Great Portland Street is a commercial road in the West End of London which links Oxford Street with the A501 Marylebone Road. A mixed-use street of residents and businesses, it divides Fitzrovia from Marylebone and delineates areas with contrasting identities, with grandiose Portland Place and Harley Street to the west and artists' and independent businesses to the east.
Overview
Long sections of Great Portland Street fall in two Westminster City Council conservation areas, named after Harley Street and East Marylebone.City Of Westminster, CONSERVATION AREAS: A Guide for Property Owners (PDF), November 2004
The street was gradually developed by a senior branch of the Cavendish-Bentinck family, the Dukes of Portland, who owned most of the eastern half of Marylebone in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was first rated as John Street in 1726.
Great Portland Street then went on to have some prominence with the arts, the motor, garment and broadcast industries.
A campaign to add to its trees began in 2009.
Historic influences
Different owners and interests influenced development; these shaped the street's layout and character. Edward Harley – Earl of Oxford and Mortimer, who married Lady Henrietta Cavendish – was responsible for the development of the Portland Estate, building up Cavendish Square in 1717 then the rest of its land to the north and east. Great Portland stresses the descent of the land and buildings through Dukes' successive ownerships. Many local street names reflect their overall ownership, albeit less obviously.
Development up to Great Titchfield Street was through the Portland Estate, competing against adjoining estates. The Berners family owned land to the east; they developed Wells Street and Rathbone Place in the mid-18th century. At the same time the Middlesex Hospital expanded on land on a 99-year lease around Mortimer Street, encroaching on Riding House and Cleveland Streets. These unrelated developers with different designs explains the asymmetrical street grid using the street as a basis; from the street many others start or end.
Great Portland Street runs straight, north-south. The layout, combined with its width and the concentration of shops along its length, means it has for a long time been a local centre and thoroughfare, connecting the residential areas around Regent's Park with the West End. It has also resulted in it becoming a divider, emphasising the contrasting areas to either side. To the east, are artistic areas such as Fitzrovia, which have historically been less well-to-do than the west, with its grand parade of Portland Place, residential areas for the gentry, and doctors and medical institutions on Harley Street.
Development and redevelopment
Development of the estate was gradual but particularly so on Great Portland Street. This had an effect during its redevelopment in the late-19th/early-20th centuries when rebuilding was dictated by the expiration of individual 99-year leases, and is evident in the buildings in existence today.
The most coherent element to the architecture is the predominance of Edwardian buildings to the north and Victorian buildings towards Oxford Street, particularly noticeable when there has been occasional consolidation of plots, leading to consistent façades above street level such as in the block between Clipstone and Carburton Streets. The trend of period groupings is another result of the slowness of the first development. As buildings in the south were built earlier than those in the north, their leases expired earlier, setting off a wave of redevelopment which meant that rebuilding in the south took place in the late-Victorian era, whilst that in the north was delayed until the Edwardian period.
The Blitz made it necessary for further re-building after the war, although the damage incurred along the street was not particularly extensive so there are few modern buildings, and although the aesthetic today is a jumble of architectural styles and eras, the overall feel is that of an historic street.
Development over time Maps from close to the outset of building help to identify the street's changes.
1746 (John Rocque's Map) The southern end of Great Portland Street (then shown as Portland Street) has been built as part of the development begun by Edward Harley and Lady Cavendish. With the exception of small villages at Mary Le Bone and Tottenham Court, the rest of the area to the north of Oxford Street is largely open fields. To the south, the street patterns which were the inspiration for the new development of formal squares and streets can be seen in places such as Soho Square.John Rocque's Map of London 1741-5, John Rocque, Map of London, 1741-5
1793 (Richard Horwood's Map)
The street pattern of the whole area has been laid out almost exactly as it is today, with the appearance of Marylebone Road providing the northern boundary to the grid. Notable differences are the presence of Foley House where Langham Place is today, and Portland Place shown in its original design as a close of grand houses. Also, the line of Great Portland Street has been established but the buildings at the northern end have not been built, a curious gap as the streets parallel have largely been built up at this stage. One other curiosity in the planning of Great Portland Street, which still remains today, is its abrupt widening just north of Clipstone Street.Richard Horwood (1795) PLAN of the Cities of LONDON and WESTMINSTER the Borough of SOUTHWARK and PARTS adjoining Shewing every HOUSE , accessed 15 October 2010
The impetus for the social pattern of affluence to the west and poverty to the east which has long-defined the area has been established with the houses along Portland Place and west of there being much larger than those to the east. These houses, clearly designed for the gentry have their own individual gardens and frequently mews, whilst the houses along Great Portland Street and the surrounding streets are noticeably smaller and would have accommodated the working classes involved in local trades.
