Covent Garden

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Covent Garden

Covent Garden (Pronunciation: k?v?nt) is a district in London

London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
, England

England

City of Westminster

The City of Westminster is a London borough of London with City status in the United Kingdom. It is located west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, and forms part of Inner London and the bulk of London's central area....
and the southwest corner of the London Borough of Camden

London Borough of Camden

The London Borough of Camden is a London borough of London, England, which forms part of Inner London. The southern reaches of Camden form part of Central London....
. The area is dominated by shopping, street performers and entertainment facilities and contains an entrance to the Royal Opera House

Royal Opera House

Seven Dials

Seven Dials is a small but well-known road junction in the West End of London of London near Covent Garden where seven streets converge. At the centre of the roughly circular space is a pillar bearing six sundials....
area.

The area is bounded by High Holborn

High Holborn

High Holborn is a road in Holborn in central London, England. It starts in the west near St Giles' Circus, then goes east, past Bloomsbury Street, the Kingsway and Southampton Row, and continues east....
to the north, Kingsway

Kingsway (London)

Kingsway is a major road in central London in the United Kingdom, designated as part of the A4200 road. It runs from High Holborn, at its north end in the London Borough of Camden, and meets Aldwych in the south in the City of Westminster at Bush House....
to the east, the Strand

Strand, London

The Strand is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England. It currently starts at Trafalgar Square and runs east to join Fleet Street at Temple Bar London, which marks the boundary of the City of London at this point, though its #History has been longer than this....
to the south and Charing Cross Road

Charing Cross Road

Charing Cross Road is a London street which runs immediately north of St Martin-in-the-Fields to St Giles' Circus and then becomes Tottenham Court Road....
to the west.

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Encyclopedia

Covent Garden (Pronunciation: k?v?nt) is a district in London

London

England

City of Westminster

London Borough of Camden

Royal Opera House

Seven Dials

High Holborn

Kingsway (London)

Strand, London

Charing Cross Road

Charing Cross Road is a London street which runs immediately north of St Martin-in-the-Fields to St Giles' Circus and then becomes Tottenham Court Road....
to the west. Covent Garden Piazza is located in the geographical centre of the area and was the site of a flower, fruit and vegetable market from the 1500s until 1974, when the wholesale market relocated to New Covent Garden Market

New Covent Garden Market

New Covent Garden Market is a wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market, known as 'London's Larder', located in Nine Elms between Vauxhall and Battersea, south west London....
in Nine Elms

Nine Elms

Nine Elms is a district of London, situated in the far north-eastern corner of the London Borough of Wandsworth between Battersea and Vauxhall....
. Nearby areas include Soho

Soho

Soho is an area in the centre of the West End of London of London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is an entertainment district which for much of the later part of the 20th century had a reputation for its sex shops as well as its night life and film industry....
, St James's, Bloomsbury

Bloomsbury

Bloomsbury may refer to:* Bloomsbury, an area in central London.* the Bloomsbury Group, an English literary group active around from around 1905 to the start of World War II....
and Holborn

Holborn

Holborn is an area of Central London, England. Holborn is also the name of the area's principal east-west street, running from St Giles's High Street as High Holborn to Gray's Inn Road to Holborn Viaduct, crossing the borders of the City of Westminster, London Borough of Camden and the City of London....
.

History

Roman times to the 1500s

A settlement has existed in the area since the Roman

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
times of Londinium

Londinium

This article covers the history of London during the Roman Britain from around 47 AD when the Roman city of Londinium was founded, to its abandonment during the 5th century....
.

"Convent Garden" (later becoming Covent Garden as we know it today) was the name given, during the reign of King John

John of England

John reigned as List of English monarchs from 6 April 1199, until his death. He succeeded to the throne as the younger brother of King Richard I of England, who died without issue....
(1199–1216), to a patch in the county of Middlesex

Middlesex

Middlesex , from the Old English Middelseaxe , is one of the 39 Historic counties of England of England and the List of counties of England by area in 1831....
, bordered west and east by what is now St. Martin's Lane

St. Martin's Lane

St. Martin's Lane is a street in Central London, which runs from the church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, after which it is named, near Trafalgar Square northwards to Long Acre....
and Drury Lane

Drury Lane

Drury Lane is a street in the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of London Borough of Camden and the southern part in the City of Westminster....
, and north and south by Floral Street and a line drawn from Chandos Place, along Maiden Lane and Exeter Street to the Aldwych

Aldwych

Aldwych is a place and road in the City of Westminster in London, England. The road is a crescent, connecting to Strand, London at both ends....
.

In this quadrangle the Abbey or Convent of St. Peter, Westminster, maintained a large kitchen garden throughout the Middle Ages to provide its daily food. Over the next three centuries, the monks' old "convent garden" became a major source of fruit and vegetables in London and was managed by a succession of leaseholders by grant from the Abbot of Westminster.

This type of lease eventually led to property disputes throughout the kingdom, which Henry VIII

Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was also Lordship of Ireland and claimant to the Early Modern France. Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII of England....
solved in 1540 by the stroke of a pen when he dissolved the monasteries

Dissolution of the Monasteries

The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, denotes the administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII of England disbanded all monastery, nunnery and friary in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their income, disposed of their assets and provided f...
and appropriated their land.

