a history of covent garden’s hidden shopping village Seven Dials was originally laid out by Thomas Neale , MP in the early 1690s, who cleverly laid out the area in a series of triangles to maximise the number of houses as rentals were charged per foot of frontage and not per square foot of interiors. PublicationJournal of Urbanism, International Research on Placemaking and Urban Sustainability. Later, his son Charles Dickens Junior further noted the poverty into which the area had descended: shops selling second and third hand goods, a unique cluster of shops selling “every rarity of pigeon, fowl and rabbit, together with rare Birds such as hawks, owls and parrots, love birds and other species native and foreign”. This continuing influx of residents precipitated the development of the surrounding area, Endell Street was followed by Charing Cross Road and Shaftesbury Avenue in the 1880s which gradually eased the pressure on the area and allowed gradual gentification as craftsmen and larger businesses moved in. They were originally: Little and Great Earl Street (now Earlham Street), Little and Great White Lyon Street (now Mercer Street), Queen Street (now Shorts Gardens) and Little & Great St. Andrew’s Street (now Monmouth Street).

This email address is being protected from spambots. In the 1790s there was considerable re-facing or reconstruction as leases were renewed. The idea for KERB was basically incubated in an ice cream van! “The charity has brought an entire neighbourhood back to life…” – Colin Davis presenting the first national award for projects which have stood the test of time. Office: 68 Dean Street, London W1D 4QJ). We have improved the quality of food served on the capital’s streets, legitimised the industry through professionalising its practices, given Londoners something tasty to sink their teeth into and grown a community of entrepreneurs who are driving real change across the city’s food landscape.

An unrivalled 360 degree London experience, with a buzzing shopping, restaurant and theatre scene coupled with much sought after residential and office accommodation. In Neal’s Yard, Seven Dials’ other blue plaque identifies the location of the Animation, Editing and Recording Studios of Monty Python, which read as: “Monty Python, Filmmaker, lived here, 1976-1987”. Corner of Earlham Street and Monmouth Street.

It was laid out c. 1693 by Thomas Neale, MP, ‘The Great Projector’. Courtesy of Chethams Library, Manchester. His solution was imaginative, financially ingenious and still stands today in the unique street layout of Seven Dials. Shaftesbury Avenue was cut through the north-west side of Seven Dials in 1889 as a combined work of traffic improvement and slum clearance. The first inhabitants were respectable gentlemen, lawyers and prosperous tradesmen. Rose and Three Tuns, Little Earl Street (now Earlham Street). In and Around Covent Garden Sadly, very little remains of the original character of Mercer Street (formerly Gt and Little White Lion Streets). Research PaperThe Seven Dials: ‘freak of town-planning’, or simply ahead of its time?ByWilliam C. Baer, Department of Policy and Planning, University of Southern California, Los Angles, CA, USA. He was described as 'a person of Vaste Estate and of Great Interest as well as Court as in the City and Country.' 1889 Charles Booth’s poverty map: note the stark variation between the black designation of Nottingham Court (thought to be a base of prostitution) and the well-to-do fringes of Upper St Martin's Lane and Shaftesbury Avenue. 'The Organ in the Court' by Gustav Dore. By 1974 the Seven Dials area was in a state of dereliction. The Crown subsequently let the hospital land on a series of leases. Courtesy of Camden Local History Library. No. There has been a flower market on Earlham Street for many years, an offshoot of the more famous Covent Garden flower market. Neale raised large sums of money for the Crown through his ‘lotteries in the Venetian style’.

Circa 1910. Covent Garden was no stranger to poverty and this was due to the slums of Seven-Dials. The idea was to cluster – to seek out the most exciting street food talent, bring them together on the streets of London and progress this dynamic but previously unorganised industry. By the middle of the eighteenth century the area had declined to the extent that 39 night-watchmen were needed to keep the peace. The Trustees were very sad indeed to learn that Gordon Taylor has passed, The Seven Dials Trust is complying with government advice and all our pro, We were deeply saddened to hear of the death of Trust Patron Frank Dobson, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Courtesy of The Guildhall Library, London. By adopting a star-shaped plan with six radiating streets (subsequently seven were laid out) he dramatically increased the number of houses that could be built on the site. Neale commissioned England’s leading stonemason, Edward Pierce, to design and construct the Sundial Pillar in 1693-4 as the centrepiece of his development in Seven Dials. //