60-600: The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End ) is a district of Central London , London, England, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames , in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings and entertainment venues, including West End theatres , are concentrated. The term was first used in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to
120-584: A central point at Charing Cross (in the City of Westminster ), which is marked by the statue of King Charles I at the junction of the Strand , Whitehall and Cockspur Street , just south of Trafalgar Square . The central area is distinguished, according to the Royal Commission , by the inclusion within its boundaries of Parliament and the Royal Palaces, the headquarters of Government,
180-522: A shanty-town in the 1790s before the Canal was built and brought much needed employment to its inhabitants. The area was built up during the course of the Napoleonic Wars . In the 19th century the part of the parish most sandwiched between Edgware Road and Westbourne Terrace , Gloucester Terrace and Craven Hill , bounded to the south by Bayswater Road, was known as Tyburnia. The district formed
240-754: Is an area in the City of Westminster , in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London , it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station , designed by the engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel opened in 1847. It is also the site of St Mary's Hospital and the former Paddington Green Police Station . Paddington Waterside aims to regenerate former railway and canal land. Districts within Paddington are Maida Vale , Westbourne and Bayswater including Lancaster Gate . The earliest extant references to Padington (or "Padintun", as in
300-433: Is described as "a unique cluster of vitally important activities including central government offices, headquarters and embassies, the largest concentration of London's financial and business services sector and the offices of trade, professional bodies, institutions, associations, communications, publishing, advertising and the media". For strategic planning, since 2011 there has been a Central London sub-region comprising
360-607: Is in London fare zone 1 . Great Western Railway services from Paddington run towards Slough , Maidenhead and Reading , with intercity services continuing towards destinations in South West England and South Wales , including Oxford , Worcester , Bristol , Cardiff , Exeter , Plymouth and Penzance . The Elizabeth line , operated by Transport for London (TfL), runs a stopping service from Paddington to Reading, either as part of through-running services from
420-571: Is now known as Merchant Square. A former transshipment facility, the surrounds of the canal basin named Merchant Square have been redeveloped to provide 2,000,000 sq ft (190,000 m ) of offices, homes, shops and leisure facilities. The redeveloped basin has some innovative features including Heatherwicks Rolling Bridge , the Merchant Square Fan Bridge and the Floating Pocket Park. Situated to
480-449: Is reputedly named after Robert Browning , the poet. More recently known as the "Little Venice Lagoon" it contains a small islet known as Browning's Island. Although Browning was thought to have coined the name "Little Venice" for this spot there are strong arguments Lord Byron was responsible. Paddington station is the iconic landmark associated with the area. In the station are statues of its designer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel , and
540-596: Is the innermost part of London , in England , spanning the City of London and several boroughs . Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteristics are understood to include a high-density built environment, high land values, an elevated daytime population and a concentration of regionally, nationally and internationally significant organisations and facilities. Road distances to London are traditionally measured from
600-487: The City of London in the east, and the City of Westminster in the west. Over time they came to form the centre of modern London, although each kept its own distinct character and its separate legal identity (for example, the City of London has its own police force and is a distinct county ). The City of London became a centre for the banking, financial, legal and professional sectors, while Westminster became associated with
660-546: The City of Westminster wards is called " West End ". This electoral unit includes some of the most prosperous areas of the borough, including Soho , Mayfair and parts of southern Marylebone . The population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 10,575. The West End is laid out with many notable public squares and circuses. London Underground stations in the West End include: 51°30′48″N 0°07′43″W / 51.51333°N 0.12861°W / 51.51333; -0.12861 Central London Central London
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#1732781171383720-492: The Clothworkers' Company . Jane Small continued to live in Paddington after her second husband's death, and her manor house was big enough to have been let to Sir John Popham, the attorney general, in the 1580s. They let the building that became in this time Blowers Inn . As the regional population grew in the 17th century, Paddington's ancient Hundred of Ossulstone was split into divisions; Holborn Division replaced
