View source for Oxford Street

{{Short description|Major street in the City of Westminster in London, England}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2025}}
{{Infobox street
| name         = Oxford Street
| native_name  =
| marker_image = [[File:UK road A40.svg|50px]]
| image        = Oxford Street (geograph 4949395).jpg
| image_size   = 220px
| caption      = View east along Oxford Street in May 2016
| former_names = Via Trinobantina{{Clear}}Tyburn Road
| postal_code  = {{postcode|W|1}}
| map_type     = United Kingdom London Westminster
| map_caption  = Location within Central London
| coordinates  = {{Coord|51|30|55|N|00|08|31|W|type:landmark_region:GB-WSM|display=inline,title}}
| length_km    = 2
| location     = London, United Kingdom
| maint        = [[Transport for London]]
| direction_a  = West
| terminus_a   = [[Marble Arch]]
| direction_b  = East
| terminus_b   = [[Tottenham Court Road]] / [[Charing Cross Road]]
| metro_system = Tube
| metro        = {{ubl|[[Marble Arch tube station|Marble Arch]]|[[Bond Street station|Bond Street]]|[[Oxford Circus tube station|Oxford Circus]]|[[Tottenham Court Road station|Tottenham Court Road]]}}
| known_for    = {{ubl|[[100 Club]]|[[Debenhams]]|[[HMV]]|[[House of Fraser]]|[[John Lewis & Partners]]|[[Marble Arch]]|[[Oxford Circus]]|[[Selfridges]]}}
| website      = {{URL|oxfordstreet.co.uk}}
}}
'''Oxford Street''' is a major road in the [[City of Westminster]] in the [[West End of London]], running between [[Marble Arch]] and [[Tottenham Court Road]] via [[Oxford Circus]]. It marks the notional boundary between the areas of [[Fitzrovia]] and [[Marylebone]] to the north, with [[Soho]] and [[Mayfair]] to its immediate south.  It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around 300,000 daily visitors, and {{as of|2012|lc=y}} had approximately 300 shops. It is designated as part of the [[A40 road|A40]], a major road between [[London]] and [[Fishguard]], though it is not signed as such, and traffic is regularly restricted to buses and taxis.

The road was originally part of the Via Trinobantina, a [[Roman road]] between [[Essex]] and [[Hampshire]] via London. It was known as [[Tyburn]] Road through the [[Middle Ages]] when it was notorious for public [[hanging]]s of prisoners at [[Tyburn#Tyburn gallows|Tyburn Gallows]]. It became known as Oxford Road and then Oxford Street in the 18th century and began to change from residential to commercial and retail use, attracting street traders, confidence tricksters, and prostitution. [[Department store]]s began to dominate the streetscape in the early 20th century, the most imposing of all being [[Selfridges]] (which opened in 1909). The street suffered heavy bombing during [[World War II]], and several longstanding stores including [[John Lewis (department store)|John Lewis & Partners]] were completely destroyed and rebuilt from scratch.

Despite competition from [[Out-of-town shopping centres in the United Kingdom|out-of-town shopping centres]] and [[online retailers]], Oxford Street remains in high demand as a retail location, with many British retail chains having their [[flagship#Retailing|flagship stores]] on the street, and having a number of [[listed building]]s. Unlike nearby shopping streets such as [[Bond Street]], it has retained an element of downmarket trading alongside more prestigious retail stores. Generally speaking, the eastern end of Oxford Street features a higher proportion of more downmarket retailers, fast food restaurants, and souvenir shops whilst more exclusive and upmarket stores can be found towards its western end which passes close to the wealthy [[Mayfair]] district.  The construction of [[Crossrail]] (known subsequently as the [[Elizabeth line]]) in the 2010s and early 2020s has changed the eastern end of Oxford Street markedly, with several major buildings having to be demolished completely to facilitate its construction, which in turn has brought new retailers and entertainment venues to the area.

The annual switching on of Christmas lights by a celebrity has been a popular event since 1959. As a popular retail area and a main thoroughfare for [[London bus]]es and taxis, Oxford Street has suffered from [[traffic congestion]], pedestrian congestion, a poor safety record, and pollution. Various traffic management schemes have been implemented by [[Transport for London]] (TfL) and others, including a ban on private vehicles during daytime hours on weekdays and Saturdays (in place since the 1970s), widened pavements, and improved pedestrian crossings.

==Location==
Oxford Street runs for approximately {{cvt|1.2|mi|km}} and is entirely within the [[City of Westminster]].<ref name=gmap/> The road begins at [[St Giles Circus]] as a westward continuation of New Oxford Street, meeting [[Charing Cross Road]], [[Tottenham Court Road]] (next to [[Tottenham Court Road station]]). It runs past [[Rathbone Place]], [[Wardour Street]], and [[Great Portland Street]] to [[Oxford Circus]], where it meets [[Regent Street]]. From there it continues past [[New Bond Street]], [[Bond Street station]], and [[Vere Street, Westminster|Vere Street]], ending at [[Marble Arch]]. The route continues as [[Bayswater Road]] and [[Holland Park Avenue]] towards [[Shepherd's Bush]].<ref name=gmap>{{cite map |title=A40, London W1D UK to 537 Oxford St, London W1C 2QP, UK |publisher=[[Google Maps]] |url=https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/51.5164178,-0.1304173/51.5132359,-0.1583503/@51.5148406,-0.1535978,15z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!4m1!3e2 |access-date=8 July 2015 |archive-date=18 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181118175357/https://www.google.co.uk/maps/dir/51.5164178,-0.1304173/51.5132359,-0.1583503/@51.5148406,-0.1535978,15z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!4m1!3e2 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The road is within the [[London congestion charge|London congestion charging zone]]. It is part of the [[A40 road|A40]], most of which is a [[trunk road]] running from London to [[Fishguard]] (via [[Oxford]], [[Cheltenham]], [[Brecon]], and [[Haverfordwest]]). Like many roads in [[Central London]] that are no longer through routes, it is not signposted with that number.<ref name=gmap/> Numerous bus routes run along Oxford Street, including the 55, 73, 94, 98, 159, 390, and Night Buses N8, N55, N73, N98 and N207.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/bus-route-maps/central-london-bus-map.pdf |title=Central London Bus Map |publisher=Transport for London |access-date=10 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150705012142/https://tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/bus-route-maps/central-london-bus-map.pdf |archive-date=5 July 2015}}</ref>

==History==

===Early history===
{{aI1|image=LondonBeforeHouses.jpg|image-width=1000|image-left=-280|image-top=-320|width=150|height=150|float=left|caption=Map of the local area before urbanisation}}
Oxford Street follows the route of a [[Roman road]], the Via Trinobantina, which linked [[Calleva Atrebatum]] (near [[Silchester]], [[Hampshire]]) with [[Camulodunum]] (now [[Colchester]]) via London and became one of the major routes in and out of the city.<ref>{{cite report |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/21_10_14_oxfordstreet.pdf |title=Oxford Street – the case for pedestrianisation |first=Stephen |last=Knight |page=2 |date=October 2014 |access-date=7 July 2015 |archive-date=2 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230402054828/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/21_10_14_oxfordstreet.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

Between the 12th century and 1782, it was variously known as Tyburn Road (after the [[River Tyburn]] that crossed it north to south), Uxbridge Road (the name still used for the road between [[Shepherd's Bush]] and [[Uxbridge]]), Worcester Road, and Oxford Road.<ref name=grosvenor/> On Ralph Aggas' "Plan of London", published in the 16th century, the road is described partly as "The Waye to Uxbridge" followed by "Oxford Road", showing rural farmland at the present junction of Oxford Street and Rathbone Place. By 1678 it was known as the "King's Highway", and the "Road To Oxford" by 1682.<ref name=tcr/>{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=612}}

[[Tyburn]] Parish Church stood on the north side of the road, at the point where it crossed the river (which ran alongside what is now [[Marylebone Lane]]).<ref name="SoL53.9" /> This church (the earliest documented building on Oxford Street) was demolished in 1400, a [[St Marylebone Parish Church|replacement church]] having been built further to the north. Later a [[court house]] was constructed on the site, which went on to serve as [[vestry]] hall for the parish; it continued to function as such until 1920, when it was superseded by [[Marylebone Town Hall]].<ref name="SoL53.9" /> [[Tyburn gallows]], near where Marble Arch now stands, was a place of [[public execution]] from 1388 to 1783.{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=610}} 

===The Georgian era{{anchor|Marylebone Road Act 1720|Marylebone Road Act 1734}}===
[[File:WyattPantheonOxfordSt.jpg|thumb|right|Oxford Street in the late 18th century (with the Pantheon on the left)]]
Though a major coaching route, there were several obstacles along it, including the bridge over the Tyburn. A [[Toll road|turnpike]] trust was established in 1721 to improve the upkeep of the road.<ref name=grosvenor>{{cite book |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=42129 |title=Oxford Street: The Development of the Frontage, in ''Survey of London: volume 40: The Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair, Part 2 (The Buildings)'' |year=1980 |pages=171–173 |access-date=7 July 2015 |archive-date=28 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928040601/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=42129 |url-status=live }}</ref> It became notorious as the route taken by prisoners on their final journey from [[Newgate Prison]] to the gallows at Tyburn. Spectators jeered as the prisoners were carted along the road, and could buy rope used in the executions from the [[Executioner|hangman]] in taverns.{{sfn|Moore|2003|p=241}} By about 1729, the road had become known as Oxford Street.<ref name=tcr>{{cite book |chapter-url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45208 |title=Tottenham Court Road, in ''Old and New London: Volume 4'' |year=1878 |pages=467–480 |chapter=36 |access-date=7 July 2015 |quote="Rathbone Place, Oxford Street, 1718," fixes the date of its erection. As the "Tyburn Road" does not appear to have been generally known as "Oxford Street" till some ten or eleven years later |archive-date=30 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140830000319/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45208 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Development began in the 18th century after many surrounding fields were purchased by the [[Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer|Earl of Oxford]].{{sfn|Moore|2003|p=241}} In 1739, a local gardener, Thomas Huddle, built property on the north side.{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=611}} After Lord Oxford's death the [[Estate in land|estate]] was inherited by his daughter the [[Margaret Bentinck, Duchess of Portland|Duchess of Portland]]; it then passed down to successive dukes as the Portland Estate, before becoming the [[Howard de Walden Estate]] in 1879 (by way of the [[John Bentinck, 5th Duke of Portland|5th Duke]]'s sister).<ref name="HDWE">{{cite web |title=History |url=https://www.hdwe.co.uk/about-us/history |website=The Howard de Walden Estate |access-date=18 February 2023 |archive-date=18 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230218181526/https://www.hdwe.co.uk/about-us/history |url-status=live }}</ref> The Howard de Walden Estate progressively sold off its Oxford Street holdings (which lay on the north side between [[Marylebone Lane]] and [[Wells Street]]) in the first half of the twentieth century.<ref name="SoL53.5" /> Other [[Landed property|landowning estates]] held sway over the western end of Oxford Street: most of the northern side west of [[Duke Street, Marylebone|Duke Street]] was and is owned by the [[Portman Estate]],<ref>{{cite web |title=About us |url=https://portmanestate.co.uk/about-us/ |website=The Portman Estate |access-date=18 February 2023 |archive-date=19 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230219001758/https://portmanestate.co.uk/about-us/ |url-status=live }}</ref> while facing it (on the southern side) most of the land west of Davies Street was and is part of the [[Grosvenor estate]];<ref name=grosvenor2>{{cite book |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol40/pt2/pp171-173 |title=Oxford Street: The Development of the Frontage, in ''Survey of London: volume 40: The Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair, Part 2 (The Buildings)'' – section 2 |year=1980 |pages=171–173 |access-date=7 July 2015 |archive-date=8 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150708214040/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol40/pt2/pp171-173 |url-status=live }}</ref> east of both of these, the smaller but significant [[Conduit Mead Estate]] (which encompasses [[Stratford Place]] and [[New Bond Street]]) has been held by the [[City of London Corporation]] since the twelfth century.<ref name="SoL53.9" /> [[John Rocque's Map of London, 1746|John Rocque's Map of London]], published in 1746, shows urban buildings extending as far west as North Audley Street (on the south side) and Marylebone Lane (on the north side), but only intermittent rural property beyond. Further development to the west occurred between 1763 and 1793 when building began on the Portman Estate.<ref name="PevsnerLondon6" /> 

