Great Scotland Yard

Great Scotland Yard

Great Scotland Yard, at the junction with Scotland Place
Location	St. James's, Westminster, London, England
Postal code	SW1

Great Scotland Yard is a street in the St. James's district of Westminster, London, connecting Northumberland Avenue and Whitehall. It is best known as the location of the rear entrance to the original headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, giving it the name "Scotland Yard".

Although the etymology is not certain, according to a 1964 article in The New York Times, the name derives from buildings that accommodated the diplomatic representatives of the Kingdom of Scotland and Scottish kings when they visited English royalty – in effect, the Scottish Embassy, although the institute was not formalized.

By the 17th century the street housed government buildings and residences for civil servants. The architects Inigo Jones and Christopher Wren lived there as did the poet John Milton from 1649–51, during the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell's rule. By the late-18th century the district was associated with prominence and prestige; for example in the 1790s in his satirical A Tale of a Tub, Jonathan Swift ironically claimed the regard of "...my worthy brethren and friends at Will’s Coffee-house, and Gresham College, and Warwick Lane, and Moorfields, and Scotland Yard, and Westminster Hall, and Guildhall; in short, to all inhabitants and retainers whatsoever, either in court, or church, or camp, or city, or country...".