Charing Cross Road is a street running immediately north of St Martin-in-the-Fields to St Giles Circus.
What is now Charing Cross Road was originally two narrow streets: Crown Street and Castle Street south of which were a maze of streets and buildings known as Newport Market, around a meat market.
As the West End of London developed, a major increase in traffic occurred around Piccadilly Circus, Charing Cross and Oxford Street, much of it centred on access to Tottenham Court Road and routes to points north. The need for a new street, linking Tottenham Court Road with the 1860s-built Charing Cross station was seen to be a solution.
There were challenges with land ownership but ultimately Charing Cross Road was developed, along with Shaftesbury Avenue, by the Metropolitan Board of Works under an 1877 Act of Parliament. The scheme also conveniently abolished some of the worst slums in London.
In 1882, purchases of property were made along the streets that would be demolished. Five years later the project was complete and the Duke of Cambridge officially opened Charing Cross Road on 26 February 1887.
Charing Cross Road is now renowned for its specialist and second-hand bookshops. The northern section between Cambridge Circus and Oxford Street includes more generalist bookshops such as Foyles. Smaller second-hand and specialist antiquarian bookshops can be found on the adjoining Cecil Court.
A long correspondence between New York City-based author Helene Hanff and the staff of the Marks & Co. bookshop, was the inspiration for the book (and subsequent movie) 84 Charing Cross Road.
A number of theatres are on or near Charing Cross Road, such as the Phoenix Theatre, the Garrick Theatre and Wyndham’s Theatre. The music venue the Astoria was located here, as is one of the sites of St Martin’s Arts College, opening in 1939.
In the Harry Potter books, the Leaky Cauldron pub is located on Charing Cross Road.