780-539: The Colne Valley , and Aylesbury . The Paddington Basin is in the area, as is Little Venice . A towpath runs unbroken from Paddington to Hayes. The Rolling Bridge at the Paddington Basin was designed by Thomas Heatherwick , who wanted to create a bridge that, instead of breaking apart to let boats through, would "get out of the way" instead. Heatherwick's website cites the "fluid, coiling tails of
840-594: The Domesday Book of 1086. It has been reasonably speculated that a Saxon settlement led by the followers of Padda , an Anglo-Saxon chieftain, was located around the intersection of the northern and western Roman roads, corresponding with the Edgware Road ( Watling Street ) and the Harrow and Uxbridge Roads. From the tenth century, Paddington was owned by Westminster Abbey which was later confirmed by
900-634: The Grand Junction Canal (which became the Grand Union Canal in 1929) dwindled because of railway competition in the late-19th and early-20th centuries, and freight then moved from rail to road after World War II, leading to the abandonment of the goods yards in the early 1980s. The land lay derelict until the Paddington Waterside Partnership was established in 1998 to co-ordinate the regeneration of
960-718: The Herbert Commission and the subsequent passage of the London Government Bill , three unsuccessful attempts were made to define an area that would form a central London borough . The first two were detailed in the 1959 Memorandum of Evidence of the Greater London Group of the London School of Economics . "Scheme A" envisaged a central London borough, one of 25, consisting of the City of London, Westminster, Holborn, Finsbury and
1020-718: The Law Courts , the head offices of a very large number of commercial and industrial firms, as well as institutions of great influence in the intellectual life of the nation such as the British Museum , the National Gallery , the Tate Gallery , the University of London , the headquarters of the national ballet and opera, together with the headquarters of many national associations, the great professions,
1080-468: The Plantagenet kings in a charter from 1222. This charter mentions a chapel and a farm situated in the area. While a 12th-century document cited by the cleric Isaac Maddox (1697–1759) establishes that part of the land was held by brothers "Richard and William de Padinton". They and their descendants carried out activities in Paddington; these were known by records dating from 1168 to 1485. They were
1140-523: The Regent's Canal ; its overlap is the artisan and touristic neighbourhood of Little Venice . In the east of the district around Paddington Green it remains divided from Marylebone by Edgware Road (as commonly heard in spoken form, the Edgware Road). In the south west it is bounded by its south and western offshoot Bayswater . A final offshoot, Westbourne , rises to the north west. Paddington
1200-530: The Saxon Chartularies , 959 ), historically a part of Middlesex , appear in documentation of purported tenth-century land grants to the monks of Westminster by Edgar the Peaceful as confirmed by Archbishop Dunstan . However, the documents' provenance is much later and likely to have been forged after the 1066 Norman conquest . There is no mention of the place (or Westbourne or Knightsbridge) in
1260-550: The children's fiction character Paddington Bear . The terminus of the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal was originally known as the Paddington Basin and all the land to the south was developed into housing and commercial property and titled The Grand Junction Estate. The majority of the housing was bounded by Praed Street, Sussex Gardens , Edgware Road and Norfolk Place. Land and buildings not used for
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#17327811713831320-495: The 1860s in this neighbourhood as Bayswater Road . They were toll roads in much of the 18th century, before and after the dismantling of the permanent Tyburn gallows "tree" at their junction in 1759 a junction now known as Marble Arch. The Tyburn gallows might have been a reason why expansion and urban development (from London) slowed in Paddington; as public execution was taking place there up until 1783. Only in 1801 did major construction to Paddington occur. This happened when
1380-452: The 18th century, several French Huguenots called Paddington village home. These included jewellers, nobility and skilled craftsmen; and men such as Claudius Amyand (surgeon to King George II ). The French nobility built magnificent gardens that lasted up until the 19th century. Roman roads formed the parish's northeastern and southern boundaries from Marble Arch : Watling Street (later Edgware Road ) and; (the) Uxbridge road, known by
1440-405: The 1961 census. It consisted of the City of London, all of Westminster, Holborn and Finsbury; and the inner parts of Shoreditch, Stepney, Bermondsey, Southwark, Lambeth, Chelsea, Kensington, Paddington, St Marylebone and St Pancras. The population was estimated to be 270,000. 51°30′N 0°08′W / 51.50°N 0.13°W / 51.50; -0.13 Paddington Paddington
