Mayfair

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Mayfair
Mayfair shown within Greater London
OS grid reference	TQ285805
London borough	Westminster
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	W1
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
European Parliament	London
UK Parliament	Cities of London and Westminster
London Assembly	West Central
List of places: UK • England • London

Coordinates: 51°30′32″N 0°08′51″W / 51.508755, -0.14743

Mayfair is an area of central London in the City of Westminster.

[edit] History

Mayfair is named after the annual fortnight-long May Fair that took place on the site that is Shepherd Market_ today (from 1686 until it was banned in that location in 1764). Until 1686, the May Fair was held in Haymarket, and after 1764, it moved to Fair Field in Bow.

Mayfair is roughly bordered by Hyde Park to the west, Oxford Street to the north, Piccadilly and Green Park to the south and Regent Street to the east. Most of the area was first developed between the mid 17th century and the mid 18th century as a fashionable residential district, by a number of landlords, the most important of them the Grosvenor family. The freehold of a large section of Mayfair also belongs to the Crown Estate.

The district is now mainly commercial, with many offices in converted houses and new buildings, including major corporate headquarters, a concentration of hedge funds, and real estate businesses. Rents are among the highest in London and the world. There remains a substantial quantity of residential property as well as some exclusive shopping and London's largest concentration of luxury hotels and many restaurants. Buildings in Mayfair include the United States embassy in Grosvenor Square, the Royal Academy of Arts, The Handel House Museum, the Grosvenor House Hotel and Claridge's.

The renown and prestige of Mayfair has grown in the popular mind due to its designation as the most expensive property on a British Monopoly set.

[edit] Education

For education in Mayfair see the main City of Westminster article.

[edit] Streets and squares

Savile Row

The Royal Arcade in Old Bond Street

• Berkeley Square
• Bond Street
• Brook Street
• Brown Hart Gardens
• Dover Street
• Curzon Street
• Grosvenor Square
• Hanover Square
• Hill Street, London
• Hyde Park Corner - road junction at the south east corner
• Marble Arch - road junction/plaza at the north west corner
• Oxford Street - northern boundary
• Park Lane - western boundary
• Piccadilly - southern boundary
• Piccadilly Circus - road junction/plaza at the south east corner of Mayfair
• Regent Street - eastern boundary
• Savile Row
• Shepherd Market

[edit] Transport and locale

[edit] Location in Context

The north side of Grosvenor Square in the 18th or early 19th century. The three houses at the far left form a unified group, but the others on this side are individually designed. Most later London squares would be more uniform.

[edit] Nearest tube stations

• Bond Street tube station
• Green Park tube station
• Hyde Park Corner tube station
• Marble Arch tube station
• Oxford Circus tube station

• Also Down Street tube station - no longer in use

[edit] Nearest railway station

• Victoria station

[edit] Museums

• Handel House Museum
• Wallace Collection

[edit] Notable Residents

Famous past residents have included:

• Queen Elizabeth II, who was born in Bruton Street and lived in Mayfair during her infant years.
• John Adams, 2nd American president (1735–1826)
• Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, surgeon and mayor (1836–1917)
• Elizabeth Barrett Browning, poet (1806–1861)
• Robert Clive, soldier & administrator (1725–1774)
• A.J. Cronin, novelist (1896-1981)
• Benjamin Disraeli, prime minister (1804–1881)
• Dwight David Eisenhower, 34th American president (1890–1969)
• Charles James Fox, British statesman (1749–1806)
• George Frideric Handel, composer (1695–1759)
• Jimi Hendrix, guitarist & songwriter (1942–1970)
• William Somerset Maugham, novelist (1874–1965)
• Sir Robert Peel, prime minister (1788–1850)
• Sir Henry Pelham, prime minister (1695–1754)
• Richard Brinsley Sheridan, dramatist (1751–1816)

[edit] See also

• A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square
• Mount Street Gardens

[edit] External links

• The Site of the original May-fair
• BBC News story: Reviving the Mayfair May Fair
• The mayhem that marred May Day
• History of Mayfair

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