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History
Until the 17th century the area was known as Portugal, after Portugal Street. The name of Piccadilly arises from a tailor named Robert Baker, who owned a shop on the Strand, in the late 16th century and early 17th century. He amassed a large fortune by making and selling piccadills (also called picadils—stiff collars with scalloped edges and a broad lace or perforated border), that were then in fashion. With his great fortune he purchased a large tract of what was then open country to the west of London, and in about 1612 he built a large house there. The mansion soon became known as Piccadilly Hall.
After the Restoration of the English monarchy in 1660, Piccadilly and the area to the north (Mayfair) began to be systematically developed as a fashionable residential locality. Some of the grandest mansions in London were built on the northern side of Piccadilly. Clarendon House (now the location of Albemarle Street), Berkeley House (later Devonshire House), and Sir John Denham's house (later Burlington House) were constructed in the 17th century. Later mansions included Melbourne House (now The Albany), Apsley House, Bath House and Cambridge House. Several members of the Rothschild family had mansions at the western end of the street, and that part of it was colloquially referred to as Rothschild Row. By the 1920s most of these buildings had been demolished or were in institutional use.
21st century Piccadilly has a hybrid range of uses. Despite the presence of two or three famous shops, it is not really one of London's principal shopping streets. The Ritz Hotel is in the street, along with some other luxury hotels. There are also some offices and some very expensive flats. However, Piccadilly's appeal is compromised by being one of the widest and straightest streets in central London, and hence having some of the most overbearing traffic.
Fiction
In the Lord Peter Wimsey novels by Dorothy L. Sayers, Lord Peter's address in London is 110a Piccadilly. The number 110a was chosen in homage to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's use of 221b Baker Street for Sherlock Holmes.
There was a British film made in 1929 called "Piccadilly".
Moreover, in Bram Stoker's novel, Dracula, Count Draula owns a house at Piccadilly.
Transport
The Piccadilly Line of the London Underground takes its name from Piccadilly and part of the line travels under Piccadilly. Green Park, Hyde Park Corner and Piccadilly Circus tube stations all have entrances either on or near to Piccadilly.
Selected adjoining streets include:
- Albemarle Street
- Dover Street
- Hyde Park Corner
- Old Bond Street
- Piccadilly Circus
- Regent Street
- St James's Street
See also
References
- Robert Baker of Piccadilly Hall and His Heirs by F.H.W. Sheppard (ISBN 0-902087-18-5)
External links
- The Early History of Piccadilly — from the Survey of London
- An article from the International Herald Tribune about the closing of Simpsons, its history and place on Piccadilly
