Length | 0.6 mi (0.97 km) |
---|---|
Location | Westminster, London, England |
Postal code | NW1 |
Nearest Tube station | Baker Street |
From | Park Road |
To | Portman Square |
Other | |
Known for | Sherlock Holmes' residence (221B Baker Street) ·Setting of Gerry Rafferty's hit song · |
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 detective Sherlock Holmes, who lived at a fictional 221B Baker Street address on the north of the street, the ballad song "Baker Street Muse" by Jethro Tull from their 1975 "Minstrel in the Gallery" album, and also for the 1978 pop hit by Gerry Rafferty of the same name Baker Street. The area was originally high class residential, but now is mainly occupied by commercial premises.
Baker Street is a busy thoroughfare, lying in postcode areas NW1/W1 and forming part of the A41. It used to run south from Regent's Park, the junction with Park Road, parallel to Gloucester Place, meeting Marylebone Road, Portman Square and Wigmore Street. In 2019, the until-then one-way street was changed to accommodate lanes running in both directions.
At the junction with Wigmore Street, Baker Street turns into Orchard Street, which ends when it meets with Oxford Street. After Portman Square the road continues as Orchard Street.
The crossroads of Baker Street and Marylebone Road was historically known as Marylebone Circus, which is still its unofficial name. [1]
Baker Street was laid out in the 18th century by the builder William Baker, after whom it is named.
In 1835, the first wax museum of Madame Tussauds was opened on Baker Street. The museum moved, just around the corner, to Marylebone Road in 1884.
Also in 1835 the sculptor James Fillans came to live and work from 82 Baker Street.
Thomas Charles Druce ran the Baker Street Bazaar (which would become Druce & Co. furniture manufacturers) until his death in 1864, and was later subject of the Druce Portland Case.
Residents of the prestigious mansion block, Chiltern Court on the Regent's Park end of Baker Street include the novelists Arnold Bennett and H. G. Wells who are commemorated with a blue plaque.
In 1940 the headquarters of the Special Operations Executive moved to 64 Baker Street, they were often called the "Baker Street Irregulars" after Sherlock Holmes' gang of street urchins of the same name.
The Beatles' Apple Boutique was based at 94 Baker Street from 1967 to 1968.
A significant robbery of a branch of Lloyds Bank took place on Baker Street in 1971.
For many years the head office of Marks & Spencer, formerly the United Kingdom's largest retailer, was at "Michael House" (named in parallel with the group's "St Michael" brand), 55 Baker Street, until the company relocated to the Paddington Basin in 2004. This was one of the best known corporate buildings in the United Kingdom, and has since been redeveloped as a modern office complex by London & Regional Properties [3] to a design by Make Architects and Expedition Engineering.
A London County Council blue plaque commemorates Prime Minister William Pitt the Younger who lived at 120 Baker Street from 1803 to 1804. [4] British singer Dusty Springfield lived on Baker Street in the 1960s.
In February 2019, Baker Street was converted from a one-way southbound street to a two-way street. [5] [6] [7]
The Seychelles maintains a Consulate at 111 Baker Street. [8]
The street is served by the London Underground by Baker Street tube station, one of the world's oldest surviving underground stations. Next door is Transport for London's lost property office.
Jethro Tull are a British progressive rock band formed in Blackpool, Lancashire, in 1967. Initially playing blues rock and jazz fusion, the band soon incorporated elements of English folk music, hard rock and classical music, forging a signature progressive rock sound. The group's lead vocalist, bandleader, founder, principal composer and only constant member is Ian Anderson, who also plays flute and acoustic guitar. The group has featured a succession of musicians throughout the decades, including significant contributors such as guitarists Mick Abrahams and Martin Barre ; bassists Glenn Cornick, Jeffrey Hammond, John Glascock, Dave Pegg, Jonathan Noyce and David Goodier; drummers Clive Bunker, Barrie "Barriemore" Barlow and Doane Perry; and keyboardists John Evan, Dee Palmer, Peter-John Vettese, Andrew Giddings and John O'Hara.
Baker Street is a London Underground station at the junction of Baker Street and the Marylebone Road in the City of Westminster. It is one of the original stations of the Metropolitan Railway (MR), the world's first underground railway, opened on 10 January 1863.
The Great Mouse Detective is a 1986 American animated mystery adventure film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is based on the children's book series Basil of Baker Street by Eve Titus and Paul Galdone, and was written and directed by John Musker, Dave Michener, Ron Clements, and Burny Mattinson in their feature directorial debuts. Featuring the voices of Vincent Price, Barrie Ingham, Val Bettin, Susanne Pollatschek, Candy Candido, Diana Chesney, Eve Brenner, and Alan Young, the film's plot follows Basil of Baker Street, a mouse detective who undertakes to help the young mouse Olivia find and save her father from the criminal mastermind and Basil's sworn enemy, Professor Ratigan.
