• Turn right into Poland Street and walk north towards Great Marlborough Street. 

 

In the late 1600s, the ‘King of Poland‘ — an inn named the after the renowned John Sobieski who defeated the Turks at the Battle of Vienna in 1683 — stood on this site and gave the street its name. Houses were first built here in the early 1700s, but only a few originals remain, sandwiched between office and warehouse buildings dating from the late 1800s and early 1900s.  

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At 15 Poland Street there is a blue plaque to the memory of one of Britain’s greatest poets, Percy Bysshe Shelly.

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•  Cross Noel Street and in the continuation of Poland Street on the right-hand side you will see The King’s Arms pub. 

 

Look out for the blue plaque on this building commemorating the rebirth of the Order of Druids!   ///wrong.rider.builds

 

• Re-trace your steps and turn right into Great Marlborough Street...

 

Look for the stone plaque commemorating the stay of the famous nineteenth century Hungarian pianist, Ferenc Liszt. He was perhaps the outstanding pianist of his time. He was a bold innovator in composition, a brilliant conductor, an influential teacher and a writer on music. In 1865, towards the end of his eventful and romantic life the Pope admitted Liszt into Holy Orders and he spent his last years between Rome, Weimar, Budapest and Bayreuth, where he died in 1886.   ///keys.pilots.sorters

 

The street is named after John Churchill, the 1st Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722), a famous English soldier and statesman. One of his descendants was Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965), politician, statesman and author, and another was Lady Diana Spencer, Princess of Wales (1961-1997), wife of Charles, Prince of Wales.

 

Construction of the street, with many fashionable houses, started in the early 1700s but most of the present buildings date from the late 1800s and 1900s. They now house the head-quarters of international companies as well as major department stores. 

 

At numbers 19 - 21 there is a hotel that was once a Magistrate’s Court. Here cases were heard involving Oscar Wilde, Christine Keeler and Lord Profumo, John Lennon, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Francis Bacon.