View source for Edgware Road

{{Short description|Road in London, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2015}}
{{Infobox street
| name        = Edgware Road
| native_name = 
| marker_image = [[File:UK road A5.svg|50px]]
| image       = Edgeware Road.jpg
| caption     = Edgware Road facing south from [[Church Street, Marylebone|Church Street]]
| former_names = 
| addresses   = 
| length_m    = 
| length_ft   = 
| length_mi   = 10
| length_km   = 16
| length_ref  = 
| width       = 
| location    = [[London]], United Kingdom
| postal_code = {{postcode|W|2}}
| client      = 
| maint       = 
| coordinates = 
| direction_a = North
| terminus_a  = [[Edgware]]
| direction_b = South
| terminus_b  = [[Marble Arch]], [[London]]
| junction    = 
| commissioning_date = 
| construction_start_date = 43 A.D.
| completion_date = 
| inauguration_date = <!-- {{Start date|df=yes|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| demolition_date = 
| north       = 
| south       = 
| east        = 
| west        = 
| known_for   = Shopping, various cuisines, [[Marble Arch]], [[Gaumont State Cinema]], [[Tricycle Theatre]], [[St Augustine's, Kilburn]],
}}

'''Edgware Road''' is a major road in [[Greater London]], England. The route originated as part of Roman [[Watling Street]] and, unusually in London, it runs for {{Convert|10|mi}} in an almost perfectly straight line. Forming part of the modern [[A5 road (Great Britain)|A5 road]], Edgware Road undergoes several name changes along its length, including Maida Vale, [[Kilburn High Road]], Shoot Up Hill and Cricklewood Broadway; but the road is, as a whole, known as Edgware Road, as it is the road leading to [[Edgware]].

The road runs from central London to suburban town of Edgware, beginning at [[Marble Arch]] in the [[City of Westminster]] and heading north to Edgware in the [[London Borough of Barnet]]. It is used as the boundary for four [[London boroughs]]: [[London Borough of Harrow|Harrow]] and [[London Borough of Brent|Brent]] to the west, and [[London Borough of Barnet|Barnet]] and [[London Borough of Camden|Camden]] to the east.

==Route==
[[File:EdgwRd.JPG|thumb|Edgware Road at Paddington]]
The road runs north-west from Marble Arch to Edgware on the outskirts of London. It crosses the [[Harrow Road]] and [[Marylebone Road]], passing beneath the [[Westway (London)#Route|Marylebone flyover]]. The road passes through the areas of [[Maida Vale, London, England|Maida Vale]], [[Kilburn, London|Kilburn]] and [[Cricklewood]]. It then crosses the [[A406 road|North Circular Road]] before [[West Hendon]] at [[Staples Corner]]. After this, the road continues in the same direction, through the Hyde, [[Colindale]], [[Burnt Oak]], and then reaches Edgware.

[[File:Kilburn road sign4.jpg|thumb|Shoot-up Hill, one of several names for Edgware Road.]]
The southernmost part of the road forms part of the [[London Inner Ring Road]] and, as such, is part of the boundary of the [[London congestion charge]] zone. However, when the zone was extended in February 2007, the road became part of the "free through routes" which allows vehicles to cross the zone during its hours of operation without paying the charge.

The southern part of the road between Marble Arch and Maida Vale, noted for its distinct [[Middle Eastern cuisine]] and many late-night bars and ''[[Hookah|shisha]]'' cafes, is known to Londoners by nicknames such as ''Little Cairo'',<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110523054850/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article850463.ece Times Online: London high life hit as rich Arabs decamp], retrieved 29/03/07</ref><ref name="telegraph.co.uk">[https://web.archive.org/web/20071114232655/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/main.jhtml?xml=/fashion/2007/08/29/efdylan129.xml&page=2 Telegraph: Never talk about what you wear...]</ref> ''Little Beirut''<ref name="This Is London: Little Beirut">[https://archive.today/20110605140158/http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-359595-details/article.do This Is London: Little Beirut]</ref>  and, especially near [[London borough of Camden|Camden]], ''Little [[Cyprus]]''.<ref>Anthony, Andrew, "[https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2000/jun/18/features.magazine37 A Kentish Town killing]", ''[[The Observer]]'', 18 June 2000</ref><ref>Clough, Eric A. and Quarmby, Jacqueline, (1978). ''A public library service for ethnic minorities in Great Britain'', {{ISBN|978-0-85365-890-0}}, p.71</ref>

