Marylebone Road ( ) is an important thoroughfare in central

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, within 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 ...

. It runs east–west from the Euston Road at

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 ...

to the A40 Westway at

Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Padd ...

. The road which runs in three lanes in both directions, is part of the London Inner Ring Road and as such forms part of the boundary of the zone within which the

London congestion charge The London congestion charge is a fee charged on most cars and motor vehicles being driven within the Congestion Charge Zone (CCZ) in Central London between 7:00 am and 6:00 pm Monday to Friday, and between 12:00 noon and 6:00 pm Saturday an ...

applies. As part of the ring road and a feeder route to the A40 (and hence the

M40 motorway The M40 motorway links London, Oxford and Birmingham in England, a distance of approximately . The motorway is dual three lanes except for junction 1A to junction 3 (which is dual four lanes) a short section in-between the exit and entry slip-r ...

) (to the west) and the A5 and M1 motorway (to the north) much of the traffic leaving

central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

for the Midlands and the North of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

travels on this road. It is frequently heavily congested.

History

The road was effectively London's first bypass. Construction of the New Road, as it was called, began in 1756 along the northern edge of the built-up area. In 1857, the road's name was changed from New Road, with sections, west to east, renamed Marylebone Road, Euston Road and Pentonville Road. The name

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An ancient parish and latterly a metropolitan borough, it ...

originates from a church, called "St Mary Le Bon", that was built on the bank of a small

stream A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long large streams ...

or "bourne" called the tybourne, in an area named after the stream

Tyburn Tyburn was a Manorialism, manor (estate) in the county of Middlesex, one of two which were served by the parish of Marylebone. The parish, probably therefore also the manor, was bounded by Roman roads to the west (modern Edgware Road) and sout ...

. The church and the surrounding area later became known as St Mary at the bourne, which over time became shortened to its present form ''

''. The current St Marylebone Parish Church is on the south of Marylebone Road, opposite the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke ...

and at the top of Marylebone High Street. The crossroads of Marylebone Road and

Baker Street Baker Street is a street in the Marylebone district of the City of Westminster in London. It is named after builder William Baker, who laid out the street in the 18th century. The street is most famous for its connection to the fictional detec ...

was historically known as ''Marylebone Circus'', which is still its unofficial name.

Tourism

One of London's principal

tourist Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism ...

attractions lies on Marylebone Road -

Madame Tussauds Madame Tussauds (, ) is a wax museum founded in 1835 by French wax sculptor Marie Tussaud in London, spawning similar museums in major cities around the world. While it used to be spelled as "Madame Tussaud's"; the apostrophe is no longer us ...

. It is also the location of the

and the former "Great Central Hotel", now renamed The Landmark London.

Transport

Mainline stations

Tube stations

* Edgware Road (Bakerloo Line) * Edgware Road (Circle, District and Hammersmith & City Lines) *

Great Portland Street Great Portland Street in the West End of London links Oxford Street with Albany Street and the A501 Marylebone Road and Euston Road. A commercial street including some embassies, it divides Fitzrovia, to the east, from Marylebone to the west. ...

Buses

Bus routes 18, 27, 30, 74, 205 and 453 serve all or part of the road.

References

{{coord, 51, 31, 12, N, 0, 10, 30, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Streets in the City of Westminster 1756 establishments in England Marylebone