Where Does Marylebone Get Its Name From?

Tucked between Mayfair to the South and Regent’s Park to the North, Marylebone is one of London’s most elegant areas. Today its beautiful, well-preserved Georgian and Victorian streets are lined with chic independent shops, cafes and restaurants. 

But what is the history behind it and where does the name come from?

A Riverside Hamlet

Marylebone started life as a little hamlet, recorded in the Domesday book with less than 50 residents and a value of 52 shillings. It was known at this time as the village of ‘Tyburn’ on the Eastern banks of the river of the same name. 

The Tyburn river flowed past here from Hampstead Heath to the Thames at Westminster, now one of London’s ‘lost rivers’, built over and subsumed into the storm drain system beneath the city. The name ‘Tyburn’ came from old English ‘teo-bourne’ meaning ‘boundary stream’ or possibly ‘two streams’. You also find ‘bourne’ in Holborn meaning ‘hollow stream’.

Since at least the 12th century, the area of Tyburn had been where many of London’s public executions would take place, at the crossroads of the two old Roman roads, now Oxford Street and Edgware Road.

The condemned would often be carted from Newgate Prison, where the Old Bailey sits today, down what is now Oxford Street to meet their end. 

The first recorded execution at Tyburn is William Fitz Osbert in 1196, for leading a public rebellion and it is thought that just over 3000 people were publicly executed at Tyburn over the centuries until they were stopped here in 1783.

From the 1500s, a three sided gallows was permanently erected, known as the ‘Tyburn Tree’ where up to 24 criminals could be executed at once.

The Village Church 

The hamlet of Tyburn had a small church dedicated to St John the Evangelist.

In 1400, the church was rebuilt further North, on the high street, near the Tyburn river and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The village became known initially as ‘Mary-burn’. The French article ‘le’ was probably added in the 17th century, as was fashionable at the time to make Mary-le-bourne. Over the centuries this corrputed to ‘Marylebone’ aka St Mary’s on the bourne/river.

The church was rebuilt again in 1742, when Marylebone had grown into a small village surrounded largely by fields. It was in this church where Lord Byron was baptised in 1788 and the architect James Gibbs was buried in 1751.

As London expanded Westwards, the population of the area grew rapidly. 

The grid of streets we have today started to be laid out from the early 1700s, initially around Cavendish Square laid out in 1717 by Edward Harley, the 2nd Earl of Oxford.

In 1739 it had a population of 577 and by 1795 this had grown to 6200. The growing population meant that new church was therefore required once more. 

St Marylebone Parish Church 

From 1813-1817 the fourth parish church of Marylebone was consecrated, close to the previous church, on the busy Marylebone Road. The road had been laid out from 1756, known originally as ‘New Road’. Interestingly, the third church was not demolished, more on that below. 

Designed by Thomas Hardwick, it has a beautiful Corinthian portico facing onto the road, based on The Pantheon in Rome.

It also has an interesting steeple. It has three storeys, the first square with a clock, the second is a circle of twelve columns and the third is in the form of a mini temple held up by eight caryatids (a sculpted female figure that doubled up as a support). 

The interior was remodelled in 1883 at the instigation of the rector Reverend William Barker. This included the addition of a marble floor and a marble altar. 

St Marylebone was where seven of Charles Dickens’ children were baptised as he lived in a house nearby from 1839-1851. It was where he wrote many of his most famous novels including A Christmas Carol, The Old Curiosity Shop, Little Dorrit and Barnaby Rudge. 

There is a bas-relief on the site today depicting some of his characters. 

The church was also where Elizabeth Barrett and Robert Browning were married in 1846. 

The Garden of Rest

As mentioned above, the third iteration of the church was not demolished when the fourth was built. It was kept as a chapel of ease before being severely damaged during the Blitz. The remains were then pulled down in 1949 and a ‘Garden of rest’ memorial garden, laid out on the site. 

In the garden today you can find many old gravestones including that of Charles Wesley leader of the Methodist movement. 

So there we have it, the story behind Marylebone and how it got its name!

The next question of course is how you should pronounce it… ‘Marry-le-bn’, ‘Mar-lee-bone’, ‘Mar-lee-bn’. Let me know in the comments how you think it should be pronounced!

Thank you for reading, more blog posts below to continue your dive into London’s history…