Marylebone

Coordinates: 51°31′04″N 0°08′49″W / 51.5177°N 0.1470°W / 51.5177; -0.1470

Marylebone (/ˈmærɪləbən/ or /ˈmærələbən/ (both appropriate for the Parish Church of St. Marylebone), /ˈmærɪbən/, /ˈmɑːrlɪbən/, or /ˈmærɪlɪboʊn/) is an affluent inner-city area of central London, England, located within the City of Westminster. It is sometimes written as St. Marylebone (or, archaically, Mary-le-Bone).

Marylebone is roughly bounded by Oxford Street to the south, Marylebone Road to the north, Edgware Road to the west and Great Portland Street to the east. A broader definition designates the historic area as Marylebone Village and encompasses neighbouring Regent's Park, Baker Street and the area immediately north of Marylebone Road, containing Marylebone Station, the original site of the Marylebone Cricket Club at Dorset Square, and the neighbourhood known as Lisson Grove as far as the border with St John's Wood. The area east of Great Portland Street up to Cleveland Street, known as Fitzrovia since the 1940s, is considered historically to be East Marylebone.

Marylebone station

Marylebone station (ⁱ/ˈmɑːrlᵻbən/ MAR-li-bən), also known as London Marylebone, is a central London railway terminus and London Underground complex. It stands midway between the main line stations at Euston and Paddington, about 1 mile (1.6 km) from each. Originally the London terminus of the former Great Central Main Line to Sheffield and Manchester, which was closed north of Aylesbury in 1966, it now serves as the terminus of the Chiltern Main Line route to Birmingham.

Marylebone is the Central London terminus for Chiltern Railways which provides a large number of commuter/regional services approximately due north-west principally along the M40 corridor to destinations in Buckinghamshire, parts of Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and the West Midlands.

Opened in 1899, it is the youngest of London's main line terminal stations, and also one of the smallest, having opened with half the number of platforms originally planned. It is also the only London terminal station to host only diesel trains, having no electrified lines. From 1967 for many years it was served only by diesel multiple-unit trains (DMUs). It now once again also sees locomotive-hauled trains daily.

London

London ⁱ/ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia. It was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. London's ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1.12-square-mile (2.9 km²) medieval boundaries and in 2011 had a resident population of 7,375, making it the smallest city in England. Since at least the 19th century, the term London has also referred to the metropolis developed around this core. The bulk of this conurbation forms Greater London, a region of England governed by the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The conurbation also covers two English counties: the small district of the City of London and the county of Greater London. The latter constitutes the vast majority of London, though historically it was split between Middlesex (a now abolished county), Essex, Surrey, Kent and Hertfordshire.

High Street

High Street (or the High Street, also High Road) is a metonym for the concept (and frequently the street name) of the primary business street of towns or cities, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth of Nations. To distinguish it from "centres" of nearby places it is frequently preceded unofficially by the name of its settlement. In a town it implies the focal point for business, especially shops and street stalls (if any) in town and city centres. As a generic shorthand presupposed upon linear settlements it may be used to denote more precise concepts such as the urban retail sector, town centre sectors of employment, all small shops and services outlets and even wider concepts taking in social concepts. The smallest High Street in Britain is located in a small market town in Devon called Holsworthy. The street itself is no more than 100 yards long and there are only three shops located on Holsworthy's High Street.

High Street is the most common street name in the UK, which according to a 2009 statistical compilation has 5,410 High Streets, 3,811 Station Roads and 2,702 Main Streets.

Marylebone Road

Marylebone Road (ⁱ/ˈmɑːrlᵻbən/ MAR-li-bən) is an important thoroughfare in central London, within the City of Westminster. It runs east-west from the Euston Road at Regent's Park to the A40 Westway at Paddington. The road which runs in 3 lanes in both directions, is part of the London Inner Ring Road and as such forms part of the boundary of the zone within which the London congestion charge applies.

As part of the Ring Road and a feeder route to the A40 (and hence the M40 motorway) (to the west) and the A5 and M1 motorway (to the north) much of the traffic leaving central London for the Midlands and the North of England travels on this road. It is frequently heavily congested.

History

The road was effectively London's first bypass. Construction of the New Road, as it was called, began in 1756 along the northern edge of the built-up area. In 1857, the road's name was changed from New Road, with sections, west to east, renamed Marylebone Road, Euston Road and Pentonville Road.