We see three blocks along the north side of Oxford Street in London. From left to right the panorama starts at the junction with Great Portland Street, crosses Market Court and the Great Titchfield Street and ends at Winsley Street. The most prominent building here is the Waring & Gillow building occupying the block on the right side at 164-188 Oxford Street. It was errected 1905-06 after plans of the architect R. Frank Atkinson for the furniture makers Waring & Gillow. The building style was inspired by Hampton Court Palace and is dominated by red bricks and lavish ornamentation. Especially the round windows above the 2nd floor come with extravagant stone carvings and at the corners we can see impressive ship prows sculptures. Today the building is marketed as the “UK House” and we can see shops by H&M and Uniqlo at the ground level. Another notable building is the HSBC building further left (Nr. 196) with a little onion dome on top. On this building we find several egyptian style sculptures including reduced caryatids at the corner. On its right side, the smaller building is a typical Queen Anne style building from the 19th century that once was characteristic for Oxford Street and which is now housing Russell and Bromley. Find out more about Oxford Street Facades and Architecture here.
Oxford Street is regarded the top shopping street of the english capital and attracts ca. half a million daily visitors with its 300 shops. It runs for 1.9 km (~1.2 miles) from Marble Arch in the west via Oxford Circus to Tottenham Court Road at its eastern end. The section above is only one block east of Oxford Circus. The Road already existed as a Roman Road and it was known as Tyborn Road in the Middle Ages. It was renamed Oxford Street in the 18th century and became a commercial shopping street by the mid 19th century with the original Selfridges department store opening in its western part in 1909. A lot of its buildings are now Grade II listed architecture, including the Waring & Gillow building.
The detail images on the right also include two panoramas of the separate blocks in this streetline. Additionally in our archive you can find an older unfinnished view of the south side of Oxford Street between Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Circus.