King Henry VIII granted part of the land to Baron Russell

John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford

John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford, Order of the Garter, Privy Council of England, Justice of the Peace was an English royal minister in the later Tudor dynasty era....
, Lord High Admiral

Admiralty

The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. Originally exercised by a single person, the office of Lord High Admiral was from the 18th century onward almost invariably put "in commission", and was exercised by a Board of Admiralty....
and, later, Earl of Bedford. In fulfilment of his father's dying wish, King Edward VI

Edward VI of England

Edward VI became List of English monarchs and King of Ireland on 28 January 1547 and was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII of England and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first Protestantism ruler....
bestowed the remainder of the convent garden in 1547 to his maternal uncle, Edward Seymour, the Duke of Somerset

Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset

Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset was Lord Protector of England in the period between the death of Henry VIII of England in 1547 and his own indictment in 1549....
who began building Somerset House

Somerset House

Somerset House is a large building situated on the south side of the Strand, London in central London, overlooking the River Thames, just east of Waterloo Bridge....
on the south side of Strand

Strand, London

Treason

In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more serious acts of loyalty to one's sovereignty or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife ....
in 1552, the land once again came into royal gift, and was awarded four months later to one of those who had contributed to Seymour's downfall. Forty acres (16 ha), known as "le Covent Garden" plus "the long acre", were granted by royal patent

Land patent

A land patent is evidence of right, Title , and/or interest to a wikt:tract of land, usually granted by a central government, Federal government, or state government to an individual or private company....
in perpetuity to the Earl of Bedford.

1600s to 1800s

The modern-day Covent Garden has its roots in the early 17th century when land ("the Convent's Garden") was redeveloped by Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford

Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford

Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford Privy Council of England was an England politician. He was the only son of William Russell, 1st Baron Russell of Thornhaugh, to which barony he succeeded in August 1613....
. The area was designed by Inigo Jones

Inigo Jones

Inigo Jones is regarded as the first significant British architecture, and the first to bring Renaissance architecture to England. He also made valuable contributions to stage design....
, the first and greatest of English Renaissance architects. He was inspired by late 15th century and early 16th century planned market towns known as bastides (themselves modelled on Roman colonial towns by way of nearby monasteries, of which "Convent" Garden was one). The centrepiece of the project was an arcaded piazza. The church of St Paul's, Covent Garden

St Paul's, Covent Garden

St Paul's Church, also commonly known as the Actors' Church, is a church located in Covent Garden, London, England.As well as being the parish church of Covent Garden, the church gained its nickname by a long association with the theatre community....
stood at the centre of the western side of the piazza. A market, which was originally open air, occupied the centre of the piazza.

The area rapidly became a base for market traders, and following the Great Fire of London

Great Fire of London

The Great Fire of London was a major conflagration that swept through the central parts of London, England, from Sunday, 2 September to Wednesday, 5 September 1666....
of 1666 which destroyed 'rival' markets towards the east of the city, the market became the most important in the country. Exotic items from around the world were carried on boats up the River Thames

River Thames

The Thames is a major river flowing through southern England. While best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows through several other towns and cities, including Oxford, Reading, Berkshire and Windsor, Berkshire....
and sold on from Covent Garden. The first mention of a Punch and Judy

Punch and Judy

Punch and Judy is a traditional, popular English puppet show featuring the characters of Punch and his wife Judy. The performance consists of a sequence of short scenes, each depicting an interaction between two characters, most typically the anarchic Punch and one other character....
show in Britain was recorded by diarist Samuel Pepys

Samuel Pepys

Samuel Pepys, Fellow of the Royal Society was an English people Navy Board and Member of Parliament, who is now most famous for his diary. Although Pepys had no maritime experience, he rose by patronage, hard work and his talent for administration, to be the Chief Secretary to the Admiralty under James II of England....
, who saw such a show in the square in May 1662. Today Covent Garden is the only part of London licensed for street entertainment with performers having to undertake auditions for the Market's management and representatives of the performers' union and signing up to timetabled slots. In 1830 a grand building reminiscent of the Roman baths such as those found in Bath was built to provide a more permanent trading centre.

On 7 April 1779, the pavement outside the Covent Garden playhouse was the scene of the notorious murder of Martha Ray

Martha Ray

Martha Ray was a Kingdom of Great Britain singer of the Georgian era. Her father was a corsetmaker and her mother was a servant in a noble household....
, mistress of the Earl of Sandwich

John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich

John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, Privy Council of Great Britain, Fellow of the Royal Society succeeded his grandfather, the Edward Montagu, 3rd Earl of Sandwich, in 1729, at the age of ten....
, by her admirer the Rev. James Hackman

James Hackman

James Hackman , briefly Rector of Wiveton in Norfolk, was the murderer who killed Martha Ray, singer and mistress of John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich....
, who was hanged twelve days later.

Harris’s List of Covent Garden Ladies

Covent Garden was a well-known redlight district in the 18th Century. The activities in Covent Garden were documented in Harris's List of Covent Garden Ladies
Harris's List of Covent Garden Ladies

Harris's List of Covent Garden Ladies was a directory of prostitutes in Georgian era London. It provided biographical details of the prostitutes, described their appearance and personality, and listed their sexual specialities....
, a titillating list providing the addresses of prostitutes and whore houses, as well as details of their “specialities”. During its heyday (1757 to 1795) Harris’s List was the "essential guide and accessory for any serious gentleman of pleasure".

Modern-day period

In 1913, responding to political feeling against large holdings of real property, and wishing to diversify his investment portfolio into less politically sensitive fields, the Duke of Bedford agreed to sell the Covent Garden Estate to the MP and land speculator Harry Mallaby-Deeley for £2 million. The following year Mallaby-Deeley sold his option to buy to the pill

Beecham (pharmaceutical company)

Beecham was a British pharmaceutical company. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but is now owned by GlaxoSmithKline.History...
manufacturer Sir Joseph Beecham for £250,000. After delays caused by the First World War and the death of Sir Joseph, the sale was finalised in 1918, the purchasers being Sir Joseph's two sons, Sir Thomas and Henry. The transaction included the market, 231 