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Information about West End Of London

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The interior of Covent Garden Market in the West End
The West End of London is an area of Central London, England, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, businesses, and administrative headquarters. It also includes most of its major theatres, and indeed the term "West End" has become synonymous with London's commercial theatre (see West End theatre). Colloquially and symbolically, the West End can be seen as one of three poles in central London: the City for finance (and to a lesser extent business in general), Westminster for government (Whitehall and Parliament), and the West End for entertainment and retail.

Location

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Shaftesbury Avenue from Piccadilly Circus in 1949
Located to the west of the historic Roman and Mediaeval 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 also located close to the royal seat of power at Westminster, and is largely contained within the City of Westminster (one of the 32 London boroughs). Developed in the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it was originally built as a series of palaces, expensive town houses, fashionable shops and places of entertainment. The areas closest to the City around Holborn, Seven Dials and Covent Garden historically contained poorer communities that were cleared and redeveloped in the nineteenth century.

The name "West End" is a flexible term with different meanings in different contexts. It may refer to the entertainment district around Leicester Square and Covent Garden; to the shopping district centred on Oxford Street, Regent Street, and Bond Street (but the geographically distinct shopping district around Knightsbridge would also be counted as "West End Shopping" by some); or, less commonly, to the whole of that part of Central London (itself an area with no generally agreed boundaries) which lies to the west of the City of London. It is one of two international centres identified in the London Plan; the other is Knightsbridge.

One of the local government wards within the City of Westminster is called "West End". It is bounded by the City of London to the east, the Thames to the south east, Horseferry Road and Victoria Street to the south, Grosvenor Place to the west and Piccadilly and Long Acre to the north. [1] This is quite a narrow boundary. However, in the United Kingdom, ward boundaries are generally only familiar to people involved in local politics and administration, and this ward carries little weight as an "official" definition of the West End, and is not intended to do so.

Activities

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Her Majesty's Theatre in Haymarket, home to Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera.
Taking a fairly broad definition of the West End, the area contains the main concentrations of most of London's metropolitan activities apart from financial services, which are concentrated primarily in the City of London. There are major concentrations of the following buildings and activities in the West End:
  • Art galleries and museums
  • Company headquarters outside the financial services sector (although London's many hedge funds are based mainly in the West End)
  • Educational institutions
  • Embassies
  • Government buildings (mainly around Whitehall)
  • Hotels
  • Institutes, learned societies and think tanks
  • Legal institutions
  • Media establishments
  • Places of entertainment: theatres; cinemas; nightclubs; bars and restaurants
  • Shops
The annual New Year’s Day Parade takes place on the streets of the West End. West End Live, a showcase of musical theatre, takes place in Leicester Square in June.

Districts in the West End

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Trafalgar Square viewed from the northeast corner.
Using the broadest definition, these are the inner districts of the West End, which were all developed by about 1815: The districts to the south, north and west of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens were developed between the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 and the late 19th century, in some cases based on existing villages. The more fashionable of them were generally regarded as being in the West End at that time, but the extension of the term to these areas west of Park Lane is less common nowadays. The last two listed especially are fringe cases:

Famous streets in the West End

Notable squares and circuses in the West End

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Marble Arch
The West End is laid out with many notable public squares and circuses, the later being the original name for roundabouts in London.

See also

  • Theatreland

Transport

London Underground Stations in the West End National Rail Station in the West End
  • Charing Cross Station.

External links

  • Shop West End London Official website of London's New West End with information on events, shops, opening times, parking, congestion charging, safety and links to the represented Bond Street, Oxford Street and Regent Street.
  • New West End BID New West End Company is a business led partnership working to create a more profitable trading environment for the West End’s three famous shopping Streets – Bond Street, Oxford Street and Regent Street. The Company was formally established as a Business Improvement District (BID) on 4 April 2005 for an initial three-year period.
  • London's West End Theatres Information and archive material on London's historic West End Theatres.
  • Some Old Postcards of London's West End



Informal divisions of London
North West | North | North East West | West End | Central | East End | East South West | South | South East


