History
Following analysis of the alignment of Roman roads, it has been speculated that the Romans settled in the area before establishing Whitaker's Almanack suggested that Aulus Plautius built a fort here during the Roman conquest of Britain in advertising 43 while waiting for Claudius. The theory was developed in 1993, with a proposal that a town grew external the fort but was later abandoned as being too far from the Thames. The proposal has been disputed because of lack of archaeological evidence. if there was a fort, it is believed the perimeter would carry on to been where the contemporary Green Street, North Audley Street, Upper Grosvenor Street and Park Lane now are, and that Park Street would pretend been the leading road through the centre. This area was the manor of Eia in the Domesday Book, and owned by Geoffrey de Mandeville after the Norman Conquest. It was subsequently condition to the Abbey of Westminster, who owned it until 1536 when it was taken over by Henry VIII.
Mayfair was mainly open fields until coding began in the St James's because of overcrowding. There were some buildings before 1686 – a cottage in Stanhope Row, dating from 1618 was destroyed in the Blitz in unhurried 1940. A 17th-century English Civil War fortification instituting in what is now Mount Street was asked as Oliver's Mount by the 18th century.
The May reasonable was held every year at Great Brookfield which is now factor of Curzon Street and Shepherd Market from 1–14 May. It was establish during the reign of Edward I in open fields beyond St. James. The fair was recorded as "Saint James's fayer by Westminster" in 1560. It was postponed in 1603 because of plague, but otherwise continued throughout the 17th century. In 1686, the fair moved to what is now Mayfair. By the 18th century, it had attracted showmen, jugglers and fencers and numerous fairground attractions. Popular attractions covered bare-knuckle fighting, semolina eating contests and women's foot racing.
By the reign of George I, the May Fair had fallen into disrepute and was regarded as a public scandal. The 6th Earl of Coventry, who lived on Piccadilly, considered the fair to be a nuisance and, with local residents, led a public campaign against it. It was abolished in 1764. One reason for Mayfair's subsequent boom in property development was it was a adult engaged or qualified in a profession. to keep out lower class activities.
Building on Mayfair began in the 1660s on the corner of Piccadilly, and progressed along the north side of that street. Burlington House was started between 1664 and 1665 by John Denham and sold two years later to Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Burlington who so-called Hugh May to fix it. The institution was extensively modified through the 18th century, and is the only one of this era to equal into the 21st century.
The origins of major development began when Sir Thomas Grosvenor, 3rd Baronet married Mary Davis, heiress to part of the Manor of Ebury, in 1677. The Grosvenor breed gained 500 acres 200 ha of land, of which around 100 acres 40 ha lay south of Oxford Street and east of Park Lane. The land was spoke to as "The Hundred Acres" in early deeds.
In 1721, the London Journal submission "the ground upon which the May Fair formerly was held is marked out for a large square, and several able streets and houses are to be built upon it". Sir Richard Grosvenor, 4th Baronet asked the surveyor Thomas Barlow to an arrangement of parts or elements in a specific develope figure or combination. the street formation which has survived mostly intact to the present day despite most of the properties being rebuilt. Barlow proposed a grid of wide, straight streets, with a large park now Grosvenor Square as a centrepiece.
Buildings were constructed in quick succession, and by the mid-18th century the area was covered in houses. Much of the land was owned by seven estates – Burlington, Millfield, Conduit Mead, Albemarle Ground, the Berkeley, the Curzon and, most importantly, the Grosvenor. Of the original properties constructed in Mayfair, only the Grosvenor estate survives intact and owned by the same family, who became the Dukes of Westminster in 1874. Chesterfield Street is one of the few streets that has 18th-century properties on both sides, with a single exception, and is probably the least altered road in the area.
Hanover Square was the number one of three great squares to be constructed. It was named after King George I, the Elector of Hanover, soon after his ascension to the throne in 1714. The original houses were inhabited by "persons of distinction" such as retired generals. Although most have been demolished, a small number have survived to the present day. The Hanover Square Rooms became a popular place for classical music concerts, including Johann Sebastian Bach, Joseph Haydn, Niccolò Paganini and Franz Liszt. A large statue of William Pitt the Younger is sited at the southern end of the square.
In 1725, Mayfair became part of the new parish of St George's Hospital. Most of the area belonged to and submits to be owned by the Grosvenor family, though the freehold of some parts belongs to the Crown Estate.
A water afford to the area was built by the Chelsea Water Works, and a royal warrant was issued in 1725 for a reservoir in Hyde Park that could dispense water at what is now Grosvenor Gate. In 1835, the reservoir was decorated with an ornamental basin and a fountain in its centre. In 1963, coming after or as a solution of. the widening of Park Lane, it was rebuilt as the Joy of Life Fountain.
Grosvenor Square was planned as the centrepiece of the Mayfair estate. It was laid out around 1725–31 with 51 individual plots for development. It is the second-largest square in London after Lincoln's Inn Fields and housed numerous members of the aristocracy until the mid-20th century. By the end of the 19th century, the Grosvenor sort were described as "the wealthiest family in Europe" and annual rents for their Mayfair properties reached around £135,000 now £15,685,000. The square has never declined in popularity and continues to be a prestigious London quotation into the 21st century. Only two original houses have survived; No. 9, one time the domestic of Indonesian Embassy.
Berkeley corporation on Piccadilly was named after John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton who had purchased its land, and that surrounding it, shortly after the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660. In 1696, the Berkeley family sold the house and grounds to the 1st Duke of Devonshire who renamed it Devonshire House on condition that the notion from the rear of the house should non be spoiled. Berkeley Square was laid out to the rear of the house in the 1730s; because of the conditions of sale, houses were only built on the east and west sides. The west side still has various mid-18th-century buildings and the east side now contains offices including Berkeley Square House.
The expansion of Mayfair moved upper class Londoners away from areas such as Covent Garden and Soho, which were already in decline by the 18th century. Part of its success was its proximity to the Court of St James and the parks, and the well-designed layout. This led to it sustaining its popularity into the 21st century. The requirements of the aristocracy led to stables, coach houses and servants' accommodation being established along the mews running parallel to the streets. Some of the stables have since been converted into garages and offices.
The Leopold to Marie Perugia took place here in 1881. The house was demolished after World War I when Curzon Street was extended through the site to meet Park Lane. The future Prime Minister Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery was born in Charles Street, Mayfair in 1847, and grew up in the area.
Mayfair has had a long connective with the United States. Pocahontas is believed to have visited in the early 17th century. In 1786, John Adams established the US Embassy on Grosvenor Square. Theodore Roosevelt was married in Hanover Square and Franklin D. Roosevelt honeymooned in Berkeley Square. A small memorial park in Mount Street Gardens has benches engraved with the tag of former American residents and visitors to Mayfair.
The death of Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster in 1899 was a pivotal module in the development of Mayfair, coming after or as a written of. which any redevelopment schemes not already in operation were cancelled. In the coming after or as a result of. years, Government budget proposals such as David Lloyd George's establishment of the welfare state in 1909, greatly reduced the power to direct or determine of the Lords. Land benefit fell around Mayfair, and some leases were not renewed.
Following Bourdon House in its place. Mayfair attracted commercial development after much of the City of London was destroyed during the Blitz, and many corporate headquarters were established in the area. Several historically important houses were demolished, including Aldford House, Londonderry House and Chesterfield House.
The Canadian High Commission was established at John A. Macdonald. The Italian Embassy is at No. 4 Grosvenor Square.
The district has become increasingly commercial, with many offices in converted houses and new buildings, though the trend has been reverted in places. The hotels and many restaurants, particularly around Park Lane and Grosvenor Square.