The [[Pantheon, London|Pantheon]], a place for public entertainment, opened at No.&nbsp;173 in 1772.{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=611}} The street became popular for entertainment including [[Bear-baiting|bear-baiters]], theatres, and [[public house]]s.{{sfn|Bracken|2011|p=178}} However, it was not attractive to the middle and upper classes due to the nearby Tyburn gallows and the notorious [[St Giles, London|St Giles]] [[Rookery (slum)|rookery]], or slum.{{sfn|Moore|2003|p=241}} 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, shops and places of entertainment.{{sfn|Moore|2003|p=241}}{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=611}} 

Oxford Circus was designed as part of the development of Regent Street by the architect [[John Nash (architect)|John Nash]] in 1810. It was later rebuilt (the four quadrants of the circus as seen today were designed by [[Henry Tanner (architect)|Sir Henry Tanner]] and constructed between 1913 and 1928).{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=610,685}}

The Pantheon closed as an entertainment venue in 1814 (twenty years later it was reopened as a covered [[bazaar]]); this prompted another bazaar (across the road at No.&nbsp;150) to close, and in 1836 the [[Princess's Theatre, London|Princess's Theatre]] opened on the site.{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=611}}

===Retail and transport development===
[[File:Oxford Street 1875.jpg|thumb|right|Oxford Street in 1875 (looking towards the present-day site of Selfridges on the right)]]
Oxford Street changed in character from residential to retail towards the end of the 18th century.<ref name="SoL53.intro">{{cite book |editor1-last=Saint |editor1-first=Andrew |title=Survey of London, vol. 53: Oxford Street |date=2020 |publisher=Yale University Press |chapter=Introduction}}</ref> Recording an evening visit to the street in 1786, [[Sophie von La Roche]] described a multitude of shops lit by [[Argand lamp]]s behind 'handsome glass windows': confectioners, fruiterers, watchmakers, silversmiths, 'spirit booths' (selling strong drink), glass shops, china shops, silk shops, lamp shops and others.<ref name="SoL53.intro" /> There were also clothing retailers of various sorts, and furniture-makers (such as [[Gillow & Co.]], established in 1769). Street vendors sold tourist souvenirs during this time.{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=611}} 

A plan in Tallis's ''London Street Views'', published in the late 1830s, remarks that almost all the street, save for the far western end, was primarily retail.<ref name=grosvenor/> [[Peter Robinson (department store)|Peter Robinson]] opened his draper's shop at 103 Oxford Street in the 1830s; by the 1890s the shop had expanded to fill the entire block between [[Great Portland Street]] and Regent Street.<ref name="SoL53.12">{{cite book |editor1-last=Saint |editor1-first=Andrew |title=Survey of London, vol. 53: Oxford Street |date=2020 |publisher=Yale University Press |chapter=Chapter 12}}</ref> Likewise [[Marshall & Snelgrove]] opened on Vere Street in 1837; within 40 years it had expanded to fill the entire block between that street and Marylebone Lane, and was housed (from 1870) in a new building designed by [[Horace Jones (architect)|Horace Jones]] and Octavius Hansard.  

[[File:Marshall & Snelgrove, Oxford Street, London.jpg|thumb|left|Marshall & Snelgrove's department store building of 1870]]
What would now be called [[department stores]] began to appear on Oxford Street in the 1870s (the rebuilt Marshall & Snelgrove being one of the first).<ref name="SoL53.intro" /> [[John Lewis Partnership|John Lewis]] started in 1864 in a small shop at No.&nbsp;132;{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=443}} he took on an adjacent property in 1878, and over the next twenty years expanded further and began rebuilding.<ref name="SoL53.6">{{cite book |editor1-last=Saint |editor1-first=Andrew |title=Survey of London, vol. 53: Oxford Street |date=2020 |publisher=Yale University Press |chapter=Chapter 6}}</ref> Dan Harries Evans opened a small draper's shop at No.&nbsp;147 in 1879; as [[D H Evans]] the business swiftly expanded, taking in more than a dozen properties either side of [[Old Cavendish Street]] and becoming one of London's largest drapery establishments by the mid-1890s.<ref name="SoL53.7">{{cite book |editor1-last=Saint |editor1-first=Andrew |title=Survey of London, vol. 53: Oxford Street |date=2020 |publisher=Yale University Press |chapter=Chapter 7}}</ref> At the same time, smaller independent retailers continued to thrive alongside their larger counterparts, specialising in all sorts of different goods, trades, and services.<ref name="SoL53.intro" />

Meanwhile, construction of the Central London Railway (now the [[Central line (London Underground)|Central line]] of the London Underground), which runs under Oxford Street for part of its course, began in 1896, which necessitated the development of four new station buildings on or near the street, at [[Marble Arch tube station|Marble Arch]], [[Bond Street tube station|Bond Street]], [[Oxford Circus tube station|Oxford Circus]], and [[Tottenham Court Road tube station|Tottenham Court Road]]. Of the three chief engineers of the project, only [[Benjamin Baker (engineer)|Benjamin Baker]] lived to see the railway completed. On 27 June 1900, the Prince of Wales (who became King [[Edward VII]] the following year) ceremonially opened the line and public services began on 30 July. The line's route below Oxford Street made it the first railway to provide a direct service to the theatre and shopping areas of the West End and the City.{{sfn|Green|1987|pp=21–22}} The [[Bakerloo line]] came to Oxford Circus on 10 March 1906, and the Hampstead line to Tottenham Court Road on 22 June 1907 (it became the [[Northern line]] thirty years later).{{sfn|Green|1987|pp=30, 38}}

[[File:164-182 Oxford Street 2 (8307476982).jpg|thumb|right|Former Waring & Gillow store of 1906 ('[[United Kingdom House]]')]]
Development continued through the first half of the 20th century, with [[Bourne & Hollingsworth]] opening in 1902. When [[Waring & Gillow]] opened their new store in 1906 it became the first West End store to occupy an entire [[city block]].<ref name="SoL53.4">{{cite book |editor1-last=Saint |editor1-first=Andrew |title=Survey of London, vol. 53: Oxford Street |date=2020 |publisher=Yale University Press |chapter=Chapter 4}}</ref> [[Selfridges]] opened on 15 March 1909 at No.&nbsp;400;{{sfn|Weinreb|Hibbert|Keay|Keay|2008|p=828}} it promptly had a 'transformative influence on Britain's retail scene, elevating the concept of a department store as a social and cultural institution open to everyone, with innovative window dressing, exceptional customer service and masterly advertising'.<ref name="SelfridgesListing" /> Shoemakers [[Lilley & Skinner]] acquired the lease of 358–360 Oxford Street in 1914;<ref name="SoL53.9">{{cite book |editor1-last=Saint |editor1-first=Andrew |title=Survey of London, vol. 53: Oxford Street |date=2020 |publisher=Yale University Press |chapter=Chapter 9}}</ref> they later expanded into Nos.&nbsp;356–366, reputedly becoming the world's largest shoe store in 1921.<ref>{{cite web |title=Lilley and Skinner shop in Oxford Street |url=https://www.londonpicturearchive.org.uk/view-item?i=106091 |website=London Picture Archive |access-date=15 February 2023}}</ref> In 1922 [[C&A]] purchased Nos.&nbsp;376–384 (before long C&A had three stores on Oxford Street, which remained the case until their withdrawal from the UK market in 2001).<ref name="SoL53.9" />

It is notable that all the aforementioned department stores were or are on the north side of the street. Whether this was down to a preference for south-facing shop fronts, or there being better access routes to the north for deliveries and services, or something akin to coincidence remains an open question.<ref name="SoL53.intro" /> Some large stores were opened on the south side of the street in the 20th century: [[Woolworths (United Kingdom)|Woolworths]] opened its first West End store at No.&nbsp;311 in 1925,<ref name="SoL53.20" /> followed by a handful of others in the 1930s (for example [[Littlewoods]], which opened its first Central London store at Nos.&nbsp;207–213 in 1937, later expanding into Nos.&nbsp;197–205; it was rebuilt in the early 1960s but closed in the early 2000s).<ref name="SoL53.19">{{cite book |editor1-last=Saint |editor1-first=Andrew |title=Survey of London, vol. 53: Oxford Street |date=2020 |publisher=Yale University Press |chapter=Chapter 19}}</ref> 

[[File:Ireland -v Brazil in London (4404461690).jpg|thumb|left|Hereford House of 1928–1930: flats and department store on the south side of the Street (Primark, formerly C&A).]]
By the 1930s the street was almost entirely retail, a state that still exists today. However, unlike nearby streets such as [[Bond Street]] and Park Lane, there remained a seedy element including street traders and prostitutes.{{sfn|Moore|2003|p=243}} Gradually, as the century progressed, independent retailers began to be replaced by [[chain stores]]. 

