Editing West End of London

{{Short description|District of Central London, England}}
{{about|the district of Central London, England|the western part of London|West London}}{{more citations needed|date=February 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2013}}{{Infobox UK place
| type = [[Entertainment district]], [[central business district]]
| official_name = West End of London
| local_name = London’s West End
| country = England
| region = London
| coordinates = {{coord|51|30|47|N|0|07|30|W|type:city_region:GB|display=inline.title}}
| post_town = LONDON
| postcode_area = W
| postcode_district = W1
| postcode_area1 = WC
| postcode_district1 = WC2
| postcode_area2 = EC
| postcode_district2 = EC1, EC2
| dial_code = 020
| constituency_westminster = [[Cities of London and Westminster (UK Parliament constituency)|Cities of London and Westminster]]
| constituency_westminster1 = [[Holborn and St Pancras (UK Parliament constituency)|Holborn and St Pancras]]
| london_borough = Camden
| london_borough1 = Westminster
}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}
[[File:Open Happiness Piccadilly Circus Blue-Pink Hour 120917-1126-jikatu.jpg|thumb|[[Piccadilly Circus]], in the heart of the West End, in September 2012]]

The '''West End of London''' (commonly referred to as '''the West End''') is a district of [[Central London|Central]] [[London]], England, in the [[London Borough of Camden|London Boroughs of Camden]] and the [[City of Westminster]]. It is 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 theatre]]s, are concentrated - and as such the term "West End" is used internationally as a [[metonym]] for London's theatre district and associated performing arts scene - just as "[[Broadway theatre|Broadway]]" is used to describe that of [[New York City]].

The term was first used in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of [[Charing Cross]].<ref name=mills>Mills, A., ''Oxford Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001)</ref>

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.

==History==
[[File:Oxford Street (geograph 4949395).jpg|thumb|Oxford Street, one of the main West End shopping areas]]
[[File:Map of the West End of London.png|thumb|Londons West End and immediate vicinity]]
[[Medieval]] [[London]] comprised two adjacent cities – the [[City of London]] in the east, and the [[City of Westminster]] in the west.

[[File:Temple-bar-griffin.jpg|thumb|left|175px|Dragon statue on the [[Temple Bar, London|Temple Bar]] monument, which marks the boundary between the City of Westminster and [[City of London]]]]
[[File:Aldwych Theatre 2.jpg|thumb|left|Aldwych Theatre in London Theatreland]]
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 the leisure, shopping, commerce, and entertainment sectors, the government, and home to [[university|universities]] and [[embassy|embassies]]. The modern West End is closely associated with this area of central London.

Lying to the west of the historic [[Londinium|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.<ref>Robert O. Bucholz and Joseph P. Ward: ''London: A Social and Cultural History, 1550–1750''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2012, p. 333</ref> It 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 borough]]s).

The [[Great Fire of London]] did not directly affect the West End a great deal, but the huge loss of housing in the City of London, led to a building boom in the west.<ref>https://www.westend.com/history-of-the-west-end-of-london</ref> This began with an initial development by [[Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans]] in the 1660s. Then 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 the City around [[Holborn]], [[Seven Dials, London|Seven Dials]], and [[Covent Garden]] contained poorer communities that were cleared and redeveloped in the 19th century.
{{See also|Cities of London and Westminster (UK Parliament constituency)}}

==Boundaries==
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, London|Chinatown]], [[Leicester Square]], the shopping streets of [[Oxford Street]], [[Regent Street]] and [[Bond Street]], the area encompassing [[Trafalgar Square]], the [[Strand, London|Strand]] and [[Aldwych]], and the district known as [[West End theatre#Theatreland|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.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www3.westminster.gov.uk/CSU/Cabinet%20Member%20Decisions/Economic_Development_and_Transport%202003-08/2005/49%20-%20Vision%20for%20the%20West%20End/West%20End%20Vision%20final%20report%20Oct05.pdf|title=Vision for the West End|date=October 2005|publisher=Westminster City Council|access-date=14 December 2016|archive-date=20 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220103651/http://www3.westminster.gov.uk/CSU/Cabinet%20Member%20Decisions/Economic_Development_and_Transport%202003-08/2005/49%20-%20Vision%20for%20the%20West%20End/West%20End%20Vision%20final%20report%20Oct05.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

According to Ed Glinert's ''West End Chronicles'' (2006) the districts falling within the West End are [[Mayfair]], [[Soho]], [[Covent Garden]], [[Fitzrovia]] and [[Marylebone]].<ref>E. Gilnert, West End Chronicles (Penguin, 2006)</ref> By this definition, the West End borders [[Temple, London|Temple]], [[Holborn]] and [[Bloomsbury]] to the east, [[Regent's Park]] to the north, [[Paddington]], [[Hyde Park, London|Hyde Park]] and [[Knightsbridge]] to the west, and [[Victoria, London|Victoria]] and [[Westminster]] to the south. Other definitions include Bloomsbury within the West End.<ref>Atkins, Peter J. "How the West End was won: the struggle to remove street barriers in Victorian London." [[Journal of Historical Geography]] 19.3 (1993): 265.</ref>

