London’s Mayfair, past and present

A rich history

Designer boutiques and leafy squares flanked by ambassadors’ residences are a staple of Mayfair, a square mile of London’s most well-known thoroughfares, from Hyde Park to Regents Street, Oxford Street to Piccadilly. Once simply strawberry fields, the neighbourhood began to take shape around May 1686, when King James II granted permission for a fortnight of festivities. The festival ran for another 78 years and the name – May Fair – stuck. By the 1720s, Grosvenor Square began hosting another spring fair, and word spread. Christie’s auction house was established shortly after in 1766, followed by Burlington Arcade’s speciality shops.

The faces of Mayfair 

Mayfair’s coffee houses and gentlemen’s clubs charmed composer George Handel, who lived at 25 Brook Street in the 1700s, and two centuries later, guitarist Jimi Hendrix moved in next door. These residences now comprise Handel & Hendrix in London. The area also attracted Charles X, King of France, to 72 South Audley Street, stamped with an English Heritage blue plaque. Another plaque at 19 Curzon Street denotes Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli’s home, while a bronze of Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill on New Bond Street celebrates another former resident.

Mayfair’s street food scene

Chancing upon Mercato Mayfair inside the Grade I-listed St Mark’s Church feels serendipitous, its spiritual beauty cocooning a modern-day market of street food, cocktails and craft beer. Flanked by columns, the nave features the original pulpit and altar crowned with stained glass windows, which loom over the bars Jim & Tonic and Germankraft. Communal tables have replaced the pews, around which stalls serve ramen, pasta and wood-fired pizza, with more vendors lining the mezzanine. A wine bar and microbrewery hide downstairs in the crypt, while on sunny evenings, a seat on the rooftop terrace is a delight. 

North Audley Street, W1K 6ZA