All Souls Church All Souls Church is an evangelical Anglican church situated at the north end of Regent Street. Orchard Court Orchard Court is an apartment block off of Portman Square in London. Known in French as Le Verger, it was used during the Second World War as the London base of F section of the Special Operations Executive (SOE). Adams Row, W1K On the Grosvenor estate, Adams Row extends from South Audley Street to Carlos Place. Argyll Street, W1F Argyll Street was named after John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll, owner of the land in the 18th century. Avery Row, W1K Avery Row was probably named after Henry Avery, an 18th century bricklayer who built this street over the Tyburn Brook. Bakers Mews, W1U Bakers Mews is one of the streets of London in the W1U postal area. Bird Street, W1U Bird Street is one of the streets of London in the W1U postal area. Boyle Street, W1S Boyle Street was built on a piece of land called the Ten Acres to discharge some Boyle family debts. Brook Street, W1K Brook Street was named after the Tyburn Brook that formerly ran nearby, Brook Street, W1S Brook Street is one of the streets of London in the W1S postal area. Brooks Mews, W1K Brooks Mews is one of the streets of London in the W1K postal area. Bruton Place, W1J Bruton Place is one of the streets of London in the W1J postal area. Bulstrode Street, W1U Bulstrode Street runs from Welbeck Street in the east to Thayer Street in the west. Carlos Place, W1 Carlos Place is one of the streets of London in the W1K postal area. Cavendish Square, W1G Cavendish Square was laid out in 1717–18 at the beginning of the transformation of Harley family lands in Marylebone. Cork Street, W1S Cork Street, on the Burlington Estate, was named after Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington and 4th Earl of Cork. Davies Mews, W1K Davies Mews is one of the streets of London in the W1K postal area. Davis Street, W1K Davis Street is one of the streets of London in the W1K postal area. Deans Mews, W1G Deans Mews is one of the streets of London in the W1G postal area. Duke Street, W1K Duke Street is one of the streets of London in the W1K postal area. Duke Street, W1U Duke Street is one of the streets of London in the W1U postal area. Dukes Mews, W1U Dukes Mews is one of the streets of London in the W1U postal area. Gees Court, W1C Gees Court is one of the streets of London in the W1U postal area. Green Street, W1K Green Street is one of the streets of London in the W1K postal area. Hanover Square, W1S Hanover Square was created as the ’Whig’ square with Cavendish Square being the ’Tory’ square. Hills Place, W1F Hills Place is one of the streets of London in the W1F postal area. Hinde Mews, W1U Hinde Mews is one of the streets of London in the W1U postal area. Hinde Street, W1U Hinde Street was built from 1777 by Samuel Adams and named after Jacob Hinde who was the son-in-law of the landwoner Thomas Thayer. Holles Street, W1C Holles Street runs north from Oxford Street, on the east side of the John Lewis store. Holmes Place, W1U Holmes Place is one of the streets of London in the W1U postal area. James Street, W1U James Street is one of the streets of London in the W1U postal area. Jones Street, W1K Jones Street is one of the streets of London in the W1K postal area. Lees Place, W1K Lees Place is one of the streets of London in the W1K postal area. Market Place, W1W Market Place is one of the streets of London in the W1W postal area. Mill Street, W1S Mill Street is one of the streets of London in the W1S postal area. New Bond Street, W1J New Bond Street is the northernmost section of what is simply known as ’Bond Street’ in general use. North Row, W1K North Row is one of the streets of London in the W1K postal area. Oxford Street, W1K Oxford Street is Europe’s busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and as of 2012 had approximately 300 shops. Palladium House, W1B Palladium House is a grade II listed (in 1981) Art Deco office building located on the corner of Great Marlborough Street and Argyll Street. Park Street, W1K Park Street is one of the streets of London in the W1K postal area. Picton Place, W1U Picton Place is one of the streets of London in the W1U postal area. Portman Square, W1H Portman Square is a square, part of the Portman Estate, located at the western end of Wigmore Street, which connects it to Cavendish Square to its east. Red Place, W1K Red Place is one of the streets of London in the W1K postal area. Sedley Place, W1S Sedley Place is one of the streets of London in the W1C postal area. Seymour Mews, W1H Seymour Mews is one of the streets of London in the W1H postal area. Vere Street, W1G Vere Street is one of the streets of London in the W1G postal area. Welbeck Street, W1G Welbeck Street has historically been associated with the medical profession. Welbeck Way, W1G Welbeck Way is one of the streets of London in the W1G postal area. Woods Mews, W1K Woods Mews is one of the streets of London in the W1K postal area.