[[File:Bombs Hit London Stores- Air Raid Damage in London, England, 1940 D1093.jpg|upright|thumb|right|Bomb-damaged shell of John Lewis following an air raid, September 1940]]
During the [[Second World War]], Oxford Street was bombed several times. Overnight and in the early hours of 17 to 18 September 1940, 268 [[Heinkel He 111]] and [[Dornier Flugzeugwerke|Dornier Do 17]] bombers targeted the West End, particularly Oxford Street. Many buildings were damaged, either from direct hits or subsequent fires, including four department stores: John Lewis, Selfridges, [[Bourne & Hollingsworth]], and Peter Robinson. [[George Orwell]] wrote in his diary on 24 September that Oxford Street was "completely empty of traffic, and only a few pedestrians", and saw "innumerable fragments of broken glass".<ref name=bbcblitz /> John Lewis caught fire again on 25 September and was reduced to a shell. It remained a bomb site for the remainder of the war and beyond, finally being demolished and rebuilt between 1958 and 1960. Peter Robinson partially reopened on 22 September, though the main storefront remained boarded up. The basement was converted into studios for the BBC Eastern Service. Orwell made several broadcasts here from 1941 to 1943.<ref name=bbcblitz />

Selfridges was bombed again on 17 April 1941, suffering further damage, including the destruction of the Palm Court Restaurant. The basement was converted to a communications base, with a dedicated line running along Oxford Street to [[Whitehall]]. The line allowed British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]] to make secure and direct telephone calls to US President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]. The store was damaged again on 6 December 1944 after a [[V2 rocket]] exploded on nearby Duke Street, causing its [[Christmas tree]] displays to collapse into the street outside. Damage was repaired, and the shop reopened the following day.<ref name=bbcblitz>{{cite news |title=The Blitz: Oxford Street's store wars |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/london/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8937000/8937074.stm |publisher=[[BBC News]] |date=6 September 2010 |access-date=10 July 2015 |archive-date=11 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150711123840/http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/london/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8937000/8937074.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Postwar===
[[File:John Lewis Store, Oxford Street, London W1 during COVID lock down.jpg|thumb|right|The rebuilt John Lewis, with its [[Winged Figure]] sculpture by [[Barbara Hepworth]]]]
After its main store was destroyed, John Lewis operated from properties on the other side of [[Holles Street]] (i.e. to the east) until the completion of its new store to the west. Relinquishing these properties then enabled it to purchase the whole of the west side.<ref name="SoL53.5" /> 

[[File:University of the Arts London, London College of Fashion (25th September 2014).jpg|thumb|left|1960s office/retail complex: [[BhS|BHS]] and the London College of Fashion.]]
Subsequently, the entire block between Holles Street and [[John Prince's Street]] was sold by the [[Howard de Walden Estate]] to [[Land Securities]] for redevelopment: designed by [[Thomas Bennett (architect)|T. P. Bennett]] & Partners, it would provide small units of retail accommodation on either side of a central flagship department store (namely [[British Home Stores]], until its closure in 2016). Atop the Oxford Street frontage a six-storey block was constructed to house the [[London College of Fashion]], behind which a cluster of taller [[tower blocks]] provided office space. Begun in 1959 the work was largely completed within two years; it was one of the largest post-war redevelopment projects to be undertaken in the West End.<ref name="SoL53.5">{{cite book |editor1-last=Saint |editor1-first=Andrew |title=Survey of London, vol. 53: Oxford Street |date=2020 |publisher=Yale University Press |chapter=Chapter 5}}</ref>

From August 1963 until April 1968 part of Oxford Street had to be closed to traffic so that Oxford Circus tube station could be rebuilt to incorporate the new [[Victoria line]], which began serving the station on 7 March 1969, its official opening.{{sfn|Green|1987|pp=58–59}}

In September 1973 a shopping-bag bomb was detonated by the [[Irish Republican Army]] (IRA) at the offices of the [[Prudential plc|Prudential Assurance Company]], injuring six people.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=rdglAAAAIBAJ&pg=2039,903701&dq=oxford+street&hl=en |title=Shopping-bag bomb explodes in London |access-date=14 December 2011 |work=The Miami News |date=12 September 1973 }}{{Dead link|date=October 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}</ref> A second bomb was detonated by the IRA next to Selfridges in December 1974, injuring three people and causing £1.5 million worth of damage.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YRMyAAAAIBAJ&pg=904,1108071&dq=oxford+street&hl=en |title=London's Oxford St. bombed |access-date=14 December 2011 |work=The Gazette |location=Montreal |date=20 December 1974 |archive-date=9 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309050858/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=YRMyAAAAIBAJ&pg=904,1108071&dq=oxford+street&hl=en |url-status=live}}</ref> Oxford Street was again targeted by the IRA in August 1975; an undiscovered bomb that had been [[booby trap]]ped exploded without any injuries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/chron/ch75.htm#Aug |title=A Chronology of the Conflict – 1975 |work=CAIN Web Service |publisher=Ulster University |access-date=25 January 2017 |archive-date=6 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110806142443/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/othelem/chron/ch75.htm#Aug |url-status=live}}</ref> 

On 26 October 1981 [[Kenneth Howorth]], an explosives officer with the Metropolitan Police, was killed while defusing a bomb planted by the IRA in the basement toilet of a [[Wimpy Bar]] on Oxford Street.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1981/oct/27/bomb-incidents-london |title=Bomb Incidents (London) |work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |date=27 October 1981 |access-date=6 February 2021 |archive-date=3 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200303195015/https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1981/oct/27/bomb-incidents-london |url-status=live}}</ref> The IRA also detonated a bomb at the John Lewis department store in December 1992, along with another in nearby [[Cavendish Square]], injuring four people.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist//RTV/1992/12/16/604201035/?s=handcuff |title=United Kingdom: Two Bombs explode in Oxford Street |work=ITN News |date=16 December 1992 |access-date=24 January 2017 |archive-date=2 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202031155/http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist//RTV/1992/12/16/604201035/?s=handcuff |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Stanley Green by Sean Hickin, Oxford Street, London, 1974 (2).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Stanley Green (Protein Man)|Stanley Green]] advertising on Oxford Street in 1974]]
The [[human billboard]] [[Stanley Green (Protein Man)|Stanley Green]] began selling on Oxford Street in 1968, advertising his belief in the link of [[protein]]s to [[Libido|sexual libido]] and the dangers therein. He regularly patrolled the street with a placard headlined "less passion from less protein",{{sfn|Moore|2003|p=243}} and advertised his pamphlet ''Eight Passion Proteins with Care'' until his death in 1993. His placards are now housed in the [[British Museum]].{{sfn|Moore|2003|pp=243–244}}

[[File:London 2764.JPG|thumb|left|The Plaza shopping centre (ex-Bourne & Hollingsworth) in 2011]]
The opening of Britain's first out-of-town shopping centre at [[Brent Cross Shopping Centre|Brent Cross]] in 1976 prompted experiments with mall-style shopping precincts on Oxford Street. West One was developed by the Grosvenor Estate on the corner of Davies Street as part of the rebuilding of Bond Street tube station for the [[Jubilee line]] in 1979; it opened the following year.<ref name="SoL53.21">{{cite book |editor1-last=Saint |editor1-first=Andrew |title=Survey of London, vol. 53: Oxford Street |date=2020 |publisher=Yale University Press |chapter=Chapter 21}}</ref> In 1986 The Plaza shopping centre was opened within the walls of the former Bourne & Hollingsworth department store building (dating from 1925–1928), the latter having closed three years earlier.<ref name="SoL53.2">{{cite book |editor1-last=Saint |editor1-first=Andrew |title=Survey of London, vol. 53: Oxford Street |date=2020 |publisher=Yale University Press |chapter=Chapter 2}}</ref> The Plaza itself closed in 2016 and a flagship Next store was opened on the site.<ref>{{cite web |title=120 Oxford Street Demolition / Strip Out |url=https://lancebox.co.uk/projects/the-plaza-oxford-street |publisher=Lancebox Group |access-date=20 February 2023 |archive-date=20 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230220174759/https://lancebox.co.uk/projects/the-plaza-oxford-street |url-status=live}}</ref>
{{-}}

===COVID pandemic and subsequent changes===
{{more|COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom}}
The principal Topshop store by Oxford Circus shut in late 2020 after its parent company, [[Arcadia Group]], went into administration, and Debenhams' flagship store closed (during the third [[COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom|COVID lockdown]]) in January 2021.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Partridge |first1=Joanna |title=Debenhams to shut six stores including Oxford Street flagship |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/jan/13/debenhams-shut-six-stores-including-oxford-street-flagship-london |access-date=4 February 2025 |work=The Guardian |date=13 January 2021}}</ref> A year later, following the spread of the [[SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant]], the Government introduced new lockdown restrictions, which caused problems with businesses along Oxford Street, which had been hampered by the pandemic since the previous year. The [[House of Fraser]] store closed in January 2022 as a result.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-59322099#|title=House of Fraser: Oxford Street flagship store to close|work=BBC News|date=17 November 2021|accessdate=5 December 2023}}</ref> An analyst at [[GlobalData]] said the street "has been forever changed by the closure, or in some cases, downsizing of long-standing department stores".<ref name=les_covid>{{cite news|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/business/topshop-ikea-london-oxford-street-2021-changes-house-of-fraser-b973556.html|title=Goodbye Topshop, hello Ikea: How London's Oxford Street transformed in 2021|work=London Evening Standard|date=27 December 2021|accessdate=5 December 2023}}</ref>