Minstrel in the Gallery is the eighth studio album by British rock band Jethro Tull, released in September 1975. The album sees the band going in a different direction from their previous work War Child (1974), returning to a blend of electric and acoustic songs, in a manner closer to their early 1970s albums such as Benefit (1970), Aqualung (1971) and Thick as a Brick (1972). Making use of a newly constructed mobile recording studio commissioned and constructed specifically for the band, the album was the first Jethro Tull album to be recorded outside of the UK, being recorded in tax exile in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
221B Baker Street is the London address of the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes, created by author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In the United Kingdom, postal addresses with a number followed by a letter may indicate a separate address within a larger, often residential building. Baker Street in the late 19th century was a high-class residential district, and Holmes's apartment would probably have been part of a Georgian terrace.
Gerald Rafferty was a Scottish singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He was a founding member of Stealers Wheel, whose biggest hit was "Stuck in the Middle with You" in 1973. His solo hits in the late 1970s included "Baker Street", "Right Down the Line", and "Night Owl".
Baker Street is a street in London.
Basil of Baker Street is a series of children's novels written by Eve Titus and illustrated by Paul Galdone. The stories focus on the titular Basil of Baker Street and his personal biographer Doctor David Q. Dawson. Together they solve the many crimes and cases of the mouse world. Both live in Holmestead, a mouse community built in the cellar of 221B Baker Street, where Sherlock Holmes is a tenant upstairs.
A New Day Yesterday also known as Jethro Tull: A New Day Yesterday – 25th Anniversary Collection, 1969-1994, is a stereo DVD remastering of 25th Anniversary Video by Jethro Tull. The collection is named for the opening track from the band's 1969 album Stand Up.
The Portman Estate, covering 110 acres of Marylebone in London’s West End, was founded in 1532 when the land was first leased to Sir William Portman.
Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective is a game originally published by Sleuth Publications in 1981. Multiple expansions and reprints of the game have since been released.
Portman Square is a garden square in Marylebone, central London, surrounded by townhouses. It was specifically for private housing let on long leases having a ground rent by the Portman Estate, which owns the private communal gardens. It marks the western end of Wigmore Street, which connects it to Cavendish Square to the east.
Morgan Studios was an independent recording studio in Willesden in northwest London. Founded in 1967, the studio was the location for recordings by notable artists and bands such as The Cure, Jethro Tull, the Kinks, Paul McCartney, Yes, Black Sabbath, Donovan, Joan Armatrading, Cat Stevens, Rod Stewart, UFO and many more. Morgan sold its studios in the early 1980s, with some of its studios succeeded by Battery Studios.
Dee Palmer is an English composer, arranger, and keyboardist best known for having been a member of the progressive rock group Jethro Tull from 1976 to 1980.
The Sherlock Holmes is a Victorian-themed public house in Northumberland Street near Charing Cross railway station and Trafalgar Square which contains a large collection of memorabilia related to the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. The original collection was put together for display in Baker Street in London during the Festival of Britain in 1951.
Marylebone is an area in London, England and is located in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. Oxford Street forms its southern boundary.
Trade Mark Of Quality was a bootleg record label based in Los Angeles, California, and was established in 1970 by "Dub" Taylor and Ken Douglas. In the summer of 1969, they released Bob Dylan's "GWW" Great White Wonder with a white fold-out cover and white labels. Another 9 titles followed before they 1970 created the "farm pig" logo and the TMQ label was fact then they began fastening round fluorescent stickers on the outside of their rubber-stamped jackets which read 'Trade Mark Of Quality,' and bore the profile of a farm pig. The Frank Zappa - 200 Motels release was the first to bear such a sticker. Over time, custom pig labels were added along with xerox insert covers.
A statue of Sherlock Holmes by the sculptor John Doubleday stands near the supposed site of 221B Baker Street, the fictional detective's address in London. Unveiled on 23 September 1999, the sculpture was funded by the Abbey National building society, whose headquarters were on the purported site of the famous address. As no site was available on Baker Street itself the statue was installed outside Baker Street tube station, on Marylebone Road. Doubleday had previously produced a statue of Holmes for the town of Meiringen in Switzerland, below the Reichenbach Falls whence the detective fell to his apparent death in the 1893 story "The Final Problem".
This is a list of the etymology of street names in the London district of Marylebone. The following utilises the generally accepted boundaries of Marylebone viz. Marylebone Road to the north, Great Portland Street to the east, Marble Arch and Oxford Street to the south and Edgware Road to the west.
Media related to Baker Street at Wikimedia Commons