Aldwych
Aldwych(pronounced/ˈɔːldwɪtʃ/AWLD-witch) is a street and the name of theareaimmediately surrounding it, in theCity of Westminster,part ofGreater London,and is part of theWest EndTheatreland.The 450 metres (1,480 ft) street starts 600 metres (2,000 ft)east-northeastofCharing Cross,the conventional map centre-point of the capital city.
The name means "old port", and in Anglo-Saxon times it was the port of theCity of London.
The semi-circular design of the street of Aldwych arises from its function, making navigable the gradient of the fall in levels between the roads connected by the street: the south end ofKingsway,and theStrand.[1] It forms part of theA4 roadfrom London toAvonmouth,Bristol.
The Aldwych area forms part of the Northbank business improvement district.[2]It is known for hotels, restaurants, two theatres, theHigh Commissions of IndiaandAustralia.It gives its name to the now-closedUnderground stationon the related section of theStrand(the return of the crescent), which poses as an active tube station in films and television shows. Marking the east end of the street and in the middle of the crescent return areGrade I heritage listedchurches designed byWrenandGibbs.Immediately north-east ofSt Clement Danes (St Clements),on Strand, is theRoyal Courts of Justice,a complex of courtrooms used by the senior courts of England and Wales, including theHigh Courtand theCourt of Appeal of England and Wales.
Landmarks
[edit]Aldwych, the street, is a crescent, connected to theStrandat both ends, and forms part of theA4 route.Streets adjoining areDrury Lane,Kingsway,India Place and Melbourne Place. Notable buildings along its length include:
Theatres:
- Aldwych Theatre,opened in 1905
- Novello Theatre,opened in 1905
High Commissions:
- India House,the High Commission of India in London
- Australia House,the High Commission of Australia in London
Hotels and Restaurants:
- The Waldorf Hilton, London,a hotel opened in 1908
- TheME Hotel,designed by Richard Rogers
- One Aldwych
Universities:
- Bush House,King House, Melbourne House and Strand House - making up the Aldwych Quarter - formerly the office headquarters of theBBC World Servicefrom 1941 to 2012 and now part of the Strand Campus ofKing's College London
- Connaught House, Columbia House, Aldwych House, and Clement House, buildings of theLondon School of Economics
Former buildings include:
- Gaiety Theatre,opened in 1864 and closed in 1939
- Television House(now known as 61 Aldwych), former headquarters of several defunctITVfranchise contractors andITN
Facing one end of the street on the Strand is closed-in-1994Aldwych station,originally named Strand station. It has been used when closed for scenes of films and television dramas.
History
[edit]In the seventh century, the area was anAnglo-Saxonmajor settlementLundenwic(the last syllable pronounced as today) ('London port') centred one mile to the west ofLondinium(known to the Saxons asLundenburh'London fort'). "Lundenwic" later became the oldwich(old port, that is Aldwych). It is not known if it had a church, and the town either took advantage of the scouring action of theFleetor used the mouth itself as a harbour for trading ships and fishing boats. AfterAlfred the Greatre-built theLondon fortificationsin the late 9th century, Londinium became known asLundenburhor simply Lunden, andLundenwicso became ealdwic or aldwich. (The word "old"evolved from ald, theOld Englishbeing eald and theGermancognatebeing alt.)[3]The name was recorded asAldewichin 1211.
St Clement Danesis one of the four ancient Westminster parishes and was first recorded in the 1190s; it once covered the whole of Aldwych and all adjoining areas.[4]Its church,which features in the first line of the nursery rhymeOranges and Lemons,was rebuilt byWren.The civil parish was abolished in 1922. It is open to - and it is known by residents and businesses to - use the term St Clement Danes interchangeably with Aldwych, which also covered in its final, smallest form theAdelphiand much of theStrand.
The urban centre ofLundenwicwas unearthed in the 1980s after extensive excavations, and were reinterpreted as being urban in character. These conclusions were reached independently by two archaeologists (VinceandBiddle). Recent excavations inCovent Gardenadjoining have uncovered an extensiveAnglo-Saxon settlement,covering about 150 acres (0.61 km2), stretching from the present-dayNational Gallerysite in the west, to Aldwych in the east. As the presumed locus of the city,Lundenburh,was moved back within the old Roman walls, the older settlement ofLundenwicgained the name ofealdwic,'old port', "eald" and the softer form of "wic" transposed to "ald" and "wich" inMiddle English orthography.[5]
The street was created in the early 20th century in a project that saw a new street layout destroyingWych Streetwhich was full of overhangs and projections, and the construction ofAustralia House(built 1913–18) andBush House(completed 1925). A statue of the 19th-century prime ministerWilliam Ewart Gladstonewas installed in 1905 nearSt Clement Daneschurch, at the eastern end of Aldwych.
In 1906,Aldwych tramway stationwas opened underneath Kingsway; it closed in 1952. In 1907, Aldwych station was opened on the Strand opposite Aldwych; it closed in 1994.
On 18 February 1996,abombwasdetonatedprematurely on anumber 171 bustravelling along Aldwych, killing its carrier,Provisional Irish Republican ArmymemberEdward O'Brienand injuring several passengers.
In 2021, the Strand was pedestrianised between Melbourne Place and Lancaster Place, and Aldwych was converted into a two-way street.
References
[edit]- ^Macartney, Mervyn Edmund(June–December 1899)."From Holborn to the Strand: An Ideal Street".The Architectural Review.6:239–244.
- ^"The Northbank District".Archived fromthe originalon 12 March 2014.Retrieved14 March2014.
- ^A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language,Walter William Skeat,Clarendon Press(1910), at p. 357
- ^"Middlesex and London".Institute of Historical Research.Retrieved18 September2021.
- ^Hobley B,Lundenwic and Lundenburh: two cities rediscovered,AHDS Archaeology, University of York(PDF)
