Victoria, Middlesex
| Victoria | |
| Middlesex | |
|---|---|
 The "Little Ben" clock tower, and Victoria Palace Theatre | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | TQ290790 |
| Location: | 51°29’46"N, 0°8’35"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | London |
| Postcode: | SW1 |
| Dialling code: | 020 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Westminster |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Cities of London and Westminster |
Victoria is an area of Westminster, Middlesex. It is named after Victoria Station, a major transport hub. The station in turn was named after the nearby Victoria Street, opened 1851.[1]
The name is used to describe streets adjoining or nearly adjoining the station in the West End of London, including Victoria Street, Buckingham Palace Road, Wilton Road, Grosvenor Gardens, and Vauxhall Bridge Road. Victoria consists predominantly of commercial property and private and social housing, with retail uses along the main streets.
The area contains one of the busiest transport interchanges in London and in the whole of the United Kingdom, including the listed railway station and the underground station, as well as Terminus Place, which is a major hub for bus and taxi services. Victoria Coach Station, 900 yards south-west of the railway station, provides road-coach services to long-distance British and continental destinations.
Victoria Street runs on an east–west axis from Victoria station to Broad Sanctuary at Westminster Abbey. Cardinal Place contains a selection of restaurants, banks and shops opposite Westminster City Hall. At the Broad Sanctuary end is the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy building, the headquarters of Transport for London at Windsor House, and the former New Scotland Yard building (headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service from 1967 to 2016).
History
The area formed part of the parish of St George Hanover Square.
Long before Cardinal Place opposite the cathedral came into being there was a huge brewery (Stag Brewery) based at the western end of Victoria Street. From the early 17th century it started off as a small brewhouse with properties that once were part of St James's Palace. This then substantially grew and then was bought and owned by Watney & Co. They built lodgings around the brewery as well as amenities for their staff to use. By the end of the 19th century they were employing a sizeable number of staff. (It closed down in 1959 and was demolished. All that now remains of it is a street named Stag Place and a pub called the Stag.)
Part of a slum, dubbed "Devil's Acre" by Charles Dickens, was demolished to construct Victoria Street, which opened for use in 1851.
Victoria Station was built in 1860.[1]
The architect Archibald Leitch who was renowned for his work designing football stadiums including Goodison Park, Craven Cottage, Anfield, Stamford Bridge, Old Trafford, Ibrox and White Hart Lane among many others, had offices which were based at 53 Victoria Street and the street as a whole housed many consulting engineering firms until the 1970s.