Oxford Street It was known as Tyburn Road through the Middle Ages when it was notorious for public hangings of prisoners in Newgate Prison. It became known as Oxford Road and then Oxford Street in the 18th century, and began to change from residential to commercial and retail purposes by the late 19th century, attracting street traders, confidence tricksters and prostitution. The first department stores in Britain opened in the early 20th century, including Selfridges, John Lewis and HMV. Unlike nearby shopping streets such as Bond Street, it has retained an element of downmarket trading alongside more prestigious retail stores. The street
Regent Street (Central, Bakerloo and Victoria) meet. Several bus routes, such as 6, 12, and 13, run along Regent Street. Regent Street was one of the first planned developments of London. An ordered structure of London streets, replacing the mediaeval layout, had been planned since just after the Great Fire of London (1666) when Sir Christopher Wren and John Evelyn drew plans for rebuilding the city on the classical formal model. After a lack of progress, houses were rebuilt on the old street network anyway. In 1766, John Gwynn complained in "London and Westminster Improved" that there was a lack of planning