City of Westminster
City of Westminster, inner borough of London, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames at the heart of London’s West End. The City of Westminster is flanked to the west by Kensington and Chelsea and to the east by the City of London. It belongs to the historic county of Middlesex. The City of Westminster was established as a borough in 1965 by the amalgamation of the boroughs of Westminster, Paddington, and St. Marylebone. It includes the districts and neighbourhoods of (roughly north to south) St. John’s Wood, part of Maida Vale, Paddington, St. Marylebone, Bayswater, Soho, Mayfair, St. James, Knightsbridge (in part), South Kensington (in part), Westminster, and Pimlico. Between Victoria Station and Hyde Park lies Belgravia, part of the Grosvenor Estate. The Portland and Cavendish estates and the Crown Estate of Regent’s Park are located farther north.
The City of Westminster is the site of some of the finest and most historically important buildings in England and includes some of the most desirable residential properties. It contains Westminster Abbey (Anglican) and Westminster Cathedral (Roman Catholic), Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament and the principal government offices, St. James’s Palace, the most important shopping districts of the country, most of the London area’s luxury hotels, and some of its more-renowned museums of art. The National Gallery has a superb collection of Old Masters paintings, and Tate Britain (a branch of the national Tate galleries), built in 1893–97 on the Thames near Vauxhall Bridge, has large holdings of British paintings and sculpture. The Wallace Collection is kept in Hertford House, Manchester Square, and the National Portrait Gallery is based north of Trafalgar Square.
The avenue of the Mall points eastward from Buckingham Palace, passing St. James’s Palace before arriving at the Admiralty Arch, the entryway to Charing Cross and Trafalgar Square. South of Charing Cross is Whitehall, the site of the main British government offices (as well as the residence of the prime minister, at No. 10 Downing Street), and to the east the Victoria Embankment traces the Thames from the Houses of Parliament to the City of London. Northeast of Somerset House (home of the Courtauld Institute Galleries and the Gilbert Collection [decorative arts]) is the eastern terminus of the Strand, as well as the voluminous Royal Courts of Justice, which replaced Westminster Hall as the chief law court of England in 1882. The theatre district, including Covent Garden, is in the environs. Piccadilly Circus is a busy London intersection that attracts tourists from around the world.
The Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine is near the Royal Albert Hall at the southern border of Hyde Park. Other notable buildings include the British Broadcasting Corporation headquarters, Madame Tussaud’s waxworks, the London Planetarium, the Royal Opera House, and the Islamic Cultural Centre and London Central Mosque. Hospitals include St. George’s, St. Mary’s, Middlesex, and Westminster. Also in the borough are Lord’s Cricket Ground, St. James’s Park, Green Park, and parts of Kensington Gardens and Regent’s Park. Nearly one-fourth of the borough area consists of parkland and open space.
Westminster was originally an island above the ill-drained Thames marshes, but there is evidence of early Roman settlement. A community of monks was established on the site by 785 ce. Edward the Confessor (reigned 1042–66) built a palace and a new church there, the latter of which became known as Westminster Abbey. St. Stephen’s Chapel, in the former palace precincts, was used from 1547 for meetings of the House of Commons. A fire in 1834 destroyed almost the entire palace and led to the building of the present Houses of Parliament (1837–60). The complex of the Houses of Parliament (Palace of Westminster), Westminster Abbey, and St. Margaret’s Church was designated a World Heritage site in 1987.
The economy of Westminster is driven by the service sector, which accounts for most employment in the borough. In addition to its retail centres, thousands of business and financial enterprises, and government offices, Westminster is the site of hundreds of hotels and restaurants. It has a significantly higher gross domestic product (GDP) than any other London borough.
Westminster has deep connections with immigration to the London area. Groups of French Huguenots, fleeing religious persecutions in the 17th century and afterward, established themselves in the Soho district, followed by Italians in the late 19th century. Cypriots arrived in Westminster in the early to mid-20th century; they were followed by Chinese and, in the second half of the 20th century, South Asians, Thais, and Arabs. The Arab communities are concentrated just north of Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, especially along Queensbury and Edgware Road. Afro-Caribbeans also reside in the borough. Ethnic minorities account for more than one-fifth of the total population. Area 8.3 square miles (21 square km). Pop. (2001) 181,286; (2011) 219,396.