 1–5. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
{{cite journal}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Thornbury, Walter (1878). "The Savoy". Old and New London. 3. London: 95–100. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
- ^ F H W Sheppard, ed. (1966). "Estate and Parish History". Survey of London. 33–34 : St Anne Soho. London: 20–26. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
- ^ F H W Sheppard, ed. (1970). "Southampton Street and Tavistock Street Area: Tavistock Street". Survey of London. 36 : Covent Garden. London: 218–222. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
- ^ Carpenter, Edward (1966). A house of kings: the history of Westminster Abbey. Baker. p. 463.
- ^ a b c d e f g Weinreb et al. 2008, p. 883.
- ^ Weinreb et al. 2008, p. 276.
- ^ Weinreb et al. 2008, pp. 29–30.
- ^ a b Weinreb et al. 2008, p. 849.
- ^ Weinreb et al. 2008, p. 825.
- ^ Weinreb et al. 2008, p. 255.
- ^ Weinreb et al. 2008, p. 1036.
- ^ Weinreb et al. 2008, p. 283.
- ^ Weinreb et al. 2008, pp. 282–283.
- ^ Weinreb et al. 2008, p. 1032.
- ^ Weinreb et al. 2008, p. 820.
- ISBN 978-1-847-25212-8.
- ^ Weinreb et al. 2008, p. 593.
- ^ a b Moore 2003, p. 197.
- ^ Weinreb et al. 2008, p. 539.
- ^ David Herber. "The Gunpowder Plot Society". Archived from the original on 18 March 2010.
- ^ Hibbert, Christopher (1993). Cavaliers and Roundheads: The English at War 1642–1649. Harper Collins. p. 280.
- ISBN 978-0-8442-9638-8.
- ^ "The manuscripts, Letter from Andrew Millar to Andrew Mitchell, 26 August, 1766. Andrew Millar Project. University of Edinburgh". www.millar-project.ed.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 June 2016.
- ^ a b Weinreb et al. 2008, p. 974.
- ^ Weinreb et al. 2008, p. 462.
- ^ Grove, Jack (2015). "Ed Byrne: 'new address is a defining moment for King's College London". Times Higher Education. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
- ^ Grove, Jack (2015). "King's College London to use former BBC World Service HQ". Times Higher Education. Retrieved 10 September 2015.
- ^ Weinreb et al. 2008, pp. 716–7.
- ^ "Charing Cross Hospital". Lost Hospitals of London. Retrieved 4 December 2018.
- ^ Weinreb et al. 2008, pp. 316, 883, 991.
- ^ a b Weinreb et al. 2008, p. 198.
- ^ Pearl, Cyril (1955). The Girl with the Swansdown Seat. London: Frederick Muller. pp. 180–7.
- ^ Moore 2003, p. 200.
- ^ "Stanley Gibbons : A Timeline". The Daily Telegraph. 26 March 2011. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
- ^ Weinreb et al. 2008, p. 884.
- ^ Clunn, Harold (1970). The Face of London. pp. 125–126.
- ^ "Oscar Wilde Archives". Strand Palace Hotel. Archived from the original on 18 September 2015. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
- ^ "London's Wilde Tribute". BBC News. 30 November 1998. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
- ^ "FAQ Strand Aldwych". Retrieved 1 May 2023.
- ^ "Transformed Strand Aldwych redevelopment officially opened". Retrieved 1 May 2023.
- ^ "Tour of Strand Aldwych: A work in progress". programme.openhouse.org.uk.
- ^ Weinreb et al. 2008, pp. 752–753.
- ^ "St Clement Danes". Royal Air Force. Archived from the original on 13 February 2015. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- ^ Lucas, Christopher (14 October 2009). "Sam Lloyd obituary | Art and design". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
- ^ Weinreb et al. 2008, p. 753.
- ^ Weinreb et al. 2008, p. 792.
- ^ Weinreb et al. 2008, p. 277.
- ^ "Rosemary Ashton". University College London. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 31 December 2015.
- ISBN 978-1-4464-2678-4.
- ISBN 978-1-107-00361-3.
- ^ "About us". King's College London. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
- ^ "Let's All Go Down the Strand". Music Files Ltd. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
- ^ "Let's All Go Down The Strand". Music Hall Monologues. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
- ^ "The banana returns". Joe Moran. 17 January 2011. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
- ^ "Orchestral delights". BBC Berkshire. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
- ^ "Betjeman's London: Let's All Go Down the Strand". BFI. Archived from the original on 16 January 2009. Retrieved 18 December 2008.
- ISBN 9780237494858.
- ISBN 978-0-19-957854-2.
- ISBN 978-1-4438-4392-8.
- ISBN 978-0-8014-8291-5.
- ISBN 978-1-139-44280-0.
- ISBN 978-971-23-1205-2.
- ^ "Poems on the Underground". The Poetry Society. Retrieved 29 January 2024.
- ^ "Arts and Culture". BBC World Service. Retrieved 18 December 2008.
- ^ Weinreb et al. 2008, p. 117.
- ^ Moore 2003, p. 185.
General sources
- Mills, A.D. (2010). A Dictionary of London Place Names. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-956678-5.
- Moore, Tim (2003). Do Not Pass Go. Vintage. ISBN 978-0-09-943386-6.
- Weinreb, Ben; Hibbert, Christopher; Keay, Julia; Keay, John (2008). The London Encyclopedia. Pan MacMillan. ISBN 978-1-4050-4924-5.
Further reading
- Charles Dickens (1882), "Strand", Dickens's Dictionary of London, London: Macmillan & Co.
- Herbert Fry (1880), "The Strand", London in 1880 Illustrated with Bird's-Eye Views of the Principal Streets. Also Its Chief Suburbs and Environs, London: David Bogue, OCLC 656947253
- ISBN 9780312157524
- Raymond Mander and Joe Mitchenson (1968). The Lost Theatres of London. Rupert Hart-Davis.
- Stoller, Nicholas A.; Eilenberg, David J., eds. (1998). "The Strand". London. OL 24256167M.
- OCLC 12878129
External links
- Strand, In Their Shoes, Strand history resource