Jermyn Street is a one-way street in the

St James's St James's is a district of Westminster, and a central district in the City of Westminster, London, forming part of the West End of London, West End. The area was once part of the northwestern gardens and parks of St. James's Palace and much of ...

area of the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a London borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Greater London, England. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It contains a large par ...

London, England London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. It is to the south of, parallel, and adjacent to

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, England, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road (England), A4 road that connects central London to ...

. Jermyn Street is known as a street for gentlemen's-clothing retailers in the West End.

History

In around 1664, the street was created by and named after

Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of Saint Albans (25 March 1605 (Baptism, baptised) – January 1684) was an English Cavaliers, Royalist politician, diplomat, courtier and property developer. Jermyn sat in the House of Commons of England, House of Commo ...

, as part of his development of the

area of central London. It was first recorded as "Jarman Streete" in the 1667 rate books of St Martin's, which listed 56 properties on it. In 1675, there were 108 names listed.

Notable residents

Many

tailor A tailor is a person who makes or alters clothing, particularly in men's clothing. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the term to the thirteenth century. History Although clothing construction goes back to prehistory, there is evidence of ...

s owned or still own the houses along the street and often let rooms to people. No. 22, Jermyn Street, for instance was once owned by Italian silk merchant Cesare Salvucci and a military tailor who rented rooms out to people such as the banker Theodore Rothschild. The Duke of Marlborough lived there when he was Colonel Churchill, as did

Isaac Newton Sir Isaac Newton () was an English polymath active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author. Newton was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment that followed ...

(at No. 88, from 1696 to 1700; he then moved next door to No. 87, from 1700 to 1709, during which time he worked as Warden of the Mint), the mid-18th century highwayman and apothecary William Plunkett, the Duchess of Richmond, the Countess of Northumberland and the artist John Keyse Sherwin (in whose rooms in 1782 the actress

Sarah Siddons Sarah Siddons (''née'' Kemble; 5 July 1755 – 8 June 1831) was a Welsh actress, the best-known Tragedy, tragedienne of the 18th century. Contemporaneous critic William Hazlitt dubbed Siddons as "tragedy personified". She was the elder siste ...

sat for him for her portrait as ''Euphrasia'')''.'' The Gun Tavern was one of the great resorts for foreigners of revolutionary tastes during the end of the 18th century, whilst Grenier's Hotel was patronised by French refugees. At the Brunswick Hotel, Louis Napoleon took up his residence under the assumed name of Count D'Arenberg on his escape from captivity in the fortress of Ham. Though he did not live there, a statue of the dandy Beau Brummell stands on Jermyn Street at its junction with Piccadilly Arcade, as embodying its elegant clothing values.

Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley ( ; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, novelist, mountaineer, and painter. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...

lived in No. 93 during the Second World War up until 1 April. It was through Crowley that Nancy Cunard resided in a flat in Jermyn Street. New Zealand chefs and entertainers, Hudson and Halls, lived in a flat at No. 60 in the 1990s.

Businesses

Jermyn Street shops traditionally sell shirts and other gentlemen's apparel, such as hats, shoes, shaving brushes,

colognes Eau de Cologne (; German: ''Kölnisch Wasser'' ; meaning "Water from Cologne") or simply cologne is a perfume originating in Cologne, Germany. Originally mixed by Johann Maria Farina (Giovanni Maria Farina) in 1709, it has since come to be a generi ...

, braces and collar stiffeners. The street is famous for its resident shirtmakers such as Turnbull & Asser, Hawes & Curtis, Thomas Pink, Hilditch & Key, Harvie & Hudson, Emma Willis, and Charles Tyrwhitt. Gentlemen's outfitters Hackett is located on Jermyn Street, as well as shoe- and boot-makers John Lobb. A number of other related businesses occupy premises on the street, such as Sartoria dei Duchi - Atri, the men's luxury goods brand Alfred Dunhill, who opened its shop on the corner of Jermyn Street and Duke Street in 1907; barbers Geo.F. Trumper, and Taylor of Old Bond Street; and cigar shop Davidoff of London. The street also contains Britain's oldest

cheese Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...

shop, Paxton & Whitfield, trading since 1797. Floris, a perfumers in the street, has display cabinets acquired directly from the

Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition that took ...

in 1851. Forming part of the St James's Art District, there are a number of art galleries in Jermyn Street, including The Sladmore Gallery. Shops in this district are required to display art as part of their lease. Among the restaurants in the street are the historic Wiltons, the long established Rowley's Restaurant, the new Fortnum and Mason restaurant, and Franco's.

Tramp A tramp is a long-term homeless person who travels from place to place as a vagrant, traditionally walking all year round. Etymology Tramp is derived from a Middle English verb meaning to "walk with heavy footsteps" (''cf.'' modern English '' ...

nightclub and the 70-seat Jermyn Street Theatre (the West End's smallest) are also on the street. Many of the buildings on Jermyn Street are owned by the Crown Estate.

Listed buildings

Most of the buildings appear in ''Survey of London'' in ''The Parish of St James Westminster Part 1 South of Piccadilly: Volumes 29 and 30'', Vol. 29 (1960), which can be viewed online.

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (195 ...

writes in ''The Buildings of England'' that "The Mid Victorian shop-front of No 97 is one of the best of its date in the West End". He calls no 93, which houses cheesemakers Paxton & Whitfield, "another good one".

References

External links