St Martin's Lane is a street in 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 ...

, which runs from the church of St Martin-in-the-Fields, after which it is named, near

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson commem ...

northwards to Long Acre. At its northern end, it becomes

Monmouth Street Monmouth Street is a street in the Seven Dials district of Covent Garden, London, England. Monmouth Street runs north to south from Shaftesbury Avenue to a crossroads with Tower Street and Shelton Street, where it becomes St Martin's Lane. A ...

. St Martin's Lane and Monmouth Street together form the B404.

History

The street was first built up in 1610 when Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury was granted of land on the street's west side. It was originally known as West Church Lane; the current name dates from 1618. A narrow street with relatively little traffic, St Martin's Lane is home to the

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in Englis ...

at the Coliseum Theatre, as well as two other theatres, the Duke of York's Theatre and the

Noël Coward Theatre The Noël Coward Theatre, formerly known as the Albery Theatre, is a West End theatre in St. Martin's Lane in the City of Westminster, London. It opened on 12 March 1903 as the New Theatre and was built by Sir Charles Wyndham behind Wyndham's ...

, second-hand bookshops, antique dealers and high class gentlemen's outfitters. It also has a large number of cafes and a music shop aimed at opera and theatre goers. The theatrical agency set up by Peggy Ramsay in 1953 was located in Goodwin's Court, an alley leading off the lane. Two pedestrian alleys, St Martin's Court and Cecil Court, connect St Martin's Lane with Charing Cross Road have similar usage. In the 18th-century St Martin's Lane was noted for the Academy founded by

William Hogarth William Hogarth (; 10 November 1697 – 26 October 1764) was an English painter, engraver, pictorial satirist, social critic, editorial cartoonist and occasional writer on art. His work ranges from realistic portraiture to comic strip-lik ...

and later for premises of cabinet-makers and " upholsterers" such as Thomas Chippendale, who moved to better premises there in 1753, Vile and Cobb, and William Hallett around the corner in Newport Street.

The Salisbury

The Salisbury The Salisbury is a Grade II* listed pub on Grand Parade in Harringay, North London. History The Salisbury was designed and built by John Cathles Hill, founder of The London Brick Company. The pub was opened in 1899 with W. A. Cathles, a c ...

in Covent Garden was built as part of a six-storey block around 1899 on the site of an earlier pub that had been known under several names, including the Coach & Horses and Ben Caunt's Head; it is both

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

, and on CAMRA's National Inventory, due to the quality of the etched and polished glass and the carved woodwork.

Films

The film ''St Martin's Lane'' (also known as '' Sidewalks of London'', 1938) starring Vivien Leigh,

Rex Harrison Sir Reginald Carey "Rex" Harrison (5 March 1908 – 2 June 1990) was an English actor. Harrison began his career on the stage in 1924. He made his West End debut in 1936 appearing in the Terence Rattigan play '' French Without Tears'', in what ...

and

Charles Laughton Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future ...

, later formed the basis of the Broadway musical '' Busker Alley''. The street is also prominently featured throughout the 1961 film '' Victim'', which also has scenes in the Salisbury.

References

Citations Sources * {{Coord , 51, 30, 38, N, 0, 07, 38, W, display=title, type:landmark Streets in the City of Westminster Covent Garden Odonyms referring to religion