As it passes through the various neighbourhoods, the road name changes several times, becoming Maida Vale, Kilburn High Road and Shoot-Up Hill (in Kilburn), and Cricklewood Broadway (in Cricklewood), before becoming Edgware Road once again with intermittent stretches as West Hendon Broadway, and [[the Hyde]]. Along the entire route, it retains its identity as the [[A5 road (Great Britain)|A5 road]] under the [[Great Britain road numbering scheme]]. The A5 continues beyond the end of the Edgware Road, following the old Roman road for much of its route and terminating at [[Holyhead]], Wales (a port for [[Ireland]]).

==History==
[[File:Watling Street route.jpg|thumb|Roman Britain, with the route of Watling Street in red]]
[[File:View of Hyde Park Turnpike, Westminster, London, 1792.jpg|thumb|Hyde Park toll gate]]
[[Prehistoric Britain|Before the Romans]], today's Edgware Road began as an [[ancient trackway]] within the [[Forest of Middlesex|Great Middlesex Forest]].<ref name="action"/> The Romans later [[Roman roads in Britain|incorporated the track]] into [[Watling Street]].<ref name="action"/>

Many centuries later, the road was improved by the Edgware-Kilburn [[turnpike trust]] in 1711, and a number of the local inns, functioned as stops for coaches, although they would have been quite close to the starting point of coach routes from London.

During the 18th century, it was a destination for [[Huguenot#Asylum in Britain and Ireland|Huguenot migrants]].<ref name="action"/> By 1811, [[Thomas Telford]] produced a re-design for what was then known as a section of the London to Holyhead road, a redesign considered one of the most important feats of pre-[[Victorian era|Victorian]] engineering.<ref name="action"/> Telford's redesign emerged only a year after the area saw the establishment of Great Britain's first [[Indian restaurant]].<ref name="action"/>

The area began to attract [[Arab diaspora|Arab migrants]] in the late 19th century during a period of increased trade with the [[Ottoman Empire]]. The trend continued with the arrival of Egyptians and Iraqis in the 1950s, and greatly expanded beginning in the 1970s and continuing to the present when events including the [[Lebanese Civil War]] and [[Algerian Civil War|unrest in Algeria]] brought more Arabs to the area.<ref name="action"/> They established the present-day mix of bars and [[Hookah|shisha]] cafes, which make the area known to Londoners by nicknames such as "Little Cairo"<ref name="telegraph.co.uk"/><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20110523054850/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article850463.ece Times Online: London high life hit as rich Arabs decamp], retrieved 29 March 2007</ref> and "Little Beirut."<ref name="This Is London: Little Beirut"/>

One of the two Edgware Road tube stations was one of the sites of the [[7 July 2005 London bombings|7 July bombings]]. A bomb was detonated on a train leaving the [[Edgware Road tube station (Circle, District and Hammersmith & City lines)|Circle, District and Hammersmith & City lines station]] and heading for [[Paddington tube station (Circle and Hammersmith & City lines)|Paddington tube station]]. Six people were killed in the blast. The perpetrator was the ringleader of the seven bombings, [[Mohammed Siddique Khan]]. On the first anniversary of the bombings, a memorial plaque to the victims was unveiled at the station.

==Districts and surrounding area==
The name "Edgware Road" is used to refer informally to an [[List of areas of London|area of London]] immediately to the north of Marble Arch and south of the [[Marylebone Road|Marylebone flyover]].<ref name="action">[http://www3.westminster.gov.uk/docstores/publications_store/Edgware_Road_Action_Plan.pdf Working for the future of Edgware Road] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012070258/http://www3.westminster.gov.uk/docstores/publications_store/Edgware_Road_Action_Plan.pdf |date=12 October 2007 }}, a 2006 planning document (in [[Portable Document Format|PDF format]]) from the [[City of Westminster]] website</ref>

The [[London postal district|postal codes]] of the area are [[W postcode area|W1, W2]], [[NW postcode area|NW1]] and [[NW postcode area|NW2]].