Oxford Circus, designed by John Nash in 1811.Oxford Circus, the busy intersection of
Oxford Street and Regent Street, was constructed in the beginning of the 19th century, and was designed by John Nash. Regent Street had been commissioned by Prince Regent, who was later to become King George IV, as a grand scheme to connect the Princes home at Carlton House with his newly acquired property at Regents Park. 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. Born from the concept of Nash’s layout of the New Street in 1812, frontage alignments remain, with the rebuilt listed architecture of 1920s buildings.
The surrounding area contains important elements of the Nash heritage. All frontages on the Circus are Grade II Listed. The entire of Regent Street is also listed and sits within a conservation area.
The circus is served by
Oxford Circus tube station, which is directly beneath the junction itself.
Oxford Circus station has entrances on all four corners of the intersection. The station is an interchange between the Central, Victoria and Bakerloo lines. It is the fourth busiest station on the network and the busiest without connection to the National Rail service. It opened on the Central London Railway on 30 July 1900, with the Baker Street and Waterloo Railway’s platforms opening on 10 March 1906. The two companies had separate surface buildings and lift shafts. The station buildings, which remain today as exits from the station, were constructed on very confined plots on either side of
Argyll Street on the south side of
Oxford Street, just to the east of the circus itself. The stations were originally built as entirely separate, but connecting passages were swiftly provided at platform level. The surviving Central London Railway building to the east of
Argyll Street is the best surviving example of the stations designed by Harry Bell Measures, and the Bakerloo line building to the west is a classic Leslie Green structure. Both station buildings are Grade II listed.
Almost from the outset, overcrowding has been a constant problem at the station and it has seen numerous improvements to its facilities and below-ground arrangements to deal with this difficulty. After much discussion between the then two separate operators, a major reconstruction began in 1912. This saw a new ticket hall, dealing with both lines, built in the basement of the Bakerloo station, the Bakerloo lifts removed, and new deep-level escalators opened down to the Bakerloo line level. Access to the Central line was by way of existing deep-level subways. The new works came into use on 9 May 1914 with the CLR lifts still available for passengers. By 1923 even this rearrangement was unable to cope, so a second rebuilding commenced. This saw a second set of escalators built directly down to the Central line, the CLR station building becoming an exit only. Then, on 2 October 1928, a third escalator leading to the Bakerloo platforms was opened. Unusually, lifts came back into prominence at an Underground station when, in 1942, a set of high-speed lifts came into use, largely used as an exit route from the Central line platforms directly to the
Argyll Street exit building.
The Victoria line opened on 7 March 1969. To handle the additional passenger loads, a new ticket hall was constructed directly under the road junction. To excavate the new ticket hall below the roadway, traffic was diverted for five years (August 1963 to Easter 1968) on to a temporary bridge-like structure known as the ’umbrella’ covering the Regent Street/
Oxford Street intersection. Services tunnels were constructed to carry water mains and telecom cables past the new ticket hall. Construction of the Victoria line station tunnels with their platforms, the new escalator shafts and the linking passages to the Central line platforms was carried out from access shafts sunk from nearby
Cavendish Square, Upper Regent Street and
Argyll Street. To this day, traffic passing through the
Oxford Circus intersection literally travels over the roof of the ticket office.
In the neighbourhood...
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