Go shopping in Britain's first shopping arcade

Opened in 1819, Mayfair's Burlington Arcade was Britain’s very first shopping Arcade, and still claims to be the longest covered shopping street in England. You have to be pretty rich if you want to build a shopping arcade in Mayfair to stop people throwing stuff over your wall, but that's apparently why Lord George Cavendish built the Burlington Arcade, so sick was he with passers-by throwing oyster shells into his garden.


The arcade is pretty upmarket, and there is little the likes of your author would realistically want to buy. It is pretty, however, and its smart uniform shop fronts and a glazed roof are given even more charm by the uniformed Burlington Arcade Beadles who patrol the length in top hats and tailcoats, claiming to be the smallest police force in the world.

When the arcade opened, the Beadles were hired to ensure that no whistling, singing, playing of musical instruments and running took place. These rules were reputedly to stop thieves and pick-pockets from communicating and fleeing, but the carrying of large parcels, opening of umbrellas or use of babies’ prams in the arcade was also forbidden.

These rules are still enforced to this day and your author can certainly vouch for it, having faced the wrath of a senior Beadle and narrowly avoided ejection whilst attempting a test whistle in December. For more on all aspects of the arcade, see http://www.burlington-arcade.co.uk/

_{^Picture by Phil_Parker^}