Walk 2 - Around Mayfair - Walk London For Free
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By day, the elegant shops of Mayfair offer London's most exclusive shopping. There are a wealth of hidden places and charming rural street names that reflect the original May Fair that was held here. In the evening, Mayfair's restaurants entertain Royalty, Celebrities, V.I.P.'s and Film Stars. Mayfair also has two famous squares - Berkeley and Grosvenor.
This London Walk starts at Piccadilly Circus tube station: Approximate distance: 3.0 miles.
Take exit 3 from Piccadilly Circus tube station to exit by the Statue of Eros and Walk up the left-hand side of Piccadilly.
PiccadillyThe name Piccadilly comes from a 17th-century type of starched collar called a piccadil. During the 19th century, the area was redesigned by John Nash and a circular open space was created on the junction of Regent Street.
At the eastern end of Piccadilly is Piccadilly Circus with Eros at its centre. The sculpture of Eros represents the Angel of Christian Charity. Unveiled in 1893 as a memorial to the Earl of Shaftesbury, a Victorian philanthropist; the statue has become a London icon.
This is the centre of London's West End; all around are restaurants, theatres, cinemas and the bright electric advertising signs of Piccadilly Circus. Coca-Cola has been present on the site since 1955 - Over 50 brands have appeared on the signs over the last 100 years.
Fortnum and Mason's shop can be found further along Piccadilly - founded in 1707, the clock high on the wall of this elite shop has figures of the founders, Mr Fortnum and Mr Mason, who emerge and bow to each other as the carillon plays a tune
Did you know? The lights of Piccadilly Circus were turned off to mourn the deaths of Winston Churchill and Princess Diana and most recently as part of 'the big switch off'.
Cross the road by Fortnum and Mason and after passing the Royal Academy of Arts; turn right into Burlington Arcade.
Burlington Arcade
Burlington Arcade is a covered walk and is lined with fine bow-windowed shops. The Regency arcade built in 1819, has gates at either end that are closed at night. The arcade is run by a team of beadles,(a sort of Regency police force) who wear the full traditional dress of the time. The arcade links Piccadilly to Burlington Gardens.
Did you know? It is forbidden to run, carry an umbrella or whistle in Burlington Arcade!
Continue through Burlington Arcade to the end and turn left into Burlington Gardens. Cross the road - continue walking to the end and turn right into Bond Street.
Bond Street
Bond Street takes its name from Sir Thomas Bond, who, together with a goldsmith, John Hinde, built it in 1686 and began developing it.
Famous for art dealers, antique shops and jewellers - branches of the worlds leading designer brands can be found here - it became known as one of the world's most exclusive shopping streets.
Did you know? If you'd like to sit next to President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill today, you can go to Old Bond Street, in London: there, a life-sized sculpture of the "Allies," President Roosevelt and Churchill sitting on a bench, leaves just enough room for you to sit between them - a great photo opportunity!
From the right-hand side of Bond Street, cross to the left at Clifford Street junction, turn left at the crossroads into Bruton Street then the first turning right into Bruton Place. At the end of Bruton Place is Berkeley Square.
Berkeley Square
Berkeley Square's 200 year old plane trees and surviving Georgian houses still surround this famous square.
Clive of India lived at number 45 and the square was also home to the 18th-century poet, Alexander Pope.
Perhaps the most important thing that happened here was when Joseph Priestley discovered the existence of oxygen, whilst he was the librarian at Landsdowne House.
Long ago, the square would have been filled with ladies riding in Sedan chairs and in Victorian times; the square was a popular place for nursemaids to take their charges, for a stroll.
"Did you know" - Mayfair's famous squares are shaded by plane trees because only they could withstand the London smogs of the 19th century and early 20th century.
The song "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" has been recorded over a period of many years by: Vera Lynn, Glenn Miller and His Orchestra, Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, Harry Connick Jr and many other artists.
Queen Elizabeth II was born in Mayfair. A plaque at 17 Bruton Street commemorates the event on 21st April 1926.
Walk around the square in an anti-clockwise direction: across Hill Street and at the corner turn right into Charles Street.
Charles Street
Charles Street is lined with very large, sumptuous 18th-century houses. The curiously named pub "The Only Running Footman" can be found at 5 Charles Street. The author, Sydney Smith, lived at number 32.
From the left-hand side of Charles Street, turn left into Queen Street and walk on the left-hand side to the end and then turn right at Curzon Street. Turn left into Trebeck Street, then left again into Shepherd Market.
Shepherd Market
Shepherd Market is a charming area set in the heart of Mayfair and is a remarkable survival of old London. Many original 18th-century buildings survive among an atmospheric web of narrow streets which were laid out in 1735 by Edward Shepherd.
Did you know...There was a market here as long ago as the 16th-century but it gained a bad reputation...this is an excerpt from: 'Mayfair', Old and New London: Volume 4 (1878) "Beyond the fact that it was postponed for a few weeks or months in 1603, on account of the plague, nothing more is recorded concerning this fair till 1664, in which year, Mr. Frost tells us, "it was suppressed, as considered to tend rather to the advantage of looseness and irregularity, than to the substantial promotion of any good, common and beneficial to the people."
