The original settlement ofWestminster was historically a separate urban area to the west of London, growing up around theminster church of Westminster Abbey. Westminster was an important centre of royal authority from Saxon times, and was declared a city in 1540. It was gradually absorbed into the urban area of London, but London's official city boundaries remained unchanged, covering just the area called theCity of London, broadly corresponding to the medieval walled city. From the 19th century somemetropolis-wide administrative bodies were introduced. TheCounty of London was created in 1889, replaced in 1965 by the larger administrative area ofGreater London, which since 2000 has been led by themayor of London. The cities of London and Westminster retain their separate city statuses despite having long been part of the same urban area.
After the depopulation ofRoman London in the 5th century, anAnglo Saxon agricultural and trade settlement likely developed to its west, associated with theMiddle Saxons, sometimes calledLundenwic ('London village' or London port'). Over time,Lundenburh ('London fort'), the former Roman city with its still-existing Roman walls, was repopulated and Lundenwic declined, becoming pastoral and partly known asAldwych (Aldwic—'old village'), the name of which lives on for a section of Westminster.[1]
The origins of the City of Westminster pre-date theNorman Conquest of England. In the mid-11th century, KingEdward the Confessor began the construction of an abbey at Westminster, only the foundations of which survive today. Between the abbey and the river he built a palace, thereby guaranteeing that the seat of Government would be fixed at Westminster, and inevitably drawing power and wealth west out of the old City of London.[2]
For centuries Westminster and the City of London were geographically quite distinct. It was not until the sixteenth century that houses began to be built over the adjoining fields, eventually absorbing nearby villages such asMarylebone andKensington, and gradually creating the vastGreater London that exists today.
The area was historically part of the county ofMiddlesex. Whilst an important centre of royal authority fromSaxon times, Westminster was not formally incorporated as aborough for local government purposes until 1900. However, it was declared a city in 1540 on the elevation of Westminster Abbey to being acathedral.[4] From at least 1545 there was also aWestminster parliamentary borough (constituency).[5] TheAnglican Diocese of Westminster was short-lived, being absorbed back into theDiocese of London in 1550. Despite having no borough corporation and having ceased to be the seat of a diocese, Westminster continued to be described as a city. In 1585 theWestminster Court of Burgesses was established to administer certain judicial powers in an area known as theCity and Liberty of Westminster.[6]
Westminster Council House, also known asMarylebone Town Hall: Completed 1920 for the old St Marylebone Borough Council and now serves as main meeting place of Westminster City Council.
From 1856 the area was also governed by theMetropolitan Board of Works, which was established to provide services across themetropolis of London. In 1889 the Metropolitan Board of Works' area was made theCounty of London. From 1856 until 1900 the lower tier of local government within the metropolis comprised variousparish vestries and district boards. Within the City and Liberty of Westminster, the three parishes ofSt George Hanover Square,St James Piccadilly andSt Martin-in-the-Fields were governed by theirvestries, whilst the parishes covering the central part of Westminster formed theWestminster District and the parishes and territories adjoining the border with theCity of London formed theStrand District. Beyond the liberty to the north, the two parishes ofPaddington andSt Marylebone were also governed by their vestries.[7] The Westminster District was renamed the St Margaret and St John Combined Vestry in 1887, and unsuccessfully petitioned to be incorporated as a borough in 1897.[8]
In 1900 the lower tier of local government within the County of London was reorganised intometropolitan boroughs. The parish of Paddington became theMetropolitan Borough of Paddington, and the parish of the St Marylebone became theMetropolitan Borough of St Marylebone. The various territories within the old City and Liberty of Westminster became theMetropolitan Borough of Westminster.[9] The new boroughs came into being on 1 November 1900; a few days ahead of that aroyal charter was issued conferring city status on the new borough of Westminster from its creation.[10] The Court of Burgesses, which had ceded most practical powers to the newer authorities, was finally abolished in 1901.[11]
The modern borough was created in 1965 under theLondon Government Act 1963. It was a merger of the old Paddington, St Marylebone and Westminster metropolitan boroughs, and Westminster's city status was transferred to the enlarged borough.[12][13] In 1966 the city was granted the right to appoint alord mayor.[14]
The local authority is Westminster City Council, which meets at Westminster Council House (also known asMarylebone Town Hall) and has its main offices atWestminster City Hall on Victoria Street.