By 2023 over 15% of retail premises on the street were vacant,<ref name="Guardian2024">{{cite news |last1=Butler |first1=Sarah |title=Oxford Street sweeter – with fewer shops empty or selling candy |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/feb/25/oxford-street-sweeter-with-fewer-shops-empty-or-selling-candy |access-date=8 February 2025 |work=The Guardian |date=25 February 2024}}</ref> and among those that remained open there had been a proliferation of 'American candy stores' and vape shops.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Newkey-Burden |first1=Chas |title=Oxford Street: a return to former glories? |url=https://theweek.com/business/oxford-street-a-return-to-former-glories |access-date=8 February 2025 |work=The Week |publisher=Future plc |date=20 September 2024}}</ref> Subsequently the situation improved, in particular at the eastern end of the street (following completion of the new Tottenham Court Road Station), and in 2024 Westminster City Council announced a number of improvement measures.<ref name="Guardian2024" /> As of 2024, the former Debenhams and House of Fraser department stores were being converted into office buildings (with the ground floor retained for retail),<ref>{{cite web |title=Department Stores: How are they being reimagined? |url=https://www.cbre.co.uk/insights/articles/department-stores-how-are-they-being-reimagined |website=CBRE |access-date=8 February 2025 |date=12 December 2024}}</ref> and Marks & Spencer received planning permission to demolish their flagship Marble Arch store and replace it with a ten-storey office scheme (again with some space retained for retail).<ref>{{cite news |last1=Pitcher |first1=Greg |title=Rayner approves M&S Oxford Street plans |url=https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/ms-oxford-street-demolition-deciscion |access-date=8 February 2025 |work=Architects' Journal |date=5 December 2024}}</ref> John Lewis, however, reversed an earlier decision to turn half its building into office space, and instead reopened across all six floors.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Prynn |first1=Jonathan |title=John Lewis unveils new look Oxford Street store as it shelves plans to convert much of flagship into offices |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/business/john-lewis-oxford-street-store-beauty-jewellery-offices-pandemic-jamie-oliver-b1189851.html |access-date=8 February 2025 |work=London Evening Standard |date=24 October 2024}}</ref>

In December 2023, pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched along Oxford Street during the busy Christmas shopping season, blocking traffic and disrupting retail activity. The protest, which included calls for boycotts of brands such as [[Zara (retailer)|Zara]] and [[Puma (brand)|Puma]], was part of wider rallies across [[London]] and the [[United Kingdom|UK]] linked to the [[Israel–Hamas war]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hennessey |first=Ted |date=23 December 2023 |title=Pro-Palestinian protesters march on London’s Oxford Street |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/oxford-street-london-zara-israeli-soho-square-b1128846.html |access-date=12 September 2025 |website=The Standard |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Vernon |first=Hayden |last2=Otte |first2=Jedidajah |date=4 November 2023 |title=Protesters block London’s Oxford Street in pro-Palestine demonstration |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/nov/04/pro-palestine-protests-continue-across-uk-over-israel-hamas-war |access-date=12 September 2025 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Pro-Palestine protesters disrupt Oxford Street Christmas shoppers in call to boycott 'pro-Israel' brands |url=https://news.sky.com/story/pro-palestine-protesters-disrupt-oxford-street-christmas-shoppers-in-call-to-boycott-pro-israel-brands-13036859 |access-date=12 September 2025 |website=Sky News |language=en}}</ref>

==New Oxford Street==
[[File:Umbrella Shop, London.jpg|thumb|right|[[James Smith & Sons]] has been at 53 New Oxford Street since 1867.]]
'''New Oxford Street''' was built in 1847, in accordance with a plan of [[James Pennethorne]], to link the eastern end of Oxford Street with [[High Holborn]].<ref name="SoL53.intro" /> It extends the axis of Oxford Street eastwards from St Giles Circus. Previously, the route into the City of London had deviated southwards at this point, to skirt around the ancient settlement of [[St Giles, London|St Giles]] with its [[St Giles in the Fields#12th–16th centuries, hospital and chapel|leper hospital]]. The building of the new street involved much [[Slum clearance in the United Kingdom|slum clearance]], but did not entirely eradicate the notorious old rookeries. Once a fashionable shopping street, a preponderance of office buildings has led to New Oxford Street no longer sharing the activity or ambience of its namesake; but in its central section a number of original 1840s stuccoed buildings have survived, providing a glimpse of its former character.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Cherry |editor1-first=Bridget |editor2-last=Pevsner |editor2-first=Nikolaus |title=Buildings of England – London 4: North |date=1988 |publisher=Penguin |location=London |edition=2nd |page=316}}</ref>

[[Centre Point]], at the corner of New Oxford Street and Charing Cross Road, was one of London's first skyscrapers (designed by [[Richard Seifert|R. Seifert & Partners]] and completed in 1966).<ref name="Knox2024">{{cite book |last1=Knox |first1=Paul |title=London: A History of 300 Years in 25 Buildings |date=2024 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven, CT |pages=307–316}}</ref> The {{convert|121|m|ft|adj=on}} tower was built by property developer [[Harry Hyams]] (with support from the [[London County Council]] planning department) as a [[speculative investment]]; left empty for over a decade, it was occupied for a time by protesters, demonstrating against a lack of suitable accommodation in central London.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Low |first1=Harry |title=Centre Point: When protesters stormed the UK's tallest empty building |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-68007959 |website=BBC News |access-date=4 February 2025 |date=18 January 2024}}</ref> In 2015, building work began to convert it into residential flats; the restoration and conversion was completed in March 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 March 2018 |title=Conran and Partners unveils residential conversion of Centre Point |url=https://www.dezeen.com/2018/03/28/centre-point-richard-seifert-conran-partners-residential-conversion-london/ |access-date=5 March 2024 |website=Dezeen |language=en}}</ref> Much as had been the case at its original opening, the refurbished tower remains largely empty, with few windows lit in the evenings, the rest in darkness, despite at least half its units being sold; this has led to its being called one of London's "ghost towers".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jan/26/work-begins-luxury-flat-conversion-london-centre-point |first=Hilary |last=Osborne |title=Work begins on luxury flat conversion of London landmark Centre Point |newspaper=The Guardian |date=26 January 2015 |access-date=10 July 2015 |archive-date=1 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401191707/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2015/jan/26/work-begins-luxury-flat-conversion-london-centre-point |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Buildings==
[[File:Building on Oxford Street in the City of Westminster, London in spring 2013 (6).JPG|thumb|right|Park House (2012): the latest of many new buildings to have stood here since this parcel of land was first developed in the 1760s.]]
Oxford Street is home to a number of major department stores and flagship retail outlets, containing over 300 shops as of 2012.<ref>{{cite report |url=https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/wp53.pdf |title=GLA Economics |first=Simon |last=Kye |publisher=Greater London Council |year=2012 |access-date=11 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150823231026/http://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/wp53.pdf |archive-date=23 August 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> It is the most frequently visited shopping street in Inner London, attracting over half a million daily visitors in 2014,{{sfn|TfL|2014|p=136}} and is one of the most popular destinations in London for tourists, with an annual estimated turnover of over £1 billion.{{sfn|Moore|2003|p=245}} It forms part of a shopping district in the [[West End of London]], along with other streets including [[Covent Garden]], Bond Street and [[Piccadilly]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destination/uk/england/london/56120/West-End-London-shopping.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destination/uk/england/london/56120/West-End-London-shopping.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=West End London shopping |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |first=Sophie |last=Campbell |access-date=11 July 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

The 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. The group has been critical of overcrowding and the quality of shops and has clamped down on abusive traders, who were then refused licences.{{sfn|Moore|2003|p=245}}<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.timeout.com/london/shopping/oxford-street-revisited |title=Oxford Street Revisited |journal=Time Out |date=1 May 2007 |access-date=8 July 2015 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304140906/http://www.timeout.com/london/shopping/oxford-street-revisited |url-status=live}}</ref>

<!-- There are around 300 stores on Oxford Street. The below examples constitute the most noteworthy stores on the street. Please do not add promotional or indiscriminate references to other stores or attempt to turn the below list into a directory of shops on the street.-->
[[File:Debenhams, Oxford Street - geograph.org.uk - 2666877.jpg|thumb|left|Debenhams, 1969–1975: 'big and dispiriting', according to [[Pevsner Architectural Guides|''Pevsner'']].<ref name="PevsnerLondon6">{{cite book |editor1-last=Bradley |editor1-first=Simon |editor2-last=Pevsner |editor2-first=Nikolaus |title=Buildings of England – London 6: Westminster |date=2003 |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven & London |pages=458–469}}</ref>]]
Several British retail chains regard their Oxford Street branch as the flagship store. In 1919 [[Marshall & Snelgrove]] merged with [[Debenhams]] (which had opened in nearby [[Wigmore Street]] in 1778).{{sfn|Glinert|2012|p=304}} The Oxford Street store continued to trade as Marshall & Snelgrove until 1972, when the rebuilt premises were reopened as Debenhams.<ref name="SoL53.8">{{cite book |editor1-last=Saint |editor1-first=Andrew |title=Survey of London, vol. 53: Oxford Street |date=2020 |publisher=Yale University Press |chapter=Chapter 8}}</ref> (Debenhams' flagship Oxford Street store closed in 2021.) 

[[File:House of Fraser London United Kingdom Christmas 2017.jpg|thumb|right|House of Fraser (with Christmas illuminations) in 2017]]
The London flagship store of [[House of Fraser]] began as [[D H Evans|D. H. Evans]] in 1879; its current premises were designed by Louis Blanc and opened in 1937.{{sfn|Inwood|2012|p=267}} It was the first department store in the UK with escalators serving every floor.{{sfn|Piper|Jervis|2002|p=81}} It retained the D. H. Evans name until 2001, when it was rebranded as House of Fraser (the name of the [[parent company]]). House of Fraser closed in 2022.<ref>{{cite news |title=House of Fraser: Oxford Street flagship store to close |work=BBC News |date=17 November 2021 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-59322099 |agency=BBC News |access-date=14 February 2023 |archive-date=15 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230215010040/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-59322099 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Selfridges on Oxford Street - geograph.org.uk - 2191040.jpg|thumb|left|Selfridges, 'extraordinary temple of the retail trade',<ref name="JonesWoodward1983">{{cite book |last1=Jones |first1=Edward |last2=Woodward |first2=Christopher |title=A Guide to the Architecture of London |date=1983 |publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson |location=London |page=178}}</ref> was built in stages between 1906 and 1928.]]
[[Selfridges, Oxford Street]], the second-largest department store in the UK and the flagship of the Selfridges chain, has been trading in Oxford Street since 1909.{{sfn|Moore|2003|p=242}} The building was erected in four stages over a twenty-two year period, having been designed by a combination of architects including [[D. H. Burnham & Company]], [[R. Frank Atkinson|Frank Atkinson]], [[John James Burnet|Sir John Burnet]] and [[Thomas S. Tait|Thomas Tait]].<ref name="SelfridgesListing">{{cite web |title=Selfridges – Official List Entry |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1357436?section=official-list-entry |website=Historic England |access-date=23 February 2023 |archive-date=23 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230223210530/https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1357436?section=official-list-entry |url-status=live}}</ref> Its construction was influenced by American [[high rise]] technology: [[steel framing]] and [[reinforced concrete]] were employed to create a large and adaptable retail space, and their use was subsequently widely adopted across the UK's high streets. The frontage to Oxford Street was, on completion, the largest shop façade in London.<ref name="SelfridgesListing" />