1827 (Christopher Greenwood's Map)
Great Portland Street's buildings are still not complete at the northern end, although the rest of the area's present-day street pattern is now completely in place. This includes the appearance of Park Crescent and the transformation of Portland Place into a grand parade with the disappearance of Foley House. These two prominent features were part of Nash's scheme for the Prince Regent when the land to the north was returned to the Crown. This included the laying out of Regent's Park, which had previously remained an area of fields, and the creation of a 'royal mile', beginning at Park Crescent and leading down to Carlton House in the south.Christopher Greenwood (cartographer), Map of London, 1830, accessed 15 August 2010
1870 (Ordnance Survey Map) The whole street has been built up and is now united as one street under the name of Great Portland Street whereas previously it had gone by the name of John Street in the few blocks before Oxford Street and Portland Road at the north end. However, the slight widening of the street which used to mark the beginning of Portland Road is still visible at the corner of Weymouth Street. This feature probably would have contributed to the very northern end of the street being more heavily trafficked in comparison to the middle stretch, as is still the case today.Ordnance Survey Map of London London Sheet 61.1 The West End 1870, Records: 32876 & 32885, , Retrieved 6 May 2014
There are signs of the demolition and rebuilding which was beginning to occur in this period and which continued through into the early years of the 20th century. The most noticeable evidence of this on the map is the large gap on the west side between Weymouth and New Cavendish Streets, where the modern synagogue is today. Otherwise, the street pattern and buildings remain largely the same in their layout.Map of London, Ordnance Survey, Edition of 1894-96, City of Westminster Archives, London
1889 (Booth's Poverty Map)
Booth's map shows Great Portland Street and the immediately parallel streets as middle-class/well-to-do whilst the accompanying notes describe it as a "mixed st., shops, restaurants, many curio and antique shops, many doubtful massage establishments". This vibrant description indicates that it is already something of a local centre, with a distinct catchment area made up of those "comfortable" households in the neighbouring streets. The mixed nature of the street described by Booth is not surprising given the general picture this map gives. The movement from 'wealthy' to 'poor' – and even some 'very poor' households – is striking as one travels west to east from Harley Street and Portland Place to Great Titchfield Street and beyond.Charles Booth, Life and Labour of the People in London, 1889, Poverty map copy available , accessed 15 October 2010
1916 (Ordnance Survey Map)
The great redevelopment of this street has largely come to an end by this time. There are slight changes in some of the plots along the street, showing the further rebuilding and consolidation which had taken place in the previous few decades but otherwise, this street and its surrounding streets remain unchanged in their layout.Ordnance Survey Maps 1906-1922, Westminster City Council Archives, London
1945 (London Council Bomb Damage Maps)
A few buildings along Great Portland Street were destroyed by bombing which explains some of the modern developments such as the synagogue opposite Clipstone Street, which was originally built in the late 19th century but damaged beyond repair in the Blitz. The street was cited in 28 separate A.R.P. bomb incident reports dated between September 1940 and 1944. Despite this, much of the street escaped with little or no damage although there was some bad damage nearby in Langham Place and further east around Fitzrovia, with several buildings in those areas being completely destroyed or requiring demolition.Bomb Damage Files of 1940-44, Bomb Damage Maps, Westminster City Council Archive Centre, London and Saunders, A (ed), 2005 The London Council Bomb Damage Maps 1939-1945, LTS Publications No. 164, London
Broadcasters and media entities
The BBC Trust was based at №180 until 2017BBC Trust - Contact us BBC Trust BBC Radio 1's headquarters were also on Great Portland Street in Yalding House until 2012. Similarly, Radio 2 and 6 Music were also on the street at № 99 (Wogan House) until 2024. Virgin Media (including Virgin Mobile) was based at № 160 Great Portland Street, which also at one time housed UKTV, Virgin Media Television and IDS during Virgin's presence on the street. Discovery Channel Europe and Mac 7 TV, among some other TV channels that were also based here. Double Negative (VFX), a British full-service motion picture company, is located on the Great Portland Street.
Motor cars