Fitzrovia

Fitzrovia is a small district in central London. It is an informal designation, and is not and has never been an administrative district of any kind. The eastern section of the district is in the London Borough of Camden and the western section is in the City of Westminster. It is bounded to the north by Euston Road, to the east by the Tottenham Court Road, to the south by Oxford Street and to the west by Great Portland Street. Fitzrovia is a busy district, but its name is uncommonly obscure compared to those of most central London districts, including its neighbours such as Soho to the south and Bloomsbury to the east. Indeed some people who know London quite well are uncertain what or where Fitzrovia is.

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The northern part of the area was first developed in the 18th century by the Hon. Charles FitzRoy, (later Baron Southampton), who purchased the Manor of Tottenhall and built Fitzroy Square to which he gave his name. The square is the most distinguished of the original architectural features of the district, having been designed in part by Robert Adam.

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Much of Fitzrovia was developed by small landowners, and this led to a predominence of small and irregular streets, in comparison with neighbouring districts like Marylebone and Bloomsbury, which were dominated by one or two landowners, and were thus developed more schematically, with stronger grid patterns and a greater number of squares. Unlike its neighbours to the south, east and west, Fitzrovia never really had a spell as a fashionable residential district. In its early days, it was largely an area of well to do tradesmen and craft workshops. Nowadays property uses are diverse, but Fitzrovia can't claim to be the focus of any particular activity in London. It is however reasonably well known for its fashion industry, but this is mainly the "back-stage" side of the industry, comprising a good number of wholesalers and associated offices. There are many offices of all kinds, but few if any of them are headquarters of major companies. There are also some hospitals, a few mid-market hotels, a good deal of residential property and one or two minor embassies. Retail uses spill into parts of Fitzrovia from Oxford Street and Tottenham Court Road, which are two of the principal shopping streets in central London.

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Other features include the Fitzroy Tavern in Charlotte Street which artists, writers and other Bohemians used to frequent in the 1930s, and the BT Tower, which is one of London's tallest buildings.

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