[[File:Marks and Spencer - geograph.org.uk - 1466040.jpg|thumb|right|Marks & Spencer, Marble Arch: the 1929 [[Art Deco]] building has been threatened with demolition since 2021.]]
[[Marks & Spencer]] has two stores on Oxford Street. The first, Marks & Spencer Marble Arch, is at the junction with Orchard Street; it was opened in 1930.<ref name="SoL53.11">{{cite book |editor1-last=Saint |editor1-first=Andrew |title=Survey of London, vol. 53: Oxford Street |date=2020 |publisher=Yale University Press |chapter=Chapter 11}}</ref> The second branch, which opened eight years later, is between Regent Street and Tottenham Court Road, on the former site of the Pantheon.<ref name=pantheon>{{cite web |url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-505159-the-pantheon-marks-and-spencers-greater-/photos#.VZ_ZH_lVhHw |title=The Pantheon (Marks and Spencers), Westminster |publisher=British Listed Buildings |access-date=10 July 2015 |archive-date=11 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150711095800/http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-505159-the-pantheon-marks-and-spencers-greater-/photos#.VZ_ZH_lVhHw |url-status=live}}</ref> Both premises were significantly expanded in the second half of the 20th century.<ref name="SoL53.17">{{cite book |editor1-last=Saint |editor1-first=Andrew |title=Survey of London, vol. 53: Oxford Street |date=2020 |publisher=Yale University Press |chapter=Chapter 17}}</ref>

[[File:Selfridges, Oxford Street 20130408 047 (2).jpg|thumb|left|The former Peter Robinson / Topshop store adjoining Oxford Circus]]
[[Topshop]] was conceived in the 1960s as a youth brand for [[Peter Robinson (department store)|Peter Robinson]], and a sizeable Topshop department was opened within the flagship store on Oxford Street (which had been rebuilt in the 1920s as part of the Oxford Circus improvements).<ref name="SoL53.12" /> Gradually Topshop took over more of the premises, operating alongside Peter Robinson for a time in the 1970s before the latter brand was withdrawn. It remained Topshop's flagship store until 2021 when (the parent company [[Arcadia Group|Arcadia]] having gone into administration) it closed.<ref>{{cite news |title=Topshop's flagship Oxford Street store up for sale |work=BBC News |date=5 January 2021 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-55551743 |agency=BBC News |access-date=15 February 2023 |archive-date=16 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230216002618/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-55551743 |url-status=live}}</ref> From 1970 to 1991, the fourth floor of this building was occupied by [[AIR Studios]] recording production facilities.<ref name="MasseyH">{{cite book |last1=Massey |first1=Howard |title=The Great British Recording Studios |date=2015 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |location=Lanham, Maryland, US |isbn=978-1-4584-2197-5 |pages=195–219}}</ref> [[Ikea]] announced they would open a store on the former TopShop site in 2023.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/business/ikea-plans-new-furniture-shop-restaurant-in-former-topshop-oxford-street-site-b962523.html|title=Ikea pays £378 million for former Topshop flagship site on London's Oxford Street|work=London Evening Standard|date=26 October 2021|accessdate=5 December 2023}}</ref> However, this was later pushed back to spring 2025.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/business/ikea-oxford-street-shop-opening-2024-b1102612.html|title=Ikea sets new Oxford Street store launch date and unveils unique version of Frakta bag|work=London Evening Standard|date=24 August 2023|accessdate=5 December 2023}}</ref>

[[File:His Masters Voice - 363 Oxford Street Mayfair London W1C 2JN.jpg|thumb|upright|right|[[HMV]] at 363 Oxford Street: 'one of the architectural highlights of Oxford Street'.<ref name="SoL53.20" />]]
The music retailer [[HMV]] was opened at No.&nbsp;363 Oxford Street in 1921 by Sir [[Edward Elgar]]; the premises were twice rebuilt by [[Joseph Emberton]] in the [[Moderne architecture|moderne]] style, first in 1935 and then again in 1938–1939 (following a fire).<ref name="SoL53.20" /> [[The Beatles]] made their first recording in London in 1962, when they cut a [[78 rpm]] [[Demo recording|demo disc]] in the store.{{sfn|Inwood|2012|p=269}} A larger store at No.&nbsp;150 (site of the old Princess's Theatre) was opened in 1986 by [[Bob Geldof]], and was the largest music shop in the world, at {{cvt|60000|sqft|m2|-3}}. As well as music and video retail, the premises supported live gigs in the store. Because of financial difficulties, the store closed in 2014, with all retail moving to No.&nbsp;363 (which itself closed in 2020).<ref>{{cite news |last=Shaikh |first=Thair |title=HMV closes historic Oxford Street store |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/hmv-closes-historic-oxford-street-store-9056780.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/hmv-closes-historic-oxford-street-store-9056780.html |archive-date=24 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |newspaper=The Independent |date=14 January 2014 |access-date=10 July 2015}}</ref> In November 2023 the store at No. 363 was reopened, branded as 'The HMV Shop'.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sweeney |first1=Mark |last2=Butler |first2=Sarah |title=HMV reopens on London's Oxford Street after four-year absence |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/nov/24/hmv-reopens-on-london-oxford-street-after-four-year-absence |newspaper=The Guardian |date=24 November 2023 |access-date=24 January 2024}}</ref>

[[File:100-club-oxford-st-london.jpg|thumb|upright|left|The [[100 Club]] has been a live music venue in the basement of No.&nbsp;100 Oxford Street since 1942, and has been an important venue for [[trad jazz]] and [[Punk rock|punk]] bands.]]
The [[100 Club]], in the basement of No.&nbsp;100, has been run as a live music venue since 24 October 1942. It was thought to be safe from bombing threats because of its underground location, and played host to jazz musicians, including [[Glenn Miller]]. It was renamed the London Jazz Club in 1948, and subsequently the [[Humphrey Lyttelton]] Club after he took over the lease in the 1950s. [[Louis Armstrong]] played at the venue during this time. It became a key venue for the [[trad jazz]] revival, hosting gigs by [[Chris Barber]] and [[Acker Bilk]]. It was renamed the 100 Club in 1964 after [[Roger Horton]] bought a stake, adding an alcohol licence for the first time. The venue hosted gigs by several [[British rock]] bands, including [[the Who]], [[the Kinks]] and [[the Animals]]. It was an important venue for [[punk rock]] in the UK and hosted the first British punk festival on 21 September 1976, featuring the [[Sex Pistols]], [[the Damned (band)|the Damned]] and the [[Buzzcocks]].{{sfn|Kronenburg|2013|pp=19–20}}

[[The Flying Horse]] (formerly The Tottenham) is a [[listed building|Grade II* listed]] pub at No.&nbsp;6 Oxford Street, near Tottenham Court Road. It was built in the mid-19th century and is the last remaining pub in the street, which once had 20.{{sfn|Sullivan|2000|p=194}}<ref name=LHP>{{cite book |last=Jephcote |first=Geoff Brandwood & Jane |title=London heritage pubs: an inside story |date=2008 |publisher=Campaign for Real Ale |location=St. Albans |isbn=978-1-85249-247-2 |page=42}}</ref><ref name=tottenham>{{NHLE|desc=The Tottenham public house|num=1357394 |access-date=19 April 2014}}</ref>

The [[London College of Fashion]] has an Oxford Street campus on John Prince's Street near Oxford Circus. The college is part of the [[University of the Arts London]], formerly the London Institute.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/student/into-university/az-uni-colleges/university-of-the-arts-london-754723.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/student/into-university/az-uni-colleges/university-of-the-arts-london-754723.html |archive-date=24 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=University of the Arts London |newspaper=The Independent |date=1 August 2014 |access-date=10 July 2015}}</ref>

[[The Salvation Army]] opened [[Regent Hall]], its first Central London venue, at Nos.&nbsp;275–279 Oxford Street in 1882. It served as a base for [[poverty relief]], [[Christian mission|street missions]] and a [[Salvation Army band]]. Rebuilt in 1959–1960, the hall remains in Salvation Army use.<ref name="SoL53.20">{{cite book |editor1-last=Saint |editor1-first=Andrew |title=Survey of London, vol. 53: Oxford Street |date=2020 |publisher=Yale University Press |chapter=Chapter 20}}</ref>

The cosmetics retailer [[Lush (company)|Lush]] opened a store in 2015. Measuring {{cvt|9300|sqft|m2}} and containing three floors, it is the company's largest retail premises.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.retail-week.com/stores/in-pictures-lush-unveils-radical-new-look-on-oxford-street/5074383.article |title=In pictures: Lush unveils radical new look on Oxford Street |work=Retail Week |date=27 April 2015 |access-date=22 August 2015 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924121058/http://www.retail-week.com/stores/in-pictures-lush-unveils-radical-new-look-on-oxford-street/5074383.article |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Building on Oxford Street in the City of Westminster, London in spring 2013 (4).JPG|thumb|right|The Cumberland (left) and Mount Royal (right) hotels at the top end of Oxford Street]]
Two large hotels dominate the western (Marble Arch) end of the street: the red brick Mount Royal Hotel (now the Amba) was built in 1933–1934 to a design by [[Francis Lorne]]; while the [[Portland stone]]-fronted Cumberland Hotel, by F. J.Wills, opened in 1933 (it was renamed the Hard Rock Hotel in 2018).<ref name="SoL53.11" />