The borough ranks highest on one standard criteria in analysinghousing supply and demand, the proportion of private rented accommodation relative to other types of housing in England.[24]
A study in 2017 by Trust for London and The New Policy Institute found that Westminster has the third-highest pay inequality of the 32 London boroughs. It also has the second-least affordable private rent for low earners in London, behind onlyKensington and Chelsea.
Many global corporations have their global or European headquarters in the City of Westminster.Mayfair andSt James's within the City of Westminster also have a large concentration of hedge fund and private equity funds. TheWest End is known as theTheatre District and is home to many of the leading performing arts businesses.Soho and its adjoining areas house a concentration of media and creative companies.Oxford Street is a busy shopping destination.
Charing Cross is the notional centre ofLondon and the location where distances from London are measured. This custom appears to have begun with the set distances of the 12Eleanor crosses toLincoln, England in the north, and expanded even after destruction of most of the crosses.[26]
By 2009 Westminster City Council had electric vehicle charging points in 15 locations through the city (13 car parks and two on-street points). Users pay an annual fee to cover administration costs to register and use the points.[33] By 2018 there were 60 electric vehicle charging locations.[34]
In March 2011, the main forms of transport that residents used to travel to work were: underground, metro, light rail, tram, 21.0% of all residents aged 16–74; on foot, 9.3%; bus, minibus or coach, 9.3%; driving a car or van, 6.0%; work mainly at or from home, 5.5%; bicycle, 3.1%; train, 3.0%.[35]
Westminster Children's Services administers many primary and secondary schools. In addition, there are several state-funded faith schools, primarilyChurch of England (CE), andRoman Catholic (RC), but Christian non-denominational (ND) schools are also in the borough,[36] and there are several non-profit-making junior and seniorindependent schools.
TheUniversity of Westminster has its three campuses in the borough; 309Regent Street (with 4–12 / 16 Little Titchfield Street and 32 / 38 Wells Street buildings uniting under the same campus), 115 New Cavendish Street, and 29 / 35Marylebone Road.
The city operates two reference libraries;Westminster Reference Library and Marylebone Information Service.[37] Westminster Reference Library holds several special collections: of which the Sherlock Holmes, Arts and Business collections are the most comprehensive.[38] In addition to the collections in Westminster Reference Library the city has two specialist libraries: theWestminster Music Library, the largest music library in the UK[39] and the Westminster Chinese Library in the Charing Cross Library.[40]
Free City of Westminster operated public lending libraries in Westminster include:
The current Westminster coat of arms was given by an official grant on 2 September 1964.[53]
Westminster had other arms before, which had achief identical to the chief in the present arms. The symbols in the lower two thirds of the shield stand for former municipalities now merged with the city, Paddington and St Marylebone. The original arms had aportcullis as the main charge, which now forms thecrest.[53]
^Coke, Edward;Hale, Matthew;Nottingham, Heneage Finch, Earl of; Francis Hargrave, Charles Butler (1853). "109b, Note (3) [124]".A commentary upon Littleton. The Institutes of the laws of England. Vol. 1 (1st American, from 19th London ed.). Philadelphia: R. H. Small. Vol. 1 p.164.Archived from the original on 20 May 2016. Retrieved17 May 2010.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link);"December 1540; Grants, No.30".Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII. Vol. 16: 1540–1541. London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office. 1898. pp. 174–175.Archived from the original on 24 September 2018. Retrieved5 June 2018 – via British History Online.
