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Mayfair
The Royal Arcade in Old Bond Street
OS grid reference	TQ285805
London borough	Westminster
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	W1K, W1J
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
UK Parliament	Cities of London and Westminster
London Assembly	West Central
List of places UK England London

Mayfair (originally called The May Fair) is an area of central London, located within the City of Westminster. The district is now mainly commercial, with many former homes converted into offices for major corporations headquarters, embassies and also hedge funds and real estate businesses. There remains a substantial quantity of residential property as well as some exclusive shopping and London's largest concentration of luxury hotels and many restaurants. Rents are among the highest in London and the world.

History

Mayfair is named after the annual fortnight-long May Fair that took place on the site that is Shepherd Market today (from 1686 until it was banned in that location in 1764). Until 1686, the May Fair was held in Haymarket, and after 1764, it moved to Fair Field in Bow because the well-to-do residents of the area felt the fair lowered the tone of the neighbourhood.

The oldest cottage in Mayfair was believed to date from 1618. It was destroyed in the Blitz in late 1940. A plaque in Stanhope Row, near Shepherd Market, marks its former site.

Mayfair was anciently part of the parish of St Martin in the Fields, and became part of St George Hanover Square in 1724. The new parish stretched to Bond Street in the southern part of Mayfair and almost to Regent Street north of Conduit Street. The northern boundary was Oxford Street and the southern boundary fell short of Piccadilly. The parish continued west of Mayfair into Hyde Park and then south to include Belgravia and other areas.

The old telephone district of MAYfair (later 629) changed east of Bond Street to REGent (later 734). Most of the area was first developed between the mid 17th century and the mid 18th century as a fashionable residential district, by a number of landlords, the most important of them being the Dukes of Westminster, the Grosvenor family. The Grosvenor family has owned 40 hectares (100 acres) of Mayfair since 1677, when Sir Thomas Grosvenor married Mary Davies, heiress to part of the Manor of Ebury. The Rothschild family bought up large areas of Mayfair in the 19th century. The freehold of a large section of Mayfair also belongs to the Crown Estate.

The district is now mainly commercial, with many offices in converted houses and new buildings, including major corporate headquarters, a concentration of hedge funds, real estate businesses and many different embassy offices, namely the U.S.'s large office taking up all the west side of Grosvenor Square. Rents are among the highest in London and the world. There remains a substantial quantity of residential property as well as some exclusive shopping and London's largest concentration of luxury hotels and many restaurants. Buildings in Mayfair include both the Canadian High Commission and the United States embassy in Grosvenor Square, the Royal Academy of Arts, The Handel House Museum, the Grosvenor House Hotel, Claridge's and The Dorchester.

The renown and prestige of Mayfair could have grown in the popular mind because it is the most expensive property on the British Monopoly set.

Economy

Mayfair has become an attractive location away from the City of London for private banks, hedge funds and wealth managers. The Egyptian Education Bureau, is located in Chesterfield Gardens. EasyGroup has its head office in Mayfair.

Cadbury formerly had its head office in Mayfair. In 2007, Cadbury Schweppes announced that it was moving to Uxbridge, London Borough of Hillingdon, to cut costs.

Mayfair also boasts some of the capital's most exclusive shops, hotels, restaurants and clubs. Just alongside Burlington House is one of London's most luxurious shopping areas, the Burlington Arcade, which has housed shops under its glass-roofed promenade since 1819.

Education

The City of Westminster operates the Mayfair Library as a local library.

Streets and squares

• Albemarle Street
• Berkeley Square
• Berkeley Street
• Bond Street
• Brook Street
• Brown Hart Gardens
• Bryanston Square
• Cork Street
• Curzon Street
• Dover Street
• Grosvenor Square
• Hanover Square
• Harrowby Street
• Hill Street
• Hyde Park Corner — road junction at the south west corner
• Marble Arch — road junction/plaza at the north west corner
• Old Park Lane
• Oxford Street — northern boundary
• Park Lane — western boundary
• Piccadilly — southern boundary
• Piccadilly Circus — road junction/plaza at the south east corner of Mayfair
• Regent Street — eastern boundary
• South Molton Street
• Savile Row
• Shepherd Market
• South Audley Street

Transport and locale

Location in context

v t e Neighbouring areas of London
Paddington Marylebone Fitzrovia Hyde Park Mayfair Soho Knightsbridge St James's Chinatown

Nearest tube stations

The nearest London Underground stations are Bond Street, Green Park, Hyde Park Corner, Marble Arch and Oxford Circus.

