historicity

In the last episode of this walk, we explore how the rich have spent their money and tried to maintain their status in Mayfair and Marylebone. 

We start just off Piccadilly, in the courtyard of the Royal Academy, and end at Speaker’s Corner, in the northeast corner of Hyde Park. Mayfair and Marylebone were both a bit late to the aristocratic, capitalist ball, starting up half a century or so after the earlier initiatives in Bloomsbury, Soho, and St James’s. In the beginning, they were rivals, an architectural expression, on either side of Oxford Street, of the political rivalries of the 18th century, played out within and between different aristocratic estates. And they have remained distinct since: petro-wealth, hedge funds, and art dealers to the south; healthcare, among other things, to the north. But the pattern remains the same: vertical living in leased properties on garden squares. And neither have been able to keep the world entirely at bay. Marylebone is the birthplace of social housing. Hyde Park remains a place to protest.

You can follow the walk on this map: bit.ly/3G7U2sf 

And you can find the full transcript here: bit.ly/3Q4tsDQ 

Follow historicity on Instagram: instagram.com/WALKHISTORICITY

WRITER AND PRESENTER: Angus Lockyer

PRODUCER: Jelena Sofronijevic

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