22-451: The Foyles Building at 111–119 Charing Cross Road and 1–12 Manette Street , London, was the flagship store of the Foyles bookshop chain from 1929 to 2014, and at one time, the world's largest bookshop. The business moved next door to 107–109 Charing Cross Road in 2014, in a redevelopment of the old Saint Martin's School of Art building. The building was demolished in 2017. The building
44-510: A bomb which landed in Charing Cross Road itself nearly destroyed the bookshop, and a bridge was built over the large crater, christened "Foyles Bridge" by William Foyle. In 2014, the business, still family-owned, moved down the road to 107–109 Charing Cross Road , in a redevelopment of the old Central Saint Martins art school building. The building, owned by Soho Estates , was due to be demolished in autumn 2016, and replaced by
66-459: A long history of failed proposals to embank the Thames in central London. Embankments along the Thames were first proposed by Christopher Wren in the 1660s, then in 1824 former soldier and aide to George IV , Sir Frederick Trench suggested an embankment known as 'Trench's Terrace' from Blackfriars to Charing Cross . Trench brought a bill to Parliament which was blocked by river interests. In
88-507: A new 310,000 sq ft, 13-storey (including four basement floors) building, Ilona Rose House. Historic England , the Victorian Society , and SAVE Britain's Heritage asked the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan , to reject the planned demolition. The building was demolished in 2017. 51°30′53″N 0°07′48″W / 51.51478°N 0.13004°W / 51.51478; -0.13004 Charing Cross Road Charing Cross Road
110-432: Is a street in central London running immediately north of St Martin-in-the-Fields to St Giles Circus (the intersection with Oxford Street ), which then merges into Tottenham Court Road . It leads from the north in the direction of Charing Cross at the south side of Trafalgar Square . It connects via St Martin's Place and the motorised east side of the square. Charing Cross road was originally two narrow streets in
132-466: Is home to specialist bookshops, and more general second-hand and antiquarian shops such as Quinto Bookshop , Henry Pordes and Any Amount of Books. Zwemmer 's Bookshop, an arts bookshop founded in 1922, was present at 79 Charing Cross Road until 2002. Smaller second-hand and specialist antiquarian bookshops can be found on the adjoining Cecil Court . The northern section between Cambridge Circus and Oxford Street includes more generalist bookshops such as
154-598: Is named Victoria Embankment as it stretches to Blackfriars Bridge ; this stretch incorporates part of the shared District / Circle Line bi-directional tunnel of the London Underground and passes Shell Mex House and the Savoy Hotel . It likewise incorporates gardens and open space, here at their greatest, and collectively known as the Embankment Gardens , which provide a peaceful oasis in
176-592: Is why I wanted it to be the place where those in the know go to enter a different world." 51°30′42″N 0°07′42″W / 51.51167°N 0.12833°W / 51.51167; -0.12833 Thames Embankment The Thames Embankment is a work of 19th-century civil engineering that reclaimed marshy land next to the River Thames in central London . It consists of the Victoria Embankment and Chelsea Embankment . There had been
198-557: The Phoenix Theatre (which has its entrance on the adjoining Phoenix Street), the Garrick Theatre and Wyndham's Theatre . Beneath the grille in the traffic island between Charing Cross Road's junction with Old Compton Street , in the middle of the road, a road sign reading Little Compton Street can be seen, which was a historic name for the eastern end of Old Compton Street beyond its junction with Greek Street. On
220-577: The granite used in the projects was brought from Lamorna Cove in Cornwall. The quarried stone was shaped into blocks on site before being loaded on to barges and transported up the English Channel into the Thames. From Battersea Bridge in the west, it includes Cheyne Walk , Chelsea Embankment , Grosvenor Road, Millbank and Victoria Tower Gardens . Beyond the Houses of Parliament , it
242-610: The 1830s, the painter John Martin promoted a version, as realised later, to contain an intercepting sewer. In January 1842 the City Corporation backed a plan designed by James Walker but which was dropped due to government infighting. The government itself built the Chelsea Embankment in 1854 from Chelsea Hospital to Millbank. Started in 1862, the Victoria Embankment starting from Millbank on
SECTION 10