===Listed buildings===
Oxford Street has several Grade II listed buildings. In addition, the façades to Oxford Circus tube station are also listed.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/england/greater+london/westminster#.VZ0McvlVhHw |title=Listed Buildings in Westminster, Greater London, England |publisher=British Listed Buildings |access-date=8 July 2015 |archive-date=27 June 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150627154208/http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/england/greater+london/westminster#.VZ0McvlVhHw |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www3.westminster.gov.uk/planning/listedbuildings/listed.cfm?zoomtostreet=OXFORD+STREET |title=Listed buildings |publisher=Westminster City Council |access-date=8 July 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709064541/http://www3.westminster.gov.uk/planning/listedbuildings/listed.cfm?zoomtostreet=OXFORD+STREET |archive-date=9 July 2015}}</ref>
{|class="wikitable sortable"
! Number
! Grade
! Year listed
! Description
|-
|6
|II*
|1987
|[[The Flying Horse]] Public House<ref name=tottenham />
|-
|14–16
|II
|2009<ref>{{cite web |title=Former Oxford Corner House |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1393503 |website=Historic England |access-date=21 February 2023 |archive-date=22 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230222000206/https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1393503 |url-status=live}}</ref>
|Former [[Lyons Corner House]] of 1926–1927 by F. J. Wills.
|-
|34–36
|II
|1987
|Built 1912<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-422459-34-and-36-oxford-street-w1-greater-londo#.VZ7AfPlVhBc |title=34 and 36, Oxford Street W1, Westminster |publisher=British Listed Buildings |access-date=9 July 2015 |archive-date=10 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710165028/http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-422459-34-and-36-oxford-street-w1-greater-londo#.VZ7AfPlVhBc |url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
|35
|II
|2009
|Built for Richards & Co. jewellers in 1909<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-504676-35-oxford-street-greater-london-authorit#.VZ7AzflVhBc |title=35, Oxford Street, Westminster |publisher=British Listed Buildings |access-date=9 July 2015 |archive-date=10 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710161915/http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-504676-35-oxford-street-greater-london-authorit#.VZ7AzflVhBc |url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
|54–62
|II
|1987<ref>{{cite web |title=Evelyn House |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1066033 |website=Historic England |access-date=21 February 2023 |archive-date=22 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230222000212/https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1066033 |url-status=live}}</ref>
|Evelyn House, designed by [[H. Percy Adams]] and [[Charles Holden]] (1909).
|-
|105–109
|II
|1986
|Built c. 1887 for the hatter Henry Heath<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-422463-105-109-oxford-street-w1-see-details-for#.VZ0NK_lVhHw |title=105–109, Oxford Street W1 |publisher=British Listed Buildings |access-date=8 July 2015 |archive-date=9 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709174826/http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-422463-105-109-oxford-street-w1-see-details-for#.VZ0NK_lVhHw |url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
|133–135
|II
|2009
|Pembroke House, built 1911<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-504678-133-135-oxford-street-greater-london-aut#.VZ0NpflVhHw |title=133–135, Oxford Street, Westminster |publisher=British Listed Buildings |access-date=8 July 2015 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304224057/http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-504678-133-135-oxford-street-greater-london-aut#.VZ0NpflVhHw |url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
|147
|II
|2009
|Built in 1897 for the chemist John Robbins.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-504679-147-oxford-street-greater-london-authori#.VZ0N-_lVhHw |title=147, Oxford Street, Westminster |publisher=British Listed Buildings |access-date=8 July 2015 |archive-date=9 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709205629/http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-504679-147-oxford-street-greater-london-authori#.VZ0N-_lVhHw |url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
|156–162
|II*
|1975
|Built 1906–08 for [[Mappin & Webb]]; an early example of a steel-framed structure<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-422460-156-162-oxford-street-w1-greater-london-#.VZ0Of_lVhHw |title=156–162, Oxford Street W1, Westminster |publisher=British Listed Buildings |access-date=8 July 2015 |archive-date=9 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709164354/http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-422460-156-162-oxford-street-w1-greater-london-#.VZ0Of_lVhHw |url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
|[[United Kingdom House|164–182]]
|II
|1973<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-422461-164-182-oxford-street-w1-greater-london-#.VZ0O3_lVhHw |title=164–182, Oxford Street W1, Westminster |publisher=British Listed Buildings |access-date=8 July 2015 |archive-date=9 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709183409/http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-422461-164-182-oxford-street-w1-greater-london-#.VZ0O3_lVhHw |url-status=live}}</ref>
|Former [[Waring & Gillow]] department store
|-
|173
|II
|2009
|The [[Pantheon, London|Pantheon]], now Marks and Spencer<ref name=pantheon/>
|-
|214–234
|II
|1973<ref>{{cite web |title=Peter Robinson |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1227690 |website=Historic England |access-date=21 February 2023 |archive-date=22 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230222000205/https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1227690 |url-status=live}}</ref>
|The former Peter Robinson building at Oxford Circus
|-
|219
|II
|2001<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-489706-219-oxford-street-greater-london-authori#.VZ6_9flVhBc |title=219, Oxford Street, Westminster |publisher=British Listed Buildings |access-date=9 July 2015 |archive-date=10 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710174358/http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-489706-219-oxford-street-greater-london-authori#.VZ6_9flVhBc |url-status=live}}</ref>
|Built 1951–52 and decorated with [[relief]] sculptural plaques celebrating the [[Festival of Britain]]
|-
|313
|II
|1975
|Built c. 1870–1880<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-422462-313-oxford-street-w1-greater-london-auth#.VZ7AN_lVhBc |title=313, Oxford Street, W1 – Westminster |publisher=British Listed Buildings |access-date=9 July 2015 |archive-date=10 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710180404/http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-422462-313-oxford-street-w1-greater-london-auth#.VZ7AN_lVhBc |url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
|360–366
|II
|1987<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-422563-360-366-oxford-street-w1-greater-london-#.VZ7BOvlVhBc |title=360–366, Oxford Street W1, Westminster |publisher=British Listed Buildings |access-date=9 July 2015 |archive-date=10 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710173123/http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-422563-360-366-oxford-street-w1-greater-london-#.VZ7BOvlVhBc |url-status=live}}</ref>
|Built 1919–1921 for [[Lilley & Skinner]]
|-
|368–370
|II
|2008
|Early 20th-century construction with 1930s façade<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-505185-368-370-oxford-street-greater-london-aut#.VZ7BPvlVhBc |title=368–370, Oxford Street, Westminster |publisher=British Listed Buildings |access-date=9 July 2015 |archive-date=10 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150710170158/http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-505185-368-370-oxford-street-greater-london-aut#.VZ7BPvlVhBc |url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
|400
|II*
|1970<ref>{{cite web |title=Selfridges |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1357436 |website=Historic England |access-date=21 February 2023 |archive-date=22 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230222000213/https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1357436 |url-status=live}}</ref>
|Selfridges, built in stages from 1906–1928.
|-
|
|
|
|
|}

{{Gallery
|title=Gallery of listed buildings
|width=160
|height=200
|align=center
|The Tottenham pub, Oxford Street, London, March 2015 01.jpg|No.&nbsp;6
|File:Oxford Street, London.jpg|No.&nbsp;34 & 36
|File:Oxford Street (8291033605) (2).jpg|No.&nbsp;35
|File:147 Oxford Street (8291038587).jpg|No.&nbsp;147
|File:Building on Oxford Street in the City of Westminster, London in spring 2013 (11).JPG|No.&nbsp;156–162
|File:219 Oxford Street, W1 (geograph 4159851).jpg|No.&nbsp;219
|File:313, Oxford Street W1.jpg|No.&nbsp;313
|File:Oxford Street (25239724892).jpg|No.&nbsp;368–370
}}

==Transport links==
[[File:Oxford Circus underground station entrance - geograph.org.uk - 4056687.jpg|thumb|A busy Oxford Circus tube station, one of the four stations at Oxford Street.]]
Oxford Street is served by major bus routes and by four tube stations of the [[London Underground]] (all on the [[Central line (London Underground)|Central line]]). From Marble Arch eastwards, the stations are:
*[[Marble Arch tube station|Marble Arch]], on the Central line.
*[[Bond Street station|Bond Street]], on the Central line, [[Jubilee line]], and the [[Elizabeth line]].
*[[Oxford Circus tube station|Oxford Circus]], on the [[Bakerloo line]], Central line and [[Victoria line]].
*[[Tottenham Court Road station|Tottenham Court Road]], on the Central line, [[Northern line]] and the Elizabeth line.

The four stations serve an average of 100 million passengers every year, with Oxford Circus being the busiest.{{sfn|Moore|2003|p=251}}

The [[Elizabeth line]] has two stations serving Oxford Street: at Bond Street and Tottenham Court Road. Each station is "double-ended", with exits through the existing tube station and also some distance away: to the east of Bond Street, in Hanover Square near Oxford Circus;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.crossrail.co.uk/route/stations/bond-street/ |publisher=Crossrail |title=Bond Street Station – design |access-date=1 December 2010 |archive-date=21 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101121045937/http://www.crossrail.co.uk/route/stations/bond-street/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> to the west of Tottenham Court Road, in Dean Street.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.crossrail.co.uk/route/stations/tottenham-court-road/ |publisher=Crossrail |title=Tottenham Court Road – design |access-date=1 December 2010 |archive-date=28 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101228005638/http://www.crossrail.co.uk/route/stations/tottenham-court-road/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Traffic==
[[File:Oxford Street December 2006.jpeg|thumb|220px|On average, half a million people visit Oxford Street every day, and foot traffic is in severe competition with buses and taxis.]]
Oxford Street has been ranked as the most important retail location in Britain and the busiest shopping street in Europe.{{sfn|TfL|2014|p=138}} The pavements are congested because of shoppers and tourists, many of whom arrive at a tube station, and the roadway is regularly blocked by buses.{{sfn|TfL|2014|p=137}}

There is heavy competition between foot and bus traffic on Oxford Street, which is the main east–west bus corridor through Central London. Around 175,000 people get on or off a bus on Oxford Street every day, along with 43,000 further through passengers. Taxis are popular, particularly along the stretch between Oxford Circus and Selfridges.{{sfn|TfL|2014|p=138}} Between 2009 and 2012, there were 71 accidents involving traffic and pedestrians.{{sfn|TfL|2014|p=141}} In 2016, a report suggested buses generally did not travel faster than {{cvt|4.6|mph|km/h}}, compared to a typical pedestrian speed of {{cvt|3.1|mph|km/h}}.<ref name=bbc_20160714/>

There have been several proposals to reduce congestion on Oxford Street. Horse-drawn vehicles were banned in 1931, and [[traffic signal]]s were installed the same year.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1931/feb/25/traffic-regulations-london#S5CV0248P0_19310225_HOC_187 |title=Traffic Regulations (London) |work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |date=25 February 1931 |access-date=13 July 2015 |archive-date=14 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150714002957/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1931/feb/25/traffic-regulations-london#S5CV0248P0_19310225_HOC_187 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1931/jul/01/traffic-regulations-oxford-street#S5CV0254P0_19310701_HOC_142 |title=Traffic regulations, Oxford Street |work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |date=1 July 1931 |access-date=13 July 2015 |archive-date=14 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150714002315/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1931/jul/01/traffic-regulations-oxford-street#S5CV0254P0_19310701_HOC_142 |url-status=live }}</ref> To prevent congestion of buses, most of Oxford Street is designated a [[bus lane]] during peak hours and private vehicles are banned. This is only open to buses, taxis and two-wheeled vehicles between 7:00am and 7:00pm on all days except Sundays.{{sfn|TfL|2014|p=138}} 

