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St Marylebone

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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ST MARYLEBONE (commonly called Marylebone), a northwestern metropolitan borough of London, England, bounded N. by Hampstead, E. by St Pancras and Holborn, S. by the City .of Westminster, and W. by Paddington. Pop. (1901), 133,301. It is mainly a rich residential quarter; the most fashionable part is found in the south, in the vicinity of Cavendish and Portman Squares, but there are numerous fine houses surrounding Regent's Park and in the north-western district of St John's Wood. Oxford Street, with its handsome shops, bounds the borough on the south, crossing Regent Street at Oxford Circus; Edgware Road on the west; Marylebone Road crosses from east to west, .and from this Upper Baker Street gives access to Park, Wellington, and Finchley Roads; and Baker Street leads southward. Poor and squalid streets are found, in close proximity to the wealthiest localities, between Marylebone Road and St John's Wood Road, and about High Street in the south, the .site of the original village. The formation of the Great Central Railway, the Marylebone terminus of which, in Marylebone Road, was opened in 1899, caused an extensive demolition of .streets and houses in the west central district. St Marylebone was in the manor of Tyburn, which takes name from the Tyburn, a stream which flowed south to the Thames through the centre of the present borough. The church was called St Mary at the Bourne. The name Tyburn (q.v.) was notorious chiefly as applied to the gallows which stood near the existing junction of Edgware Road and Oxford Street (Marble Arch). The manor at the Domesday Survey was in the possession of the nunnery at Barking, but the borough includes several estates, such as the manor of Lyllestone in the west, the name of which is preserved in Lisson Grove. From 1738 to 1776 Marylebone Gardens (which had existed under other names from the close of the 17th century) became one of the most favoured evening resorts in London. They extended east of High Street as far as Harley Street, but by 1778 the ground was being built over. Another historic site is Horace Street near Edgware Road, formerly Cato Street, from which the conspiracy which bore that name was directed against the ministry in 1820.

The borough includes almost the whole of Regent's Park, with a portion of Primrose Hill north of it. These have altogether an area of 472 acres. The park, originally Marylebone Park, was enclosed by James I., and received its modern name from the Prince Regent, afterwards George IV. It contains the Zoological Gardens, one of the most noteworthy institutions of its kind, attracting numerous visitors to its splendid collections of living animals. Here are also the gardens of the Royal Botanic Society, incorporated in 1839. They are enclosed and beautifully laid out, and contain hot-houses and a museum. Exhibitions are held each year. The Toxophilite Society, founded in 1781, has also occupied grounds here since 1883. The picturesque lake is supplied by the ancient Tyburn. The Regent's Canal skirts the north side of the park. Another famous enclosure is Lord's Cricket Ground, St John's Wood Road. The founder, Thomas Lord (1814), at first established a cricket ground in the present Dorset Square, but it was soon moved here. Lord's, as it is called, is the headquarters of the M.C.C. (Marylebone Cricket Club), the governing body of the game; here are played the home matches of this club and of the Middlesex County Cricket Club, the Oxford and Cambridge, Eton and Harrow, and other well-known fixtures. The Wallace Art Collection, Hertford House, Manchester Square, was bequeathed by Sir Richard Wallace to the nation on the death of his wife in 1897. The waxwork exhibition named after Madame Tussaud, who founded it in Paris in 1780, occupies large buildings in Marylebone Road. The Parkes Museum of the Sanitary Institute is in Margaret Street. The Queen's Hall, Langham Place, is used for concerts, including a notable annual series of orchestral promenade concerts. StMarylebone contains a great number of hospitals, among which are the Middlesex, Mortimer Street; Throat Hospital and Dental Hospital and School, Great Portland Street; Lying-in and Ophthalmic Hospitals, Marylebone Road; Samaritan Hospital for women, Seymour Street; Consumption Hospital, Margaret Street; and the Home for incurable children, St John's Wood Road. There are also several industrial homes. Harley Street, between Marylebone Road and Cavendish Square, is noted as the residence of medical practitioners. Educational institutions include the Trinity and the Victoria Colleges of Music, in Manchester Square and Berners Street respectively; the Bedford College for women, and the Regent's Park Baptist College. The parliamentary borough of Marylebone has east and west divisions, each returning one member. The borough council consists of a mayor, 10 aldermen and 60 councillors. Area, 1472.8 acres.