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.
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The term was first used in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross.[1] The West End covers parts of the boroughs of Westminster and Camden.[2]
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 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.[3] 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 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 the City around Holborn, Seven Dials, and Covent Garden contained poorer communities that were cleared and redeveloped in the 19th century.
One of the City of Westminsterwards 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.[7] The population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 10,575.[8]
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.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article West_End_of_London, and is written by contributors.
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