Shaftesbury Avenue

You are standing on a street that was built to save lives, yet destroyed homes in the process. Shaftesbury Avenue runs from Piccadilly Circus to New Oxford Street, cutting through what were once the most overcrowded and disease ridden slums in Victorian Britain. Between 1877 and 1886, architect George Vulliamy and engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette carved this grand thoroughfare through the densely packed districts of St. Giles and Soho.

Thousands of impoverished families were displaced to make way for the new road, though the project was meant to improve their living conditions by clearing away dangerous slums. The street honors Anthony Ashley Cooper, the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, known as the Poor Man's Earl. This Victorian reformer spent his life fighting for factory workers, homeless children, and the mentally ill.

When he died in 1885, thousands of workers lined the streets at his funeral to honor the man who championed their cause. This avenue became the beating heart of the West End theatre district. The Lyric, Apollo, Gielgud, and Palace Theatre rose along its length, transforming the area into an entertainment hub. During World War II, Rainbow Corner opened here, giving American soldiers a slice of home before they headed to the battlefields of Europe.