St Martin's Lane is a street in the
City of Westminster
The City of Westminster is a city and borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of central Greater London, including most of the West En ...
, which runs from the church of
St Martin-in-the-Fields, after which it is named, near
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson comm ...
northwards to
Long Acre. At its northern end, it becomes
Monmouth Street
Monmouth Street is a street in the Seven Dials district of Covent Garden, London, England.
Monmouth Street runs north to south from Shaftesbury Avenue to a crossroads with Tower Street and Shelton Street, where it becomes St Martin's Lane. ...
. St Martin's Lane and Monmouth Street together form the
B404.
History
The street was first built up in 1610 when
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury
Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury, (1 June 156324 May 1612), was an English statesman noted for his direction of the government during the Union of the Crowns, as Tudor England gave way to Stuart rule (1603). Lord Salisbury served as the ...
was granted of land on the street's west side. It was originally known as West Church Lane; the current name dates from 1618.
A narrow street with relatively little traffic, St Martin's Lane is home to the
English National Opera at the
Coliseum Theatre
The London Coliseum (also known as the Coliseum Theatre) is a theatre in St Martin's Lane, Westminster, built as one of London's largest and most luxurious "family" variety theatres. Opened on 24 December 1904 as the London Coliseum Theatre ...
, as well as two other
theatres, the
Duke of York's Theatre and the
Noël Coward Theatre, second-hand bookshops, antique dealers and high class gentlemen's outfitters. It also has a large number of cafes and a music shop aimed at opera and theatre goers. The theatrical agency set up by
Peggy Ramsay
Margaret Francesca Ramsay (27 May 1908 - 4 September 1991) was an Australian-born British theatrical agent.Christopher Stevens ''Born Brilliant: The Life Of Kenneth Williams'', London: John Murray, 2010, p.409
Early life
Peggy Ramsay was bo ...
in 1953 was located in Goodwin's Court, an alley leading off the lane.
Two pedestrian alleys, St Martin's Court and
Cecil Court
Cecil Court is a pedestrian street with Victorian shop-frontages in Westminster, England, linking Charing Cross Road and St Martin's Lane. Since the 1930s, it has been known as the new Booksellers' Row.
Early background
One of the older thoroug ...
, connect St Martin's Lane with
Charing Cross Road
Charing Cross Road is a street in central London running immediately north of St Martin-in-the-Fields to St Giles Circus (the intersection with Oxford Street) and then becomes Tottenham Court Road. It leads from the north in the direction ...
have similar usage.
In the 18th-century St Martin's Lane was noted for the Academy founded by
William Hogarth and later for premises of
cabinet-makers and "
upholsterers" such as
Thomas Chippendale, who moved to better premises there in 1753,
Vile and Cobb, and
William Hallett around the corner in Newport Street.
The Salisbury
The Salisbury
The Salisbury is a Grade II* listed pub on Grand Parade in Harringay, North London.
History
The Salisbury was designed and built by John Cathles Hill, founder of The London Brick Company. The pub was opened in 1899 with W. A. Cathles, a cou ...
in Covent Garden was built as part of a six-storey block around 1899 on the site of an earlier pub that had been known under several names, including the Coach & Horses and
Ben Caunt's Head; it is both
Grade II listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...
, and on
CAMRA's National Inventory, due to the quality of the etched and polished glass and the carved woodwork.
Films
The film ''St Martin's Lane'' (also known as ''
Sidewalks of London'', 1938) starring
Vivien Leigh,
Rex Harrison and
Charles Laughton, later formed the basis of the Broadway musical ''
Busker Alley''. The street is also prominently featured throughout the 1961 film ''
Victim'', which also has scenes in the Salisbury.
References
Citations
Sources
*
{{Coord , 51, 30, 38, N, 0, 07, 38, W, display=title, type:landmark
Streets in the City of Westminster
Covent Garden
Odonyms referring to religion