Strand, London
Strand (or the Strand)[a] is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster, Central London. The street, which is part of London's West End theatreland, runs just over 3⁄4 mile (1.2 km) from Trafalgar Square eastwards to Temple Bar, where the road becomes Fleet Street in the City of London, and is part of the A4, a main road running west from inner London.
For the former Strand local government district of London, see Strand District (Metropolis).Part of
The road's name comes from the Old English strond, meaning the beach or edge of a river, as it historically ran alongside the north bank of the River Thames. The river side of the street was home to grand houses, interspersed with slum alleys, between the 12th and 17th centuries. Historically important mansions built between the Strand and the river included Essex House, Arundel House, Somerset House, Savoy Palace, Durham House, York House and Cecil House, none of which survive. The aristocracy moved to the West End during the 17th century, and the Strand became known for its coffee shops, restaurants and taverns. The street was a centre point for theatre and music hall during the 19th century, and several venues remain on the Strand.
At the east end of the street are two English Baroque churches: St Mary le Strand by James Gibbs and St Clement Danes by Christopher Wren. This easternmost stretch of the Strand is also home to King's College, one of the two founding colleges of the University of London. Other notable structures include the Royal Courts of Justice and Australia House.[3][4][5][6][7]
Several authors, poets and philosophers have lived on or near the Strand, including Charles Dickens, Ralph Waldo Emerson and Virginia Woolf. The street has been commemorated in the 19th century music hall song "Let's All Go Down the Strand".
Geography[edit]
The street is the main link between the two cities of Westminster and London.[8] It runs eastward from Trafalgar Square, parallel to the River Thames, to Temple Bar which is the boundary between the two cities at this point; the road ahead being Fleet Street.[1] Traffic travelling eastbound follows a short crescent around Aldwych, connected at both ends to the Strand. The road marks the southern boundary of the Covent Garden district[9] and forms part of the Northbank business improvement district.[10]
The name was first recorded in 1002 as strondway,[11][8] then in 1185 as Stronde and in 1220 as la Stranda.[12] It is formed from the Old English word 'strond', meaning the edge of a river.[8] Initially it referred to the shallow bank of the once much wider Thames, before the construction of the Victoria Embankment. The name was later applied to the road itself. In the 13th century it was known as 'Densemanestret' or 'street of the Danes', referring to the community of Danes in the area.[12]
Two London Underground stations were once named Strand: a Piccadilly line station (which was renamed Aldwych station) that operated between 1907 and 1994[13] and a former Northern line station which today forms part of Charing Cross station. 'Strand Bridge' was the name given to Waterloo Bridge during its construction; it was renamed for its official opening on the second anniversary of the coalition victory in the Battle of Waterloo.[14] London Bus routes 6, 23, 139 and 176 all run along the Strand, as do numerous night bus services.[15]
Notable residents[edit]
The print seller Rudolph Ackermann lived and worked at No. 101 The Strand between 1797 and 1827. His shop was one of the first to have gas lighting fitted.[30]
In the 19th century, The Strand became a newly fashionable address and many avant-garde writers and thinkers gathered here, among them Thomas Carlyle, Charles Dickens, John Stuart Mill, Ralph Waldo Emerson and the scientist Thomas Henry Huxley.[73] No. 142 was the home of radical publisher and physician John Chapman, who published contemporary authors from this house during the 1850s and edited the journal Westminster Review from 1851.[74] George Eliot lived at No. 142 between 1851 and 1855.[30] Virginia Woolf regularly travelled along the Strand,[75] and a King's College building named after her is in nearby Kingsway.[76]
Cultural references[edit]
The Strand is the subject of a famous music hall song "Let's All Go Down the Strand", composed by Harry Castling and C. W. Murphy.[77] The song opens with a group of tourists staying the night at Trafalgar Square while about to embark for the Rhineland.[78] The chorus of "Let's all go down the Strand – have a banana"[b] is now recognised as a stereotypical part of Cockney music hall[13] and parodied by English comedian Bill Bailey.[80] John Betjeman used the title of the song for a television documentary made for Associated-Rediffusion in 1967.[81] The same year, Margaret Williams used it for a stage comedy.[82] Australian-born composer Percy Grainger used the name for his 1911 piano trio Handel in the Strand.[83]
Virginia Woolf wrote about the Strand in several of her essays, including "Street Haunting: A London Adventure,"[84] and the novel Mrs. Dalloway.[85] T. S. Eliot alluded to the Strand in his 1905 poem "At Graduation" and in his 1922 poem "The Waste Land" (part III, The Fire Sermon, v. 258: "and along the Strand, up Queen Victoria Street").[86] John Masefield also referred to a "jostling in the Strand" in his poem "On Growing Old".[87] The poem "Buses on the Strand", written in 1958 by Richard Percival Lister, featured in TFL's "Poems on the Underground" scheme in 2013, appearing in tube carriages all over London. The scheme celebrated of the 150th year of the London Underground with works by poets with close London connections.[88]
The Strand Magazine, which began publishing in 1891, was named after the street. A BBC World Service arts and culture radio series was called The Strand.[89] Bush House, situated on the Strand, was home to the World Service between 1941 and 2012.[90]
The standard British Monopoly board has Strand in a group with the nearby Fleet Street and Trafalgar Square.[91]