One of the [[City of Westminster]] [[Wards of the United Kingdom|wards]] is called "[[West End (Westminster ward)|West End]]". This electoral unit includes some of the most prosperous areas of the borough, including [[Soho]], [[Mayfair]] and parts of southern [[Marylebone]].<ref>[http://www3.westminster.gov.uk/docstores/publications_store/2559_West%20End%20Ward_A4_NTonkin.pdf Westminster City Council ward boundary information]</ref> The population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 10,575.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=13689156&c=West+End&d=14&e=62&g=6340682&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&o=362&m=0&r=1&s=1476554268317&enc=1|title=City of Westminstee ward population 2011|access-date=15 October 2016|publisher=Office for National Statistics |work=Neighbourhood Statistics}}</ref>

As part of the [[London Government Act 1963]], the West End covers parts of the boroughs of [[City of Westminster|Westminster]] and [[London Borough of Camden|Camden]].<ref name=plan>Greater London Authority, ''[http://www.london.gov.uk/archive/mayor/strategies/sds/london_plan/lon_plan_5.pdf The London Plan: The Sub Regions] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604095551/http://www.london.gov.uk/archive/mayor/strategies/sds/london_plan/lon_plan_5.pdf# |date=4 June 2011 }}''</ref>

==Notable streets==
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
*[[Albemarle Street]]
*[[Baker Street]]
*[[Bond Street]]
*[[Carnaby Street]]
*[[Charing Cross Road]]
*[[Denmark Street]]
*[[Great Marlborough Street]]
*[[Great Portland Street]]
*[[Harley Street]]
*[[Haymarket (London)|Haymarket]]
*[[High Holborn]]
*[[Jermyn Street]]
*[[Lisson Grove]]
*[[Kingsway (London)|Kingsway]]
*[[Old Compton Street]]
*[[Oxford Street]]
*[[Pall Mall, London|Pall Mall]]
*[[Park Lane (road)|Park Lane]]
*[[Piccadilly]]
*[[Regent Street]]
*[[Savile Row]]
*[[Shaftesbury Avenue]]
*[[Strand, London|Strand]]
*[[The Mall, London|The Mall]]
*[[Wardour Street]]
{{Div col end}}

==Notable squares and circuses==
[[File:Marble.arch.london.arp.jpg|thumb|[[Marble Arch]]]]
The West End is laid out with many notable [[Squares in London|public squares]] and circuses.
*[[Berkeley Square]]
*[[Cambridge Circus, London|Cambridge Circus]]
*[[Cavendish Square]]
*[[Grosvenor Square]]
*[[Hanover Square, Westminster|Hanover Square]]
*[[Hyde Park Corner]]
*[[Leicester Square]]
*[[Manchester Square]]
*[[Marble Arch]]
*[[Oxford Circus]]
*[[Parliament Square]]
*[[Piccadilly Circus]]
*[[Portman Square]]
*[[Russell Square]]
*[[Soho Square]]
*[[St James's Square, London|St James's Square]]
*[[St Giles Circus]]
*[[Trafalgar Square]]

==Transport==
[[London Underground]] stations in the West End include:
{{div col|colwidth=15em|small=yes}}
*[[Baker Street tube station|Baker Street]]
*[[Bond Street tube station|Bond Street]]
*[[Charing Cross tube station|Charing Cross]]
*[[Covent Garden tube station|Covent Garden]]
*[[Embankment tube station|Embankment]]
*[[Goodge Street tube station|Goodge Street]]
*[[Great Portland Street tube station|Great Portland Street]]
*[[Green Park tube station|Green Park]]
*[[Holborn tube station|Holborn]]
*[[Hyde Park Corner tube station|Hyde Park Corner]]
*[[Leicester Square tube station|Leicester Square]]
*[[Marble Arch tube station|Marble Arch]]
*[[Oxford Circus tube station|Oxford Circus]]
*[[Piccadilly Circus tube station|Piccadilly Circus]]
*[[Regent's Park tube station|Regent's Park]]
*[[Russell Square tube station|Russell Square]]
*[[Tottenham Court Road tube station|Tottenham Court Road]]
*[[Warren Street tube station|Warren Street]]
{{Div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|West End of London}}
{{Sub-regions of London}}
{{Areas of London}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:West End of London}}
[[Category:Areas of London]]
[[Category:Business improvement districts in London]]
[[Category:Districts of the London Borough of Camden]]
[[Category:Districts of the City of Westminster]]
[[Category:International centres of London]]
[[Category:London sub-regions]]
[[Category:Retailing in London]]
[[Category:Theatre districts]]