Maiden Lane is a street in
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...
, London, that runs from
Bedford Street
Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district.
Bedford was founded at a ford on the R ...
in the west to
Southampton Street in the east. The painter
J. M. W. Turner
Joseph Mallord William Turner (23 April 177519 December 1851), known in his time as William Turner, was an English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist. He is known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbu ...
was born on this street in 1775.
History
The street is based on an ancient track that ran through the Convent Garden to St Martin's Lane. According to
Isaac D'Israeli
Isaac D'Israeli (11 May 1766 – 19 January 1848) was a British writer, scholar and the father of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli. He is best known for his essays and his associations with other me ...
the street was named after a statue of the Virgin Mary that once stood in the street. It was built up from 1631 to 1728. In 1727–28
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...
stayed at the White Wig Inn while he was exiled from
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
. The painter J.M.W. Turner was born above his father's barber’s shop at number 21 in 1775.
The
British Socialist Party
The British Socialist Party (BSP) was a Marxist political organisation established in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain in 1911. Following a protracted period of political faction, factional struggle, in 1916 the party's ...
established their offices at 21a Maiden Lane. These premises were taken over by the
Communist Party of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) was the largest communist organisation in Britain and was founded in 1920 through a merger of several smaller Marxist groups. Many miners joined the CPGB in the 1926 general strike. In 1930, the CPGB ...
during their first year of existence.
Buildings
Corpus Christi Roman Catholic Church is located in the street. The restaurant
Rules
Rule or ruling may refer to:
Human activity
* The exercise of political or personal control by someone with authority or power
* Business rule, a rule pertaining to the structure or behavior internal to a business
* School rule, a rule tha ...
is at No. 34.
Europe's first recording studio was opened here in 1898.
See also
*
Maiden Lane Estate
The Maiden Lane Estate is a housing estate in Camden, located beside York Way and several railway lines. It was designed by the architects Gordon Benson and Alan Forsyth, and built between 1979 and 1982.
Notable residents
* Samuel Adewunmi
...
, King's Cross.
*
York Way, King's Cross. Formerly known as Mayde Lane and Maiden Lane.
References
External links
*http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol36/pp239-252
Covent Garden
Streets in the City of Westminster
{{London-road-stub