What is Piccadilly?
[[File:PiccadillySign.jpg|right|thumb|Piccadilly street sign.]] '''Piccadilly''' is a major street in [[central London]], running from [[Hyde Park Corner]] in the west to [[Piccadilly Circus]] in the east. It is completely within the [[City of Westminster]]. [[St. James's]] lies to the south of the eastern section of the street, while the western section overlooks [[Green Park]]. The area to the north is [[Mayfair]]. It is the location of [[Fortnum & Mason]], the [[Royal Academy]], [[The Ritz Hotel]], the [[Royal Air Force Club|RAF Club]] and [[Hatchards]] book shop. [[Simpsons of Piccadilly|Simpsons]], once amongst the [[United Kingdom]]'s leading clothing stores, opened on Piccadilly in the 1930s. The store closed in 1999 and the site is now the flagship shop of the [[bookstore|booksellers]] [[Waterstone's]]. ==History== [[Image:The Ritz on Piccadilly.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The Ritz]] The name Piccadilly may come from a tailor named Robert Baker, in the late 16th century and early 17th century. He amassed a large fortune by making and selling ''piccadills'' – stiff collars with scalloped edges and a lace border, which were then in fashion. With his great fortune he bought a large tract of what was then open country to the west of London. After the [[English Restoration|Restoration]] of the [[England|English]] monarchy in 1660, Piccadilly and the area to the north (Mayfair) began to be systematically developed as a fashionable residential locality. Some of the grandest mansions in London were built on the northern side of Piccadilly: [[Clarendon House]], Berkeley House (later [[Devonshire House]]), and Sir John Denham's house (later [[Burlington House]]) were built in the 17th century. Later mansions included Melbourne House (now [[The Albany]]), [[Apsley House]], Bath House and [[Cambridge House]]. Several members of the [[Rothschild banking family of England|Rothschild family]] had mansions at the western end of the street, and that part was colloquially referred to as Rothschild Row. By the 1920s most