Mayfair

Mayfair
New Bond Street
OS grid reference	TQ285805
London borough	Westminster
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	W1K, W1J
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
UK Parliament	Cities of London and Westminster
London Assembly	West Central

Mayfair (first called The May Fair) is an area in central London. It is in the city of Westminster.

History

Mayfair is named after the annual fortnight-long May Fair that happened in a place that is Shepherd Market today (from 1686 until it was banned at that place in 1764). Until 1686, the May Fair was held in Haymarket, and after 1764, it moved to Fair Field in Bow.

Mayfair was bordered by Hyde Park to the west, Oxford Street to the north, Piccadilly to the south and Bond Street to the east, although the eastern boundary has been made longer recently, so now it goes all the way to Regent Street. Most of the area was first made between the mid 17th century and the mid 18th century.

The district is mostly commercial now. It has many offices in houses and new buildings. The price of rents in Mayfair are some of the highest in London and the world. There is still a large number of houses as well as some exclusive shopping and London's largest number of luxury hotels and many restaurants. Some buildings in Mayfair are:

• The Canadian High Commission and the United States embassy in Grosvenor Square
• The Royal Academy of Arts
• The Handel House Museum,
• The Grosvenor House Hotel
• Claridge's
• The Dorchester.

Education

The City of Westminster uses the Mayfair Library as a local library.

St. Nicholas College of London has lessons in English and other languages for people who live in and visit Mayfair.

Related pages

• Westminster
• London

Other websites

• The Site of the original May-fair Archived 2008-06-16 at the Wayback Machine
• BBC News story: Reviving the Mayfair May Fair
• History of Mayfair Archived 2008-03-29 at the Wayback Machine
• St. Nicholas College of London Archived 2012-06-15 at the Wayback Machine