Coordinates:
The term Central London refers to the districts of London which are considered closest to the centre. There is no such conventional definition, nor any official one, for the entire area that can be called "central London".
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Motto
Dieu et mon droit   (French)
"God and my right"
Anthem
No official anthem specific to England — the anthem of the United Kingdom is "God Save the Queen".
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Theatre (or theater, see spelling differences) (from French "théâtre", from Greek "theatron", θέατρον, meaning "place of seeing") is the branch of the performing arts defined as simply as what "occurs when one or more
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London
Canary Wharf is the centre of London's modern office towers
London shown within England
Coordinates:
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Constituent country England
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West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre in London, England, or sometimes more specifically for shows staged in the large theatres of London's "Theatreland".
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The term Central London refers to the districts of London which are considered closest to the centre. There is no such conventional definition, nor any official one, for the entire area that can be called "central London".
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For London as a whole, see the main article London.
For wider coverage, visit the .

City of London

Coat of arms
Motto: Domine dirige nos Latin: Lord, guide us
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Westminster


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Whitehall is a road in Westminster in London, England. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, towards traditional Charing Cross, now at the southern end of Trafalgar Square and marked by the statue of Charles I, which is often regarded as the heart of London.
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State Party United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Type Cultural
Criteria i, ii, iv
Reference 426
Region Europe and North America

Inscription History
Inscription
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    Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410. The Romans referred to their province as Britannia.
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    Middle Ages form the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three "ages": the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages and Modern Times.
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    For London as a whole, see the main article London.
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    City of London

    Coat of arms
    Motto: Domine dirige nos Latin: Lord, guide us
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    Westminster


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    City of Westminster

    Shown within Greater London
    Geography
    Status London borough
    City (1540)
    Area
    — Total Ranked 346th
    21.
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    London boroughs. Twelve of these plus the City of London constitute Inner London, while twenty others constitute Outer London.

    Map


    1. City of London †
    2. City of Westminster
    3. Kensington and Chelsea
    4. Hammersmith and Fulham

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    As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th Century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700 in the Gregorian calendar.

    The 17th Century falls into the Early Modern period of Europe and was characterized by the Baroque cultural movement and the beginning of
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    The 18th Century lasted from 1701 through 1800 in the Gregorian calendar.

    Historians sometimes specifically define the 18th Century otherwise for the purposes of their work.
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    For the periodical, see .
    The 19th Century (also written XIX century) lasted from 1801 through 1900 in the Gregorian calendar. It is often referred to as the "1800s.
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    Holborn


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    Seven Dials is a small road junction in the West End of London near Covent Garden. The largest road passing through it is Monmouth Street.

    The term also refers informally to the immediate vicinity of the junction, although this is a somewhat historical usage.
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    Covent Garden is a district in London, England, located on the easternmost parts of the City of Westminster and the southwest corner of the London Borough of Camden. The area is dominated by shopping, street performers and entertainment facilities and contains an entrance to the
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    Leicester Square (pronounced "Lester Square") is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London. The Square lies within an area bound by Lisle Street, to the north; Charing Cross Road, to the east; Orange Street, to the south; and Whitcomb Street, to the west.
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    Covent Garden is a district in London, England, located on the easternmost parts of the City of Westminster and the southwest corner of the London Borough of Camden. The area is dominated by shopping, street performers and entertainment facilities and contains an entrance to the
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    Oxford Street is a major thoroughfare in London, England in the City of Westminster. With over 300 shops, it is Europe's largest shopping street.[1]

    It runs for approximately a mile and a half from Marble Arch at the north east corner of Hyde Park, through Oxford
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    Regent Street is a major shopping street and thoroughfare in London's West End. Named after the Prince Regent (later George IV), it was built by John Nash as part of a ceremonial route from the Regent's residence at Carlton House in St James's to Regent's Park.
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    Bond Street is a major shopping street in London which runs through Mayfair from Piccadilly in the south to Oxford Street in the north. It is one of the principal streets in the West End shopping district and is more upmarket than nearby Regent Street and Oxford Street.
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    Knightsbridge


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    The term Central London refers to the districts of London which are considered closest to the centre. There is no such conventional definition, nor any official one, for the entire area that can be called "central London".
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    For London as a whole, see the main article London.
    For wider coverage, visit the .

    City of London

    Coat of arms
    Motto: Domine dirige nos Latin: Lord, guide us
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