Haymarket is a street in the St James's area of the

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a city and borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of central Greater London, including most of the West En ...

, London. It runs from Piccadilly Circus in the north to Pall Mall at the southern end. Located on the street are the Theatre Royal,

Her Majesty's Theatre Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, ...

, New Zealand House, a cinema complex and restaurants.

History

Origins

The broad street connecting Pall Mall with

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Cou ...

is recorded in the

Elizabethan era The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female person ...

and, as the name suggests, was chiefly used as a street market for the sale of

fodder Fodder (), also called provender (), is any agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock, such as cattle, rabbits, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. "Fodder" refers particularly to food given to the animals (including ...

and other farm produce. At that time, it was a rural spot, with the village of

Charing Charing is a village and civil parish in the Ashford District of Kent, in south-east England. It includes the settlements of Charing Heath and Westwell Leacon. It is located at the foot of the North Downs and reaches up to the escarpment. Th ...

the closest settlement. This practice continued to the reign of William III; by that time, carts carrying hay and straw were allowed in the street to trade, toll-free. In 1692, when the street was paved, a tax was levied on the loads: 3 d for a load of hay and 2d for one of straw. In 1830, the market was moved by Act of Parliament to Cumberland Market near

Regent's Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies of high ground in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically betwee ...

. Ben Weinreb and Christopher Hibbert (eds.). The London Encyclopaedia. London. 1983. p. 381. In earlier centuries, the Haymarket was also one of the centres of prostitution in London, but this is no longer the case. ''Old and New London'' informs us, in 1878:

Situated in the centre of the pleasure-going Westend population, the Haymarket is a great place for hotels, supper-houses, and foreign cafés; and it need hardly be added here, that so many of its taverns became the resort of the loosest characters, after the closing of the theatres, who turned night into day, and who were so constantly appearing before the sitting magistrates in consequence of drunken riots and street rows, that the Legislature interfered, and an Act of Parliament was passed, compelling the closing of such houses of refreshment at twelve o'clock.

Theatres

It is part of London's theatre district, the

West End West End most commonly refers to: * West End of London, an area of central London, England * West End theatre, a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London, England West End may also refer to: Pl ...

, and has been a theatrical location at least since the 17th century. The Queen's Theatre in the Haymarket, designed by John Vanbrugh, opened in 1705 on the site of what is now

. It was intended for drama, but the acoustics turned out to be more suitable for opera, and from 1710 to 1745, most operas and some oratorios of George Frederick Handel were premièred at this theatre, which was renamed the King's Theatre at the death of Queen Anne in 1714. After Vanbrugh's building had been destroyed by fire in 1790, another King's Theatre on the same site followed. After another fire, Her Majesty's Theatre was opened there in 1897. This building, the fourth on the same site, is still in use for major musical productions. Its title changes with the sex of the monarch: it became His Majesty's Theatre in 1902 following the death of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

, Her Majesty's Theatre in 1952 when

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

succeeded her father, and, after the death of Elizabeth II in 2022, is expected to revert to His Majesty's Theatre. Today's Theatre Royal at another site in the Haymarket is a building originally designed by John Nash (1820), replacing a previous theatre of the 1720s.

Haymarket today

Haymarket runs parallel to Regent Street St James (Lower Regent Street) and together the two roads form a one-way system, Lower Regent Street taking northbound traffic and Haymarket taking southbound traffic. The two roads are classified as part of the A4 route from London to Avonmouth, near

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city i ...

. On 29 June 2007, the Metropolitan Police Service "made safe" a car bomb that had been parked in Haymarket as part of the 2007 London attempted attacks.

References

{{Authority control Haymarket St James's A4 road (England)