• The former Down Street tube station is in the area, but no longer in use

Nearest railway station

• Victoria station

Museums

• Handel House Museum

Gallery

• Shepherd Market
• New Bond Street

See also

• A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square (disambiguation)
• Mount Street Gardens
• The Punch Bowl (Mayfair)
• Allens of Mayfair

References

1. http://www.londontourguide.org.uk/walking-tours.htm
2. City of Westminster green plaques http://www.westminster.gov.uk/services/leisureandculture/greenplaques/
3. "grosvenor plc web-site" (PDF). Retrieved 22 July 2012.
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/U.S._Embassy,_London
5. "About Us." EasyGroup. Retrieved 10 March 2010.
6. Muspratt, Caroline. "Cadbury swaps Mayfair for Uxbridge." The Daily Telegraph. 1 June 2007. Retrieved 27 April 2010.
7. "." Mayfair-London.co.uk. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
8. "Mayfair Library." City of Westminster. Retrieved 21 January 2009.

External links

• Template:Wikitravel
• The Site of the original May-fair
• BBC News story: Reviving the Mayfair May Fair
• History of Mayfair
• St. Nicholas College of London

v t e City of Westminster
Districts	Adelphi and Aldwych (see also Strand) Bayswater Belgravia Clare Market Covent Garden Fitzrovia Hyde Park (in commercial use) Kilburn Knightsbridge Lisson Grove Maida Vale including Little Venice Marylebone Mayfair Millbank Paddington including Paddington Green and Tyburnia Pimlico Queen's Park St James's St John's Wood Soho including Chinatown Victoria Westbourne Green Westminster
Attractions	Apsley House Banqueting House Benjamin Franklin House British Dental Association Museum British Optical Association Museum Buckingham Palace Canada House Gallery Churchill War Rooms Clarence House Courtauld Gallery Crime Museum Faraday Museum Fleming Museum Guards Museum Handel & Hendrix Horse Guards Household Cavalry Museum Hunterian Museum Institute of Contemporary Arts Kennel Club Dog Art Gallery London Film Museum London Transport Museum Madame Tussauds Mall Galleries National Gallery Palace of Westminster Queen's Gallery Royal Academy of Arts Royal Academy of Music Museum Royal Mews Sherlock Holmes Museum Somerset House Spencer House Tate Britain Trafalgar Square Twinings Museum Two Temple Place Wallace Collection Wellington Arch West End theatre Westminster Abbey London Zoo
Parks and open spaces	Green Park Hyde Park Kensington Gardens Regent's Park St James's Park
Constituencies	Cities of London and Westminster Westminster North
Local government	Westminster City Council Elections 2010 2014 2018 Queen's Park Community Council
Bridges	Chelsea Bridge Grosvenor Bridge Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges Lambeth Bridge Vauxhall Bridge Waterloo Bridge Westminster Bridge
Rail and tube stations	Baker Street Bayswater Bond Street Charing Cross Charing Cross Edgware Road Edgware Road Embankment Great Portland Street Green Park Hyde Park Corner Lancaster Gate Leicester Square Maida Vale Marble Arch Marylebone Oxford Circus Paddington Paddington Paddington Piccadilly Circus Pimlico Queensway Regent's Park Royal Oak St James's Park St John's Wood Temple Tottenham Court Road Victoria Warwick Avenue Westbourne Park Westminster
Art and architecture	Grade I listed buildings Grade II* listed buildings 1–9 A–Z Public art
Other topics	Blue plaques People Schools
Category

• Use dmy dates from June 2012
• Areas of London
• Districts of Westminster