#1732773300470264-657: The Second World War, to safeguard the store from the effects of the Blitz , sandbags filled with old books were used, and the roof was "covered" with copies of Hitler's Mein Kampf . In an account in The Argonaut , "News reels this week are showing a clerk of Foyle's of London stacking copies of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf in place of sand bags on the roof of the store as a protection against air raids!" In 1940,
286-468: The West End, Crown Street and Castle Street. The development of Regent Street (parallel to the west) in the mid-18th century coincided with not only the building up of great fields west of the area but also Westminster Bridge which was built as central London and the wider estuary's second bridge after more than a century of pressure, in 1750. These pressures therefore congested the north–south axis of
308-701: The corner in Cambridge Circus, but its upper levels of the building remain as originally constructed. A brass plaque on the stone pilaster facing Charing Cross Road commemorates the former bookshop and Hanff's book. The music venue the Astoria was located here, as is one of the sites of St Martin's Arts College , opening in 1939. To the northeast of Charing Cross Road are the music shops on Denmark Street (known as Britain's Tin Pan Alley ). A number of theatres are on or near Charing Cross Road, such as
330-592: The east side of the road's southern end, at the joining of St Martins Lane , is a statue of Edith Cavell . Towards the north end is the Phoenix Garden , an environmental garden run by local residents. In the Harry Potter books, the Leaky Cauldron pub is located on Charing Cross Road. Author J.K. Rowling chose this road because "it is famous for its bookshops, both modern and antiquarian. This
352-594: The heart of Central London . The gardens include many statues, including a memorial with a bust of Bazalgette . The smaller and shorter Albert Embankment is on the south side of the river, opposite the Millbank section of the Thames Embankment. It was created by Bazalgette for the Metropolitan Board of Works and built by William Webster between July 1866 and November 1869. Some parts of
374-624: The inner West End almost as much as the relieved London Bridge area. Specifically a major increase in traffic occurred around Piccadilly Circus , Charing Cross and Oxford Street, much of it destined from/to Tottenham Court Road , Bloomsbury and nearby routes to all northerly directions. Charing Cross Road was therefore developed, in conjunction with Shaftesbury Avenue , by the Metropolitan Board of Works under an 1877 Act of Parliament . The Act's total costs, including demolition and rebuilding of many rows of buildings across London
396-420: The main, north ( or "left" bank ) was primarily designed by Sir Joseph Bazalgette with architectural work on the embankment wall and river stairs by Charles Henry Driver . It incorporates the main low level interceptor sewer from the then limits of west London's growth, and an underground railway over which a wide road and riverside walkway were built and run today, shored up by the sturdy retaining wall along
418-514: The tidal River Thames (the Tideway ). In total, Bazalgette's scheme reclaimed 22 acres (0.089 km ) of land from the river. It prevented flooding, such as around what had been the remnants of Thorney Island , much of which was owned by the Duke of Westminster . Those waterfront hotels, supply warehouses and genteel "town houses" which had boat access by inlets and watergates lost this. Much of
440-437: The venerable Foyles . A long-standing correspondence between New York City -based author Helene Hanff and the staff of a bookshop on the street, Marks & Co., was the inspiration for the book 84, Charing Cross Road (1970). The book was made into a 1987 film starring Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins and also into a play and a BBC radio drama. As of 2022 the building is a restaurant at street level, entered around
462-499: Was designed by the architects F. Taperell and H. Haase and built from 1927 before opening in 1929. It was at one time claimed to be the world's largest bookshop. William Foyle stated that it was "the world's first purpose-built bookshop" (although this is disputed), as well as the world's largest. In 1932, on hearing that the Nazis were burning books, William Foyle sent Adolf Hitler a telegram asking if he could buy them instead. During
SECTION 20
#1732773300470484-667: Was £778,238. The two streets and others such as the Thames Embankment , Northumberland Avenue and the Kingsway - Aldwych superstructure were built to improve traffic flow through central London. The scheme abolished some of the worst slums in London which delayed progress in construction while the inhabitants were rehoused. Charing Cross Road is renowned for its specialist and second-hand bookshops . The section from Leicester Square Underground station to Cambridge Circus
#469530