16 Facts About Oxford Street

Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus.

Unlike nearby shopping streets such as Bond Oxford Street, it has retained an element of downmarket trading alongside more prestigious retail stores.

Oxford Street follows the route of a Roman road, the Via Trinobantina, which linked Calleva Atrebatum with Camulodunum via London and became one of the major routes in and out of the city.

Oxford Street became popular for entertainment including bear-baiters, theatres and public houses.

The gallows were removed in 1783, and by the end of the century, Oxford Street was built up from St Giles Circus to Park Lane, containing a mix of residential houses and entertainment.

Related searches

Oxford Street changed in character from residential to retail towards the end of the 19th century.

The store was damaged again on 6 December 1944 after a V2 rocket exploded on nearby Duke Oxford Street, causing its Christmas tree displays to collapse into the street outside.

Oxford Street was again targeted by the IRA in August 1975; an undiscovered bomb that had been booby trapped exploded without any injuries.

Oxford Street is home to a number of major department stores and flagship retail outlets, containing over 300 shops as of 2012.

New West End Company, formerly the Oxford Street Association, oversees stores and trade along the street; its objective is to make the place safe and desirable for shoppers.

Oxford Street is served by major bus routes and by four tube stations of the London Underground.

Oxford Street has been ranked as the most important retail location in Britain and the busiest shopping street in Europe.

In 2014, a report by a scientist at King's College London showed that Oxford Street had the world's highest concentration of nitrogen dioxide pollution, at 135 micrograms per cubic metre of air .

In 2012, an analysis of crime statistics revealed that Oxford Street was the shopping destination most surrounded by crime in the UK.

Oxford Street is one of the London poet Letitia Elizabeth Landon's Scenes in London.

Oxford Street is a square on the British Monopoly game board, part of the green set .