1500-485: The City around Holborn , Seven Dials , and Covent Garden contained poorer communities that were cleared and redeveloped in the 19th century. As the West End is a term used colloquially by Londoners and is not an official geographical or municipal definition, its exact constituent parts are up for debate. Westminster City Council 's 2005 report Vision for the West End included the following areas in its definition: Covent Garden , Soho , Chinatown , Leicester Square ,
1560-480: The City of London, the whole of Finsbury and Holborn, most of Westminster and Southwark, parts of St Pancras, St Marylebone, Paddington and a small part of Kensington. The area had an estimated population of 400,000 and occupied 8,000 acres (32 km ). During the passage of the London Government Bill an amendment was put forward to create a central borough corresponding to the definition used at
1620-555: The Elizabeth line terminus at Reading. Elizabeth line services link the Paddington area both to destinations in west London and Berkshire and to the centre and eastern side of London. Trains to Heathrow Airport also depart from Paddington, operated both by the Elizabeth line (stopping services via Ealing Broadway ) and the Heathrow Express (no intermediate stops). There are two London Underground (tube) stations in
1680-538: The Grand Union Canal towpath. The route, when complete, will run signposted and unbroken to Keswick , Cumbria . Within the M25, the route will pass through Hayes, Uxbridge and Watford . Santander Cycles, a London-wide bike sharing system, operates in Paddington, with several docking stations in the area. The Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal runs from Paddington to Hayes , via Westbourne Park and Willesden . Beyond Hayes, onward destinations include Slough ,
1740-551: The Metropolis or in any provincial city, and the enormous office developments which have taken place recently constitute a totally new phenomenon. Starting in 2004, the London Plan defined a 'Central Activities Zone' policy area, which as of 2008 comprised the City of London, most of Westminster and the inner parts of Camden, Islington, Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Southwark, Lambeth, Kensington & Chelsea and Wandsworth. It
1800-463: The Paddington frisk; to be hanged." Public executions were abolished in England in 1868. The Paddington district is centred around Paddington railway station . The conventional recognised boundary of the district is much smaller than the longstanding pre-mid-19th century parish. That parish was virtually equal to the borough abolished in 1965. It is divided from a northern offshoot Maida Vale by
1860-447: The Paddington station complex. The Bakerloo , Circle and District lines call at the station on Praed Street (which, from the main concourse, is opposite platform 3). This links Paddington directly to destinations across Central and West London, including Baker Street , Earl's Court , Oxford Circus , South Kensington , Victoria , Waterloo , Westminster and Wimbledon . The Circle and Hammersmith & City lines call at
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1920-718: The Victorian Anglo-Saxon scholar John Mitchell Kemble . There is another Paddington in Surrey , recorded in the Domesday Book as "Padendene" and later as "Paddingdon", perhaps to be derived from Old English dene, denu "valley", whereas Paddington in Middlesex is commonly traced back to Old English tūn "farm, homestead, town". Both place names share the same first part, a personal name rendered as Pad(d)a , of uncertain origin, giving "Padda's valley" for
1980-530: The animatronic dinosaurs of Jurassic Park " as the initial influence behind the Bridge. The Regent's Canal begins at Little Venice, heading east towards Maida Vale , Regent's Park , Camden Town , King's Cross , Old Street and Mile End en route to Limehouse . A towpath runs along the canal from Paddington to Limehouse, broken only by the Maida Hill and Islington tunnels. Commercial traffic on
2040-466: The area between the Westway, Praed Street and Westbourne Terrace. This includes major developments on the goods yard site (now branded Paddington Central) and around the canal ( Paddington Basin ). As of October 2017 much of these developments have been completed and are in use. PaddingtonNow BID put forward a renewal bid in 2017 covering the period April 2018 to March 2023, which would be supported by
2100-475: The bishops leased land to the Grand Junction Canal , where a direct trade link could now take place between London and the Midlands , bringing more employment to the area. The canal would remain dominant until Regent's Canal was built in 1820. Construction and building projects would take place from east to west and south to north throughout the 19th century; increasing its population in a rapid pace, overtaking
2160-527: The boroughs of Camden , Islington , Kensington and Chelsea , Lambeth , Southwark , Westminster and the City of London . From 2004 to 2008, the London Plan included a sub-region called Central London comprising Camden, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Lambeth, Southwark, Wandsworth and Westminster. It had a 2001 population of 1,525,000. The sub-region was replaced in 2008 with a new structure which amalgamated inner and outer boroughs together. This
2220-745: The canal undertaking remained after 1929 with the renamed Grand Junction Company, which functioned as a property company. While retaining its own name, it was taken over in 1972 by the Amalgamated Investment and Property Company, which went into liquidation in 1976. Prior to the liquidation the Welbeck Estate Securities Group acquired the entire estate comprising 525 houses 15 shops and the Royal Exchange public House in Sale Place. The surrounding area
