Bordered by Marble Arch to the west and crossroad with tottenham court road to the east, Oxford Street is the busiest and most famous - although admittedly not the most glamorous - of London's shopping streets. If you can brave the hoards of visitors (an estimated 9 million foreign tourist visit the street each year) and the impatient locals (around 60,000 Londoners work along Oxford Street), you'll find just rewards. From market stalls selling union jack t-shirts, to institutions such as Selfridges and high street chains from Gap to Next, the shops here should meet all your retail needs.
Named after the Earl of Oxford, who owned land north of here from the 16th century, the road was built as a main route out of the city and was intended to link the counties of Hampshire and Suffolk. From the 1760s it began to develop as an entertainment centre. The Pantheon (replaced by Marks and Spencer in 1937) housed fetes and concerts, and jack broughtons amphitheater, on the corner of Hanwell street and Oxford street, was famed for its boxing bouts and tiger baiting. By the late 19th century however the street was becoming establishes as a place for retail therapy. Furniture stores Waring and Gillow opened in 1906, while the department stores Debenham and Freebody and Selfridges- both of which have stayed loyal to the street - opened in 1909