The ban was introduced experimentally in June 1972 and was considered a success, with an estimated increase of £250,000 in retail sales. However, the area is popular with unregulated rickshaws, which are a major cause of congestion in the area. Their slow speed, coupled with the narrowness of the street (buses are unable to pass them, causing long traffic queues), only adds to the traffic woes.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://archive.commercialmotor.com/article/30th-june-1972/20/through-traffic-ban-for-oxford-street |title=Through traffic ban for Oxford Street |journal=Commercial Motor |date=30 June 1972 |access-date=13 July 2015 |archive-date=13 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150713222255/http://archive.commercialmotor.com/article/30th-june-1972/20/through-traffic-ban-for-oxford-street |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1973/jul/09/urban-transport-planning-expenditure#S5CV0859P0_19730709_HOC_373 |title=Urban Transport Planning Expenditure |work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |date=9 July 1973 |access-date=13 July 2015 |archive-date=14 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150714000811/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1973/jul/09/urban-transport-planning-expenditure#S5CV0859P0_19730709_HOC_373 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2009, a new diagonal crossing opened at Oxford Circus, allowing pedestrians to cross from one corner of Oxford Street to the opposite without needing to cross twice or use an underpass. This doubles the pedestrian capacity at the junction.<ref>{{cite news |title=Oxford Circus 'X-crossing' opens |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8337341.stm |publisher=BBC News |date=2 November 2009 |access-date=9 July 2015 |archive-date=13 March 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120313140410/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8337341.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Pedestrianisation===
From 2005 to 2012, Oxford Street was closed to motor traffic on VIP Day, (Very Important Pedestrians), a Saturday before Christmas. The scheme was popular and boosted sales by over £17m in 2012 but in 2013, the New West End Company announced that the scheme would not go ahead as it wanted to do "something new".<ref>{{cite news |title=Traffic-free shopping day in London's West End scrapped |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-24499194 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=15 November 2014 |date=11 October 2013 |archive-date=9 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150409160059/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-24499194 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2014, Liberal Democrat members of the London Assembly proposed the street be pedestrianised by 2020.<ref>{{cite news |title=Oxford Street doomed to decline, report claims |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-29701323 |publisher=BBC News |access-date=15 November 2014 |date=21 October 2014 |archive-date=3 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141203004221/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-29701323 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2006, the New West End Company and the [[mayor of London]], [[Ken Livingstone]], proposed to pedestrianize the street with a tram service running end to end.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/5301366.stm |title=Mayor's Oxford Street tram vision |date=31 August 2006 |publisher=BBC |access-date=10 July 2015 |archive-date=20 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071220175545/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/5301366.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> The next mayor, [[Boris Johnson]], elected in 2008, announced that the scheme was not cost-effective, was too disruptive and would not go ahead. In response to a request from Johnson, [[Transport for London]] (TfL) reduced bus flow by 10% in both 2009 and 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://legacy.london.gov.uk/assembly/transport/2010/mar02/item06a.pdf |title=Streets ahead: Relieving congestion on Oxford Street, Regent Street and Bond Street |date=4 February 2010 |publisher=London Assembly Transport Committee |access-date=9 May 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719202723/http://legacy.london.gov.uk/assembly/transport/2010/mar02/item06a.pdf |archive-date=19 July 2011}} See Appendix 1.</ref> The New West End Company called for a 33% reduction in bus movements.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newwestend.com/generic/document/content/393 |title=Way To Go January 2009 |publisher=New West End Company |access-date=21 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714175219/http://www.newwestend.com/generic/document/content/393 |archive-date=14 July 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2014, TfL suggested that pedestrianisation may not be a suitable long-term measure due to Crossrail reducing the demand for bus services on the street and proposed banning all traffic except buses and cycles during peak shopping times.{{sfn|TfL|2014|p=137}} Optimisation of traffic signals, including pedestrian countdown signals, was also proposed.{{sfn|TfL|2014|p=142}} TfL is concerned that long-term traffic problems may affect trade in the area, which competes with shopping centres such as [[Westfield London]], [[Westfield Stratford City]] and the [[Brent Cross Shopping Centre]].{{sfn|TfL|2014|p=141}} In 2015, while campaigning for election as London Mayor, Labour's [[Sadiq Khan]] favoured pedestrianisation, which was supported by other parties.<ref>{{cite news |title=London Mayoral candidates back the pedestrianisation of Oxford Street |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-34445404 |publisher=BBC News |date=6 October 2015 |access-date=13 June 2016 |archive-date=6 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161006140835/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-34445404 |url-status=live }}</ref> After winning the election, he pledged the street would be completely pedestrianised by 2020.<ref name=bbc_20160714>{{cite news |title=Oxford Street to be pedestrianised by 2020 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-36791485 |publisher=BBC News |date=14 July 2016 |access-date=14 July 2016 |archive-date=14 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160714143226/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-36791485 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2017, the project was brought forward to be completed by the end of the following year.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-41878406 |title=London's Oxford Street could be traffic-free by December 2018, says mayor |publisher=BBC News |date=6 November 2017 |access-date=6 November 2017 |archive-date=8 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171108233551/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-41878406 |url-status=live }}</ref> The plan was disapproved by local stakeholders and residents and the Fitzrovia Business Association,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.fitzrovia.org.uk/2017/10/11/most-local-residents-oppose-or-have-concerns-about-oxford-street-plans/ |title=Most local residents oppose or have concerns about Oxford Street plans |date=11 October 2017 |work=Fitzrovia News |access-date=9 October 2018 |archive-date=9 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009211335/https://news.fitzrovia.org.uk/2017/10/11/most-local-residents-oppose-or-have-concerns-about-oxford-street-plans/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and in 2018 Westminster City Council blocked it;<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/sadiq-khans-plan-to-make-oxford-street-trafficfree-is-halted-by-council-a3825131.html |title=Sadiq Khan's plan to make Oxford Street traffic-free halted by council |work=London Evening Standard |access-date=9 October 2018 |archive-date=9 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009212200/https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/sadiq-khans-plan-to-make-oxford-street-trafficfree-is-halted-by-council-a3825131.html |url-status=live }}</ref> but in 2024 Khan, following his re-election as Mayor, announced a new scheme for pedestrianisation of the street between Oxford Circus and Marble Arch.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rawlinson |first1=Kevin |title='It's positive': shoppers react to Oxford Street pedestrianisation proposal |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/sep/17/its-positive-views-on-oxford-street-pedestrianisation-proposal |access-date=4 February 2025 |work=The Guardian |date=17 September 2024}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=17 September 2024 |title=Oxford Street plan: Mayor 'forcing through' pedestrianisation |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx24414r967o |access-date=3 June 2025 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>  These proposals, whereby the scheme ready to be built by the City of Westminster was scrapped, generated considerable controversy.<ref>{{Cite web |date=13 November 2024 |title=Oxford Street Pedestrianisation and proposed Mayoral Development Corporation – Westminster Amenity Societies Forum |url=https://westminsteramenitysocietiesforum.org/oxford-street-pedestrianisation-and-proposed-mayoral-development-corporation |access-date=3 June 2025 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Better Oxford Street |url=https://www.betteroxfordstreet.com/ |access-date=3 June 2025 |website=www.betteroxfordstreet.com |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=23 April 2025 |title=Oxford Street: London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan accused of 'power grab' |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx27rn5d02po |access-date=3 June 2025 |website=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>

In June 2025, the Mayor of London Sir [[Sadiq Khan]] said plans to pedestrianise parts of Oxford Street would move forward "as quickly as possible".<ref>https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy5e555g5qro</ref>

==Pollution==
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 (μg/m<sup>3</sup>). The figure was an average that included night-time, when traffic was much lower. At peak times during the day, levels up to 463 μg/m<sup>3</sup> were recorded – over 11 times the permitted EU maximum of 40 μg/m<sup>3</sup>.<ref>{{cite web |title=Diesel fumes choke Tox-ford Street |url=http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/article1430986.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714141413/http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/article1430986.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 July 2014 |work=[[The Sunday Times]] |date=6 July 2014 |access-date=7 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.airqualitynews.com/2014/07/07/oxford-street-air-pollution-highest-in-the-world/ |title=Oxford Street air pollution 'highest in the world' |journal=Air Quality Times |date=7 July 2014 |access-date=12 November 2015 |archive-date=8 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151108011554/http://www.airqualitynews.com/2014/07/07/oxford-street-air-pollution-highest-in-the-world/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Because of diesel-powered traffic (buses and taxis), annual average nitrogen dioxide concentrations are around 180 μg/m<sup>3</sup>. This is 4.5 times the EU target of 40 μg/m<sup>3</sup> (Council Directive 1999/30/EC).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www3.westminster.gov.uk/docstores/publications_store/Developing%20a%20new%20Air%20Quality%20Strategy%20and%20Action%20Plan%20-%20Consultation%20on%20Issues.pdf |title=Developing a new Air Quality Strategy and Action Plan – Consultation on Issues |date=August 2008 |publisher=Westminster City Council |access-date=27 October 2011 |archive-date=25 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425040559/http://www3.westminster.gov.uk/docstores/publications_store/Developing%20a%20new%20Air%20Quality%20Strategy%20and%20Action%20Plan%20-%20Consultation%20on%20Issues.pdf |url-status=live }} See p 10</ref>