Turn right into Shepherd Street and walk on the right-hand side crossing Trebeck Street and continue to the junction with Hertford Street. Turn right and continue along Hertford Street. Turn left into Curzon Street, cross to the right-hand of the street and walk to the junction with South Audley Street. Turn right into the street.
South Audley Street
The Grosvenor Chapel is on South Audley Street; it was constructed in the 1730s and was where American servicemen worshipped in World War II. Grosvenor Chapel, in Mayfair, is thought to have been the inspiration for many churches in North America.
Did you know ..? The first Duke of Wellington and Florence Nightingale both worshipped at the Grosvenor Chapel on South Audley Street.
Continue up Audley Street crossing Stanhope Gate, Tilney Street and Deanery Street, continue by crossing Mount Street and Adams Row junction. At the end of the South Audley Street cross to the left-hand side of Grosvenor Square and the United States Embassy.
United States Embassy
The American Embassy in London occupies the whole west side of the Grosvenor Square and was completed in 1960.
During the Second World War when the Chancery was on one side and General Eisenhower's headquarters on another, Grosvenor Square became popularly known as "Little America." The Eisenhower Statue, dedicated January 23, 1989, stands just across the road from the buildings that General Eisenhower occupied as Commander in Chief of the Allied Force (June - November 1942) and Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force (January - March 1944). There is a statue of Franklin D Roosevelt in the square's central garden.
Did you know ..? The United States has been associated with Grosvenor Square in London's Mayfair since the late eighteenth century when John Adams, the first United States Minister to the Court of St. James's and the second President of the United States, lived from 1785 to 1788 in the house which still stands in Grosvenor Square on the corner of Brook and Duke Streets.
The US London embassy hopes to trade its Mayfair mansion of 50 years, for a new futuristic cube-type building. If the plans go ahead building work is due to begin in 2013 and to be completed in 2017. The planned new US Embassy will be built on the south bank of the river Thames in Battersea, between Battersea Power Station and the Secret Intelligence Service MI6 HQ at Vauxhall Cross.
Walk clockwise round the square, crossing Upper Brook, North Audley and Duke Streets. Now continue walking to Brook Street.
Brook Street
The Messiah (1741) was written in Brook Street as were nearly all of Handel's works.
The 18th-century composer Handel lived at Number 25 (this house now houses the Handel House Museum) for over 30 years.
Here, also, William Friese-Green toiled in a small room and invented the moving picture. He was so excited at his discovery, he grabbed a policeman off the street and brought him back to look at it. So it was that a Holborn policeman was the first spectator at a cinema.
Did you know ..? Handel and Jimi Hendrix were neighbours (albeit 200 years apart) on Brook Street.
Cross to the right-hand side of Brook Street to see Number 25. Cross New Bond Street and continue along Brook Street until you reach Hanover Square.
Hanover Square
Once filled with elegant Georgian houses, many of these have now been replaced by newer office buildings. At the south end of Hanover Square is St George's Church - George Frederick Handel, was for thirty-five years a parishioner and worshipper at St. George's.
Did you know ..? St. George's has long been famous for its weddings. Here came George Eliot with Mr cross, and Theodore Roosevelt, who put in the book that he was " 28, widower, ranchman ".Hanover Square, so named after the new Royal House, was the first of the West End squares to be built, between 1716 and 1720. The bronze statue of the Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger (1759-1806) by the great sculptor Sir Francis Legatt Chantrey has stood at the southern end of the square since 1831. It survived an attempt by Reform Bill agitators to pull it down on the opening day.
Turn right into St George Street and walk up the left side. Turn left into Maddox Street and take the first right into Mill Street. Cross Conduit Street and enter Saville Row.
Saville Row
Savile Row has long been world famous for its high-class, traditional men's bespoke tailoring. Built between 1731 and 1735 as part of the development of the Burlington Estate; customers have included Winston Churchill, Lord Nelson and Napoleon III.
Did you know..? The offices of The Beatles' Apple Corps were at 3 Savile Row; The Beatles, Badfinger, Mary Hopkin and others recorded in the Apple Studios in the basement. The Beatles' final live performance was on the roof, on 30 January 1969. That "Rooftop Concert" concludes the documentary film "Let It Be".
Keep to the left-hand side and at the end of Saville Row is the entrance to Albany.
Albany
Many famous people,including the poet Lord Byron(1788-1824) and the 19th-century Prime Minister Gladstone, have lived in this secluded court, which dates from the early 19th-century.
Turn left into Vigo Street and then right into Regent Street.
Regent Street
Regent Street owes its existence to George IV, who as Prince Regent lived at Carlton House. Regent Street was designed by John Nash in 1811.
Nash designed a wide boulevard with a sweeping curve that became a clear dividing line between the less respectable Soho and the fashionable squares and streets of Mayfair. Famous stores in this graceful street. include the Iconic, Hamleys Toy Store, Liberty and Austin Reed.
Did you know...? Oxford Street together with Regent Street and Bond Street form the green property set in the famous board game Monopoly.
Follow the curve of the street to return to Piccadilly and Piccadilly Circus tube station.
End Of your London Walk - hope you have enjoyed it!