2280-467: The central and eastern parts of the Elizabeth line or starting from Paddington. These trains mostly depart from the deep-level Elizabeth line platforms underneath the western side of the mainline station. These deep-level Elizabeth line tracks emerge above ground adjacent to the mainline tracks just west of Royal Oak tube station and join them at that point, thereafter sharing the relief line tracks with some Great Western Railway stopping services as far as
2340-540: The centrepiece of an 1824 masterplan by Samuel Pepys Cockerell to redevelop the Tyburn Estate (historic lands of the Bishop of London) into a residential area to rival Belgravia . The area was laid out in the mid-1800s when grand squares and cream- stuccoed terraces started to fill the acres between Paddington station and Hyde Park; however, the plans were never realised in full. Despite this, Thackeray described
2400-405: The districts falling within the West End are Mayfair , Soho , Covent Garden , Fitzrovia and Marylebone . By this definition, the West End borders Temple , Holborn and Bloomsbury to the east, Regent's Park to the north, Paddington , Hyde Park and Knightsbridge to the west, and Victoria and Westminster to the south. Other definitions include Bloomsbury within the West End. One of
2460-502: The earliest known tenant farmers of the land. During King Henry VIII's dissolution , the property of Paddington was seized by the crown. However, King Edward VI granted the land to the Bishop of London in 1550. Successive bishops would later lease farmlands to tenants and city merchants. One such, in the 1540s was Thomas North who translated Plutarch's Parallel Lives into English in 1579. Shakespeare would later use this work and
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2520-624: The east of the Paddington district immediately to the north of the Westway and west of Edgware Road. It includes St Mary on Paddington Green Church . The Paddington Green campus of the City of Westminster College is adjacent to the Green. Paddington Green Police Station is immediately to the north west of the intersection of Westway and Edgware Road. Paddington station is on the London Underground and National Rail networks. It
2580-647: The hundred for most administrative purposes. A church, the predecessor of St Mary was built in Paddington in 1679. In 1740, John Frederick leased the estate in Paddington and it is from his granddaughters and their families that many of Paddington's street names are derived. The New Road was built in 1756–7 to link the villages of Paddington and Islington. By 1773, a contemporary historian felt and wrote that "London may now be said to include two cities ( London and Westminster ), one borough ( Southwark ) and forty six antient [ancient] villages [among which]... Paddington and [adjoining] Marybone ( Marylebone )." During
2640-507: The inner parts of St Marylebone, St Pancras, Chelsea, Southwark and Lambeth. The boundary deviated from existing lines to include all central London railway stations , the Tower of London and the museums, such that it included small parts of Kensington, Shoreditch, Stepney and Bermondsey. It had an estimated population of 350,000 and occupied 7,000 acres (28 km ). "Scheme B" delineated central London, as one of 7 boroughs, including most of
2700-419: The leisure, shopping, commerce, and entertainment sectors, the government, and home to universities and embassies . The modern West End is closely associated with this area of central London. Lying to the west of the historic Roman and medieval City of London, the West End was long favoured by the rich elite as a place of residence because it was usually upwind of the smoke drifting from the crowded City. It
2760-517: The mid-19th century. During the period, several Victorian churches were demolished owing to structural decay. Victorian housing developed into slums, giving the area an unsavoury reputation. However, in the 1930s massive rebuilding and improvements projects were made. However, even as late as the 1950s Paddington was a byword for overcrowding, poverty and vice. Between the 1960s and 1980s, the area would see vast improvements and redevelopments in city planning. The southeast section of Tyburnia used to be
2820-414: The north of the railway as it enters Paddington station, and to the south of the Westway flyover and with the canal to the east the former railway goods yard has been developed into a modern complex with wellbeing, leisure, retail and leisure facilities. The public area from the canal to Sheldon Square with the amphitheatre hosts leisure facilities and special events. A green space and conservation area in
2880-527: The place in Surrey and "homestead of Padda's people" for the place in Middlesex. That both place names would refer to the same individual or ancient family, is pure speculation. A lord named Padda is named in the Domesday Book, associated with Brampton, Suffolk . An 18th-century dictionary gives "Paddington Fair Day. An execution day, Tyburn being in the parish or neighbourhood of Paddington. To dance