==Crime==
Oxford Street has suffered from high crime rates. In 2005, an internal [[Metropolitan Police]] report named it as the most dangerous street in Central London.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/oxford-st-tops-crime-list-7262411.html |title=Oxford St tops crime list |newspaper=London Evening Standard |access-date=3 July 2017 |archive-date=8 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180408073504/https://www.standard.co.uk/news/oxford-st-tops-crime-list-7262411.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2012, an analysis of crime statistics revealed that Oxford Street was the shopping destination most surrounded by crime in the UK. During 2011, there were 656 vehicle crimes, 915 robberies, 2,597 violent crimes and 5,039 reported instances of anti-social behaviour.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/9106129/Britains-crime-hot-spots-revealed.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/9106129/Britains-crime-hot-spots-revealed.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Britain's crime hot spots revealed |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=3 July 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In 2014, the [[United Arab Emirates]] issued a travel advisory, warning Emirati citizens to avoid Oxford Street and other areas of Central London such as Bond Street and Piccadilly due to "pickpocketing, fraud and theft".<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/11047641/Wealthy-UAE-tourists-warned-to-stay-away-from-Oxford-Street-due-to-crime.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/11047641/Wealthy-UAE-tourists-warned-to-stay-away-from-Oxford-Street-due-to-crime.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Wealthy UAE tourists warned to stay away from Oxford Street due to crime |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=3 July 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/emirati-tourists-warned-to-avoid-dangerous-oxford-street-9681202.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/emirati-tourists-warned-to-avoid-dangerous-oxford-street-9681202.html |archive-date=24 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Emirati tourists warned of 'dangerous' Oxford Street |date=20 August 2014 |newspaper=The Independent |access-date=3 July 2017}}</ref>  The advent of [[closed-circuit television]] has reduced the area's attraction to scam artists and illegal street traders.{{sfn|Moore|2003|p=244}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://content.met.police.uk/News/Oxford-Regents-and-Bond-Streets-Safer-Neighbourhoods-team-target-illegal-street-traders/1400004421592/1257246745756 |title=Oxford, Regents and Bond Streets Safer Neighbourhoods team target illegal street traders |publisher=London Metropolitan Police |date=8 November 2011 |access-date=12 November 2015 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304083931/http://content.met.police.uk/News/Oxford-Regents-and-Bond-Streets-Safer-Neighbourhoods-team-target-illegal-street-traders/1400004421592/1257246745756 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2021, police seized 17,500 items including fake designer goods, unsafe toys and incorrectly-labelled nicotine products as part of Operation Jade. 4,000 items were removed from an unregistered food trader, including two bags with a quantity of [[Tetrahydrocannabinol]] over the legal limit. Trading Standards also took 11,000 goods and 2,500 souvenirs from unlicensed businesses and street traders.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-59351635 |title=Oxford Street: 'Astonishing' haul of fake items seized by police |publisher=BBC News |date=20 November 2021 |access-date=20 November 2021 |archive-date=20 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211120103544/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-59351635 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2023, Oxford Street received much attention in the media over a number of import candy shops which had moved in, with it being alleged that the businesses were [[Front organization|front companies]] for organised crime, particularly [[money laundering]]. Efforts by Westminster City Council in curtailing the shops' operations were also highlighted, as it was found that many of the businesses implicated had been engaging in [[tax evasion]] by refusing to pay the local [[Rates in the United Kingdom|business rate]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Marquis |first=Anthony France, Claudia |date=23 May 2023 |title=The sour truth of Oxford Street's candy shop curse |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/oxford-street-candy-shop-investigation-b1082733.html |access-date=29 March 2024 |website=Evening Standard |language=en}}</ref> Westminster City Council conducted raids on several businesses, with at least 24 under active investigation for fraud and money laundering.<ref>{{Cite web |date=15 August 2022 |title=Behind the shelves of candy, a darker side to London's mysterious American candy stores |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/londons-oxford-st-overrun-american-candy-stores-rcna38845 |access-date=29 March 2024 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref>

==Christmas lights==
[[File:Oxford Circus Christmas Decorations 2018.jpg|thumb|The 2018 Oxford Street Christmas lights]]
{{Main|List of Oxford Street Christmas lights celebrities}}
Every Christmas, Oxford Street is decorated with festive lights. The tradition of Christmas lights began in 1959, five years after neighbouring Regent Street. There were no light displays in 1976 or 1977 because of economic recession, but the lights returned in 1978 when Oxford Street organised a laser display, and have continued every year since.<ref name=lights>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/for_christmas/_new_year/christmas_decorations/41518.stm |title=London's bright past |publisher=BBC News |date=22 December 1997 |access-date=10 July 2015 |archive-date=6 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090106223218/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/for_christmas/_new_year/christmas_decorations/41518.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>

Current practice involves a celebrity turning the lights on in mid- to late-November, and the lights remain until 6 January ([[Twelfth Night (holiday)|Twelfth Night]]). The festivities were postponed in 1963 because of the [[assassination of John F. Kennedy]] and in 1989 to fit with [[Kylie Minogue]]'s touring commitments.<ref name=lights/> In 2015, the lights were switched on earlier, on Sunday 1 November, resulting in an unusual closure of the street to all traffic.<ref name=2015lights>{{cite news |url=http://www.timeout.com/london/things-to-do/oxford-street-christmas-lights-2 |title=Oxford Street Christmas Lights |work=Time Out |date=12 October 2015 |access-date=6 November 2015 |archive-date=4 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151104030252/http://www.timeout.com/london/things-to-do/oxford-street-christmas-lights-2 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2020, the lights honoured volunteers who had helped London residents through the ongoing [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-london-54793552 |title=Covid: Oxford Street Christmas lights honour pandemic 'heroes' |publisher=BBC News |date=3 November 2020 |access-date=10 November 2021 |archive-date=10 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211110232112/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-london-54793552 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Cultural references==
{{Wikisource|Confessions of an English Opium-Eater}}
De Quincey refers to "Oxford-street" as a "stony hearted step-mother" in [[Confessions of an English Opium-Eater]] (1821), the first part of which is set there.

Oxford Street is mentioned in several [[Charles Dickens]] novels. In ''[[A Tale of Two Cities]]'', as Oxford Road, it is described as having "very few buildings", though it was heavily built up by the late 18th century. It is also mentioned in ''[[Sketches by Boz]]'' and ''[[Bleak House]]''.{{sfn|Hayward|2013|p=120}}

''Oxford Street'' is one of the London poet [[Letitia Elizabeth Landon]]'s ''Scenes in London''. In this poem the busy bustle of commercial life is interrupted by and contrasted with the procession of a military funeral.<ref>{{cite book|last=Landon|first=Letitia Elizabeth|title=Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1836|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=2dBbAAAAQAAJ&pg=GBS.PT144|section=poem|pages=57–58|year=1835|publisher=Fisher, Son & Co.|access-date=5 December 2022|archive-date=5 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221205190120/https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=2dBbAAAAQAAJ&pg=GBS.PA169|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{wikisource|Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1836/Scenes in London: Oxford Street|Oxford Street,<br />a poem by L. E. L.}}

The street is a square on the British ''[[Monopoly (game)|Monopoly]]'' game board, part of the green set (together with Regent Street and Bond Street). The streets were grouped together as they are all primarily retail areas.{{sfn|Moore|2003|p=241}}

"Oxford St, W1", the B-side to the [[Television Personalities]]' 1978 debut single "14th Floor", refers to the street.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Baal |first=Iphgenia |date=24 August 2014 |title=Daniel Treacy: as seen on screen |url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/21317/1/daniel-treacy-as-seen-on-screen |access-date=5 February 2023 |website=Dazed |language=en |archive-date=5 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230205142051/https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/21317/1/daniel-treacy-as-seen-on-screen |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1991, music manager and entrepreneur [[Malcolm McLaren]] produced ''The Ghosts of Oxford Street'', a musical documentary about life and history in the local area.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-ghosts-of-oxford-street |title=The Ghosts of Oxford Street |publisher=Channel 4 |access-date=13 November 2015 |archive-date=17 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151117024043/http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-ghosts-of-oxford-street |url-status=live }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|London|Roads}}
*[[List of eponymous roads in London]]
*[[Somerset House, Park Lane|Somerset House]] (demolished 1915), on the corner of Oxford Street and Park Lane

== References ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

== Bibliography ==
{{Refbegin|30em}}
*{{cite book |last=Bracken |first=G. Byrne |title=Walking Tour London: Sketches of the city's architectural treasures&nbsp;... |publisher=Marshall Cavendish |year=2011 |isbn=978-981-4435-36-9}}
*{{cite book |last=Glinert |first=Ed |title=The London Compendium |publisher=Penguin |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-7181-9204-4}}
*{{cite book |last=Green |first=Oliver |title=The London Underground: An Illustrated History |publisher=Ian Allan |year=1987 |isbn=0-7110-1720-4}}
*{{london encyclopedia}}
*{{cite book |last=Hayward |first=Arthur |title=The Dickens Encyclopaedia |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-135-02758-2}}
*{{cite book |last=Inwood |first=Stephen |title=Historic London: An Explorer's Companion |publisher=Pan Macmillan |year=2012 |isbn=978-0-230-75252-8}}
*{{cite book |last=Kronenburg |first=Robert |title=Live Architecture: Venues, Stages and Arenas for Popular Music |year=2013 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-135-71916-6}}
*{{cite book |last=Moore |first=Tim |title=Do Not Pass Go |publisher=Vintage |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-09-943386-6}}
*{{cite book |last1=Piper |first1=David |last2=Jervis |first2=Fionnuala |title=The Companion Guide to London |publisher=Companion Guides |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-900639-36-1}}
*{{cite book |last=Sullivan |first=Edward |title=Evening Standard London Pub Bar Guide 1999 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-684-86840-0}}
*{{cite book |first=Jo |last=Swinnerton |title=The London Companion |url=https://archive.org/details/londoncompanion0000swin |url-access=registration |page=[https://archive.org/details/londoncompanion0000swin/page/24 24] |quote=esther rantzenoxford street christmas lights. |publisher=Robson Books |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-86105-799-0 }}
*{{cite report |url=https://tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/londons-street-family-chapters-3-6-4.pdf |title=London's street family: Theory and case studies |publisher=[[Transport for London]] |page=138 |year=2014 |access-date=8 July 2015 |ref={{harvid|TfL|2014}} |archive-date=28 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140328142719/http://www.tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/londons-street-family-chapters-3-6-4.pdf |url-status=live }}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin}}
*{{Citation |publisher=J.C. Hotten |location=London |title=Curiosities of London |edition=2nd |author=John Timbs |author-link=John Timbs |date=1867 |oclc=12878129 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/curiositiesoflon00timbrich#page/621/mode/1up |chapter=Oxford Street |ref=none }}
*{{Citation |publisher=David Bogue |location=London |author=Herbert Fry |url=http://www.worldcat.org/wcidentities/lccn-no2010-14702 |title=London in 1880 |date=1880 |chapter=Oxford Street |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/londonin1880illu00fryh#page/n231/mode/2up |ref=none |access-date=20 January 2014 |archive-date=2 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202211621/http://www.worldcat.org/wcidentities/lccn-no2010-14702 |url-status=live }} + [https://archive.org/stream/londonin1880illu00fryh#page/n247/mode/2up New Oxford Street] (bird's eye view)
*{{Citation |publisher=Macmillan & Co. |location=London |title=London and its Environs |editor=Findlay Muirhead |date=1922 |edition=2nd |oclc=365061 |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/londonitsenviron00muirrich#page/160/mode/2up |chapter=Oxford Street |ref=none }}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Oxford Street}}
{{Attached KML}}
* {{Official website|https://www.oxfordstreet.co.uk|Oxford Street's official website}}

{{London landmarks}}
{{University of the Arts London}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Oxford Street| ]]
[[Category:Shopping streets in London]]