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| '''Fitzrovia''' is a small district in ]. It is an informal designation, and is not and has never been an administrative district of any kind. The eastern section of the district is in the ] and the western section is in the ]. It is bounded to the north by ], to the east by the ], to the south by ] and to the west by ]. Fitzrovia is a busy district, but its name is uncommonly obscure compared to those of most central London districts, including its neighbours such as ] to the south and ] to the east. The area was unnamed until the mid-twentieth century when, in the light of the area's burgeoning reputation as the home of ] and literary London, it adopted the name of its most renowned ] and literary salon, the ]. There have been repeated failed attempts to rename the area in the ] fashion, Noho (north of Soho). | '''Fitzrovia''' is a small district in ]. It is an informal designation, and is not and has never been an administrative district of any kind. The eastern section of the district is in the ] and the western section is in the ]. It is bounded to the north by ], to the east by the ], to the south by ] and to the west by ]. Fitzrovia is a busy district, but its name is uncommonly obscure compared to those of most central London districts, including its neighbours such as ] to the south and ] to the east. The area was unnamed until the mid-twentieth century when, in the light of the area's burgeoning reputation as the home of ] and literary London, it adopted the name of its most renowned ] and literary salon, the ]. There have been repeated failed attempts to rename the area in the ] fashion, ] (north of Soho). | ||
| The northern part of the area was first developed in the ] by the Hon. Charles FitzRoy, (later ]), who purchased the Manor of ] and built ] to which he gave his name. The square is the most distinguished of the original architectural features of the district, having been designed in part by ]. | The northern part of the area was first developed in the ] by the Hon. Charles FitzRoy, (later ]), who purchased the Manor of ] and built ] to which he gave his name. The square is the most distinguished of the original architectural features of the district, having been designed in part by ]. | ||
Revision as of 22:16, 19 December 2005
Template:Infobox London place Fitzrovia is a small district in central London. It is an informal designation, and is not and has never been an administrative district of any kind. The eastern section of the district is in the London Borough of Camden and the western section is in the City of Westminster. It is bounded to the north by Euston Road, to the east by the Tottenham Court Road, to the south by Oxford Street and to the west by Great Portland Street. Fitzrovia is a busy district, but its name is uncommonly obscure compared to those of most central London districts, including its neighbours such as Soho to the south and Bloomsbury to the east. The area was unnamed until the mid-twentieth century when, in the light of the area's burgeoning reputation as the home of bohemian and literary London, it adopted the name of its most renowned public house and literary salon, the Fitzroy Tavern. There have been repeated failed attempts to rename the area in the New York fashion, Noho (north of Soho).
The northern part of the area was first developed in the 18th century by the Hon. Charles FitzRoy, (later Baron Southampton), who purchased the Manor of Tottenhall and built Fitzroy Square to which he gave his name. The square is the most distinguished of the original architectural features of the district, having been designed in part by Robert Adam.
Much of Fitzrovia was developed by small landowners, and this led to a predominence of small and irregular streets, in comparison with neighbouring districts like Marylebone and Bloomsbury, which were dominated by one or two landowners, and were thus developed more schematically, with stronger grid patterns and a greater number of squares. Unlike its neighbours to the south, east and west, Fitzrovia never really had a spell as a fashionable residential district.
The most prominent feature of the area is the BT Tower, which is one of London's tallest buildings.
Business in Fitzrovia
In its early days, it was largely an area of well to do tradesmen and craft workshops. Nowadays property uses are diverse, but Fitzrovia can't claim to be the focus of any particular activity in London. It is however reasonably well known for its fashion industry, but this is mainly the "back-stage" side of the industry, comprising a good number of wholesalers and associated offices. Charlotte Street was for many years the home the British advertising industry but is now known for its many and diverse restaurants.
A number of television production and post-production companies are based in the area and Broadcasting House, home of BBC radio, is on the west fringe of the district. ITN was based at 48 Wells Street during the 1980s and rivals Channel 4 was briefly situated on Charlotte Street. London's Time Out magazine and City Guide is created and edited on Tottenham Court road on the border of Fitzrovia.
A number of Structural engineering Consultants are based in offices on Newman Street and the head office of Arup is on Fitzroy Street. There are also some hospitals (Middlesex Hospital, London Foot Hospital and St Luke's Hospital), a few mid-market hotels, a good deal of residential property and one or two minor embassies (El Salvador, Mozambique and Croatia). Retail uses spill into parts of Fitzrovia from Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road, which are two of the principal shopping streets in central London.
Fitzrovia and the Arts
Fitzrovia became London's main artistic and bohemian centre from a period dating roughly from the mid 1920s until the mid to late 1950s. Amongst those known to have lived locally and frequented public houses in the area such as the Fitzroy Tavern and the Wheatsheaf are Augustus John, Quentin Crisp, Dylan Thomas, Aleister Crowley, the racing tipster Prince Monolulu, Nina Hamnett, and George Orwell. Another pub in the area, the Newman Arms, features in Orwell's novels 1984 and Keep the Aspidistra Flying and in the Michael Powell film Peeping Tom. George Bernard Shaw and Virginia Woolf lived at different times in the same house in Fitzroy Square. Ian McEwan lives in the square and set his novel Saturday in the area. Thomas Paine's Rights of Man was published during his residence at 154 New Cavendish Street in reply to Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France, who lived at 18 Charlotte Street.
Chartist meetings were hosted in the area, some attended by Karl Marx who is known to have been to venues at Charlotte Street, Tottenham Street and Rathbone Place. The area became a ganglion of Chartist activities after the Reform Act 1832 and was host to a number of working men's clubs.
The UFO Club, home to Pink Floyd during their spell as the house band of psychedelic London, was held in the basement of 31 Tottenham Court Road on the eastern border of Fitzrovia. Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix also played at the Speakeasy on Margaret Street and Bob Dylan debuted in London at the King & Queen pub. Oxford Street's 100 Club is a major hot bed for music from the Sixties to the present day, and has roots in 1970s Britain's burgeoning Punk rock movement. The rock band Coldplay formed in Ramsay Hall, a University College London hall of residence within the area.
Fitzrovia is also the location of Pollock's Toy Museum, home to erstwhile popular Toy Theatre, at 1 Scala Street.
External link
Map of Fitzrovia and the surrounding districts - note that this widely used street atlas does not bother to designate Fitzrovia.
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