2940-410: The residential district of Tyburnia as "the elegant, the prosperous, the polite Tyburnia, the most respectable district of the habitable globe." Derivation of the name is uncertain. Speculative explanations include Padre-ing-tun (explained as "father's meadow village"), Pad-ing-tun ("pack-horse meadow village"), and Pæding-tun ("village of the race of Pæd") the last being the cited suggestion of
3000-486: The shopping streets of Oxford Street , Regent Street and Bond Street , the area encompassing Trafalgar Square , the Strand and Aldwych , and the district known as Theatreland . The Edgware Road to the north-west and the Victoria Embankment to the south-east were also covered by the document but were treated as "adjacent areas" to the West End. According to Ed Glinert's West End Chronicles (2006)
3060-517: The south of Paddington. Both routes operate 24 hours, daily, supplemented by route N207 at nights. Several key routes pass through or around the Paddington area, including: Cycling infrastructure is provided in Paddington by Transport for London (TfL) and the Canal & River Trust . Several cycle routes pass through the area, including: Sustrans also propose that National Cycle Route 6 (NCR 6) will begin at Paddington and run northwest along
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#17327811713833120-477: The station near the Paddington Basin (to the north of platform 12). Trains from this station link the area directly to Hammersmith via Shepherd's Bush to the west. Eastbound trains pass through Baker Street, King's Cross St Pancras , Liverpool Street in the City , Whitechapel and Barking . Lancaster Gate tube station is also in the area, served by Central line trains. Paddington station
3180-538: The trade unions, the trade associations, social service societies, as well as shopping centres and centres of entertainment which attract people from the whole of Greater London and farther afield. In many other respects the central area differs from areas farther out in London. The rateable value of the central area is exceptionally high. Its day population is very much larger than its night population. Its traffic problems reach an intensity not encountered anywhere else in
3240-441: The village scene of Paddington. This population increase would go from 1,881 to 46,305 between 1801 and 1851 respectively; with 10,000 new inhabitants added every decade thereafter. Paddington station first opened in 1838, with the first underground line in 1863 ( Metropolitan ). Paddington was one of the few districts in London that had a migrant majority population by 1881. With a thriving Greek and Jewish community present in
3300-534: The west of Charing Cross . The West End covers parts of the boroughs of Westminster and Camden . While the City of London is the main financial district in London, the West End is the main commercial and entertainment centre of the city. It is the largest central business district in the United Kingdom. It is one of the most expensive locations in the world in which to rent commercial and office space. Medieval London comprised two adjacent cities –
3360-413: Was altered in 2011 when a new Central London sub-region was created, now including the City of London and excluding Wandsworth. The 1901 Census defined Central London as the City of London and the metropolitan boroughs (subdivisions that existed from 1900 to 1965) of Bermondsey , Bethnal Green , Finsbury , Holborn , Shoreditch , Southwark , Stepney , St Marylebone and Westminster . During
3420-500: Was close to the royal seat of power at the Palace of Westminster (now home to parliament ), and is largely contained within the City of Westminster (one of the 32 London boroughs ). Following initial development by Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans in the 1660s, during the late 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, it was built as a series of palaces, expensive town houses, fashionable shops and places of entertainment. The areas closest to
3480-649: Was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel . The permanent building opened in 1854. Paddington Bear was also named after the station; in Michael Bond 's 1958 book A Bear Called Paddington , Paddington is found at the station by the Brown family. He is lost, having just arrived in London from "darkest Peru ." London Buses 7 , 23 , 27 , 36 , 46 , 205 and 332 , and night buses N7 and N205 serve Paddington station. Buses 23, 27 and 36 operate 24 hours, daily. Routes 94 and 148 serve Lancaster Gate station to
3540-600: Was part of the Metropolitan Borough of Paddington , the headquarters of which was at Paddington Town Hall , until 1965 when the area became part of the enlarged City of Westminster . A lagoon created in the 1810s at the convergence of the Paddington Arm of the Grand Union Canal , the Regent's Canal and the Paddington Basin . It is an important focal point of the Little Venice area. It
3600-495: Was said to have performed in taverns along Edgware Road. In the later Elizabethan and early Stuart era, the rectory, manor and associated estate houses were occupied by the Small (or Smale) family. Nicholas Small was a clothworker who was sufficiently well connected to have Holbein paint a portrait of his wife, Jane Small . Nicholas died in 1565 and his wife married again, to Nicholas Parkinson of Paddington who became master of
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