Jermyn Street – the shirtmakers' street in St James's

Jermyn Street in St James's has been dressing London's gentlemen since the 17th century. Here you'll find the shirtmakers, the shoemakers, Britain's oldest cheese shop and a perfumer with display cabinets from the Great Exhibition of 1851 – on a street that Isaac Newton once called home.

Jermyn Street runs parallel to Piccadilly in St James's in London, a one-way street where the shop windows still display stacks of folded shirts, rows of handmade shoes and badger-hair shaving brushes. Few streets in the world have remained as true to their speciality: gentlemen have dressed here for over three centuries.

Henry Jermyn and St James's in the 17th century

The street was laid out around 1664 by Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans, as part of his development of St James's. It is first mentioned as "Jarman Streete" in the rate books for St Martin's in 1667, with 56 properties. By 1675 there were 108 names.

Residents over the years have included the Duke of Marlborough, who lived here as Colonel Churchill, and Isaac Newton, who lived at number 88 from 1696 to 1700 and then at number 87 until 1709, during his years at the Royal Mint. Many tailors owned the houses and let out rooms, and in the 19th century Louis Napoleon stayed at the Brunswick Hotel here under a false name after his escape from the fortress of Ham.

Shirtmakers on Jermyn Street

Jermyn Street is first and foremost the street of shirts. Turnbull & Asser, Hawes & Curtis, Thomas Pink, Hilditch & Key, Harvie & Hudson, Emma Willis and Charles Tyrwhitt have all been here, according to Wikipedia. The shops traditionally sell everything that belongs in a gentleman's wardrobe – hats, braces, collar pins, shaving equipment and eau de cologne.

It's a street to walk along slowly. The shop windows are small and deep, and it's worth stepping inside: many of the houses still offer made-to-measure shirts, where the cloth is chosen from heavy swatch books and the pattern is kept for the next order.

Shoes, barbers and cigars

Shoemakers are the next layer. John Lobb, Edward Green, Crockett & Jones and Tricker's can be found on the street, as can the menswear outfitter Hackett. Alfred Dunhill opened its shop on the corner of Jermyn Street and Duke Street in 1907. The barbers Geo. F. Trumper and Taylor of Old Bond Street still shave and cut hair, and the cigar shop Davidoff of London is here too.

Paxton & Whitfield and Floris

Two of the street's shops are worth a detour even for those who don't need a shirt. Paxton & Whitfield, which has sold cheese since 1797, is Britain's oldest cheese shop. The perfumer Floris has display cabinets that were bought directly from the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. Both are good places to find gifts to take home.

Beau Brummell, art and dinner

At the junction with Piccadilly Arcade stands a statue of the dandy Beau Brummell. He never lived on the street, but stands here as a symbol of its elegance. Jermyn Street is also part of the St James's Art District, where the shops are required by their leases to display art, and several galleries line the street, among them The Sladmore Gallery.

For dinner there's Wiltons, one of London's historic restaurants, Fortnum & Mason's restaurant and the Italian Franco's. From Jermyn Street it's a few minutes to The Ritz on Piccadilly and to Savile Row on the other side of Piccadilly.

Jermyn Street and St James's around it

See the streets in VERA PI's street files for Jermyn Street, Piccadilly and Pall Mall, or start with VERA PI's London guide.

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