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THE HISTORY OF MAYFAIR
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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 the Grosvenor family. The freehold of a large section of Mayfair
also belongs to Queen Elizabeth II.
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Mayfair has been owned by the Grosvenor family since 1677 and takes its name from
the 15-day May Fair, once held here every year. The May Fair moved from Haymarket
to the site of today's Curzon Street and Shepherd Market in 1686 but a century later
it was suppressed by the local nobility for lowering the tone of the neighbourhood. |
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Mayfair's expansive and handsome architecture has always attracted the very wealthy.
For nearly 300 years the most influential people in the land have enjoyed its elegant
squares, broad Georgian thoroughfares and beautiful parks. Mayfair also boasts the
capital's most exclusive shops, hotels, restaurants and clubs.
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Mayfair is dominated in the north by three large squares: Grosvenor, Hanover and
Berkeley. The vast Grosvenor Square, which houses the US Embassy, has a statue of
Franklin D Roosevelt at its centre. Mayfair's commercial district lies to the east.
Lots of other embassies are around this area. This area includes Savile Row, world-famous
for its tailoring, and New and Old Bond Streets, renowned for their jewellery, antiques
and clothing.
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New Bond Street is also known for its auction houses; the most famous being Phillips
and Sotheby's .
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MAYFAIR TODAY |
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It is a fashionable district that includes the most important retail shopping activity
in the United Kingdom.
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From Oxford Street, the home of famous department store Selfridges and teenage shopping
heaven TopShop, its main shopping concentration stretches southward along Regent
Street and the Quadrant to Piccadilly Circus and then turns right (west) along Piccadilly;
northward branches extend along Sackville Street and Savile Row, where eminent tailors
make some of the world's finest men's clothing. 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.
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Parallel and a little farther west, Bond Street, with its long-established art auctioneers
and exclusive boutiques and designer flagship stores, is a magnet for lavish spenders
from around the world. Archaeological excavations at Mayfair have shown that the
area was a junction of Roman roads, which has led some researchers to postulate
that Romans settled the area before establishing Londinium (now London). Mayfair
was developed from the mid-17th century and its proximity to St. James's Palace
made it a fashionable neighbourhood.
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Outstanding among Mayfair's museums and galleries are the Museum of Mankind, which
is administratively part of the British Museum, and the 18th- and 19th-century Burlington
House, which is the home of the Royal Academy of Arts (1768), the Royal Astronomical
Society (1820), the British Astronomical Association (1890), the Society of Antiquaries
of London (1707), the Linnean Society of London (1788), the Geological Society (1807),
an d other learned societies. |
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