Lisson Grove

Lisson Grove is a district and also a street of the City of Westminster, London, England located just to the north of the city ring road. There are many landmarks surrounding the area. To the north is Lord's Cricket Ground in St John's Wood. To the west are Paddington and Watling Street. To the east and south east is Marylebone, which includes the railway station and Dorset Square, the original home of the Marylebone Cricket Club. To the east are the London Planetarium, Madame Tussaud's, Baker Street and Regent's Park.

The postal districts are NW1 and NW8.

History

Nowadays Lisson Grove is much improved West London, but for over a hundred years it was one of the capital's worst slums. [Thomas Beames, "The Rookeries of London", Frank Cass, 1970] The area was notorious for drinking, crime and prostitution, as well as the extreme poverty of the people and the squalor and dilapidation of the homes they lived in. Local police officers only patrolled the district in pairs, and they described the women of the area as the most drunken, violent and foul-mouthed in all London. [The Quiver, 1896–1897]

The fictional Eliza Doolittle in George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion was born and raised in Lisson Grove.

Going further back in time, until the late 18th century the district was essentially rural. The composer moved briefly to a farm in Lisson Grove in Spring 1791 in order have quiet surroundings in which to compose. [Source: online edition of the New Grove encyclopedia of music] The rural Lisson Grove was quickly engulfed by the expanding city during the 19th century.

Education

:"For education in Lisson Grove see the main City of Westminster article."

Nearby stations

National rail

*Marylebone station
*Paddington station

Nearby tube

*Baker Street tube station
*Edgware Road tube station
*Marylebone station

References

ee also

*Lisson Gallery

External links

* [http://www.londontown.com/LondonStreets/lisson_grove_67f.html LondonTown.com information]