Regent Street
Regent Street is a
testament to the genius of architect John Nash. It was an
extremely complex task; to build a major new artery from
Marlybone Park (now Regents Park) to Carlton House, through
a densely populated area that had dozens of different
owners. It was a necessary route to alleviate traffic and
also upgrade London to the level of a European capital. The
were many problems with funding, opposing factions, and also
the southern end would have to swerve east to avoid St.
James. Against these adverse and changing conditions Nash
managed to create a unified street of straight and curves
with two magnificent circles and the main intersections of
Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus. The crowing feature was
a covered colonnaded stretch on the southern curve called
the Quadrant. Unfortunately the Quadrant was dismantled and
Piccadilly Circus largely destroyed. Despite all of that
Regent Street remains a street of the world and is a joy to
walk down and browse in its good quality shops.
Piccadilly Circus
Piccadilly and Bakerloo lines-
Oxford Circus
Central, Bakerloo and Victoria lines
