The Pantheon

So much were his senses captivated, he could scarcely persuade himself but that he trod on fairy ground

- James Wyatt

OXFORD STREET, owing to much discussed changing working patterns and consumer purchasing habits, is a poignant area to pass along now for those who remember how things used to be even as recently as 15 years ago. At least none of us was around to witness the sorry decline of the Pantheon, the street's finest architectural gem, which was finally demolished in 1937.

When this now long-forgotten venue opened 250 years ago this year, it was hailed as 'the most astonishing and perfect piece of architecture that can possibly be conceived' by the poet William Mason. It catapulted its 26-year-old architect James Wyatt to fame, securing him a string of prestigious commissions and a reputation to rival that of the most talked-about architect of the day, Robert Adam. Yet the Pantheon's time as one of London's premier places of entertainment was short lived. Although the frontage of the building would be a fixture on Oxford Street for more than 160 years, the venue's period of glory was largely confined to the last decades of the 18th century.