The part of the road between Marble Arch and the Marylebone Flyover also separates the areas of [[Marylebone]] and [[Bayswater]].

[[File:EdgwareRoadStationStatue.jpg|Sculpture "The Window Cleaner" by Allan Sly outside the tube station.|thumb]]

Edgware Road is well represented in terms of communities from across the Middle East and North Africa.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2005/05/27/arabic_london_feature.shtml BBC: Arabic London], retrieved 7 October 2007</ref>

[[File:Tyburn tree.jpg|The 'Tyburn tree', once the principal site of executions in London|thumb]]

==Transport==
[[File:London Bus route 16.JPG|thumb|A number 16 bus]]
[[File:Edgware Road (Circle) stn roundel.JPG|thumb|One of the Edgware Road tube stations]]
Edgware Road has several London bus routes, and is intersected by several [[London Underground]] lines along its length or nearby. A number of schemes have been put forward in the past to construct an [[Edgware Road Tube schemes|underground railway line underneath Edgware Road]], including a plan to extend the [[Bakerloo line]] north to Cricklewood and an unusual proposal to build an underground monorail system,<ref name="losttube">{{cite book|last=Badsey-Ellis|first=Antony|title=London's Lost Tube Schemes|publisher=Capital Transport|year=2005|isbn=1-85414-293-3}}</ref> but these schemes did not succeed. Today, [[London Buses]] provide the only public transport along the length of the road.

===National Rail===
Mainline and Overground rail stations:
*[[Marylebone station]] ([[Chiltern Main Line]])
*[[Paddington station]] ([[Great Western Main Line]])
*{{stnlnk|Cricklewood}} ([[Midland Main Line]])
*{{stnlnk|Hendon}} (Midland Main Line)
*{{stnlnk|Kilburn High Road}} ([[Watford DC line]])
*{{stnlnk|Brondesbury}} (Watford DC line)

===London Underground===
*[[Edgware Road tube station (Bakerloo line)|Edgware Road (Bakerloo line)]]
*{{stl|LUL|Edgware Road}} ([[Circle line (London Underground)|Circle]], [[District line|District]] and [[Hammersmith & City line]]s)
*{{stl|LUL|Marble Arch}} ([[Central line (London Underground)|Central line]])
*{{stl|LUL|Marylebone}} (Bakerloo line)
*{{stl|LUL|Paddington}} (Bakerloo, Circle and District lines)
*[[Paddington tube station (Circle and Hammersmith & City lines)|Paddington]] (Circle and Hammersmith & City lines)
*{{stl|LUL|Kilburn}} ([[Jubilee line]])
*{{stl|LUL|Kilburn Park}} (Bakerloo line)

===Bus routes===
[[London Buses route N16|Night bus N16]] is the only route to run the full length of the Edgware Road, from [[London Victoria station|Victoria station]] to Edgware.

Day bus routes operating over a significant length of Edgware Road are:
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
*[[London Buses route 6|6]]
*[[London Buses route 7|7]]
*[[London Buses route 16|16]]
*[[London Buses route 23|23]]
*[[London Buses route 32|32]]
*[[London Buses route 36|36]]
*[[London Buses route 98|98]]
*[[London Buses route 189|189]]
*[[London Buses route 316|316]]
*[[London Buses route 332|332]]
*[[London Buses route 436|436]]
{{Div col end}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Edgware Road}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071114215609/http://www.thelondonpaper.com/cs/Satellite/london/food/article/1157140549763?packedargs=suffix%3DSubSectionArticle Go west for a taste of Arabia – while it lasts] from [[thelondonpaper]]

{{coord|51.5133|-0.1604|type:landmark_region:GB-WSM|display=title}} <!-- approximate midpoint of the most notable stretch, within the area of the same name.  -->

[[Category:Streets in the City of Westminster]]
[[Category:Streets in the London Borough of Brent]]
[[Category:Streets in the London Borough of Camden]]
[[Category:Streets in the London Borough of Barnet]]
[[Category:District centres of London]]