Abbey Road, London

Abbey Road is a thoroughfare in the borough of Camden and the City of Westminster in London, running roughly northwest to southeast through St. John's Wood, near Lord's Cricket Ground. It is part of the B507 road. This road is best known for the Abbey Road Studios and for being the namesake of the 1969 album by the Beatles.

For other uses, see Abbey Road (disambiguation).

Abbey Road
The crossing in 2004
Length0.9 mi[1] (1.4 km)
LocationSt. John's Wood, London
Postal codeNW8
Nearest Tube station St. John's Wood
Coordinates51.532006°N 0.177331°W / 51.532006; -0.177331
South endQuex Road, Kilburn
East endGrove End Road, St. John's Wood
Other
Known forAbbey Road Studios

Location

The north western end of Abbey Road begins in Kilburn, at the junction with Quex Road and West End Lane. The road was once a track leading to Kilburn Priory and its associated Abbey Farm, and was developed in the early 19th century.[2] It continues south east for roughly a mile, crossing Belsize Road, Boundary Road, and Marlborough Place, ending at the junction of Grove End Road and Garden Road.

History

The Abbey National Building Society (now Santander UK) was founded in 1874 as The Abbey Road & St John's Wood Permanent Benefit Building Society in a Baptist church on Abbey Road.

The Beatles' album, Abbey Road (1969), features the Beatles walking across the northwestern zebra crossing on the intersection of Abbey Road and Grove End Road.

EMI's Abbey Road Studios is located at the south eastern end, at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood. The Beatles, Brockhampton and many other famous popular music performers have recorded at this studio, and the Beatles named their last studio LP after this street. The album's cover photograph shows the four group members walking across the zebra crossing just outside the studio entrance.

As a result of its association with the Beatles, since 1969, this part of Abbey Road has been featured on the London tourism circuit. In December 2010, the crossing was given Grade II Listed Building status by English Heritage.[3] The zebra crossing featured on the Beatles cover has become a popular photo-opportunity area, despite the road still being a busy thoroughfare for traffic. There have been some ungrounded stories about the zebra crossing having been shifted from its original location, but these are ungrounded myths based on the storm water drain located on the north eastern corner of the crossing which has been there since the establishment of the sewer system in the city of Westminster.

Abbey Road street sign

The album cover of the Beatles has been parodied many times over the years. The street sign on the corner of Grove End Road and Abbey Road is now mounted high on the building on the corner, to save the local council the expense of cleaning and replacing the sign, which was frequently defaced or stolen. The council repaints the wall next to the zebra crossing every three months to cover fans' graffiti.[4]

Abbey Road is also a ward of the City of Westminster. At the 2011 Census, this ward had a population of 11,250.[5]

References
  1. Google (30 October 2015). "Abbey Road, London" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  2. Mills, A.D. (2010). A Dictionary of London Place-Names. Oxford University Press. p. 1. ISBN 9780199566785.
  3. "Beatles' Abbey Road zebra crossing given listed status". BBC Online. 22 December 2010. Archived from the original on 30 December 2010. Retrieved 29 December 2010.
  4. Pollard, Lawrence (7 August 2009). "Revisiting Abbey Road 40 Years On". BBC Online. Retrieved 2 November 2010.
  5. "City of Westminster Ward population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 16 October 2016.

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