Great Marlborough Street

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Liberty store on Great Marlborough Street

Great Marlborough Street runs west to east through the western part of Soho in London. At its western end it joins Regent Street. Carnaby Street also runs off it on its way east to meet Berwick Street.

The construction of Great Marlborough Street began in the early 18th century. A tablet formerly attached to a house at the corner of Great Marlborough Street and Foubert's Passage (now Place) was inscribed "Marlborough Street 1704", the name being in honour of the commander of the English Army, John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough. Initially the street was a fashionable address. Out of one hundred peers summoned before the King in 1716, five lived in Great Marlborough Street. In the 19th century the street became mainly commercial and remains so today. Most of the present buildings are replacements dating from the Victorian Era or later.

Great Marlborough Street is the location of the Tudor wing of Liberty's department store, a few foreign language bookshops, offices and the back entrance to Marks and Spencer's Oxford Street branch. The European Headquarters of Sony Playstation and London Studios are also located on the street as was the London College of Music until that institution removed to Ealing in west London in 1991.

[edit] Trivia

Great Marlborough Street is on the British coat of arms.
The Marlboro brand of cigarettes is named after Great Marlborough Street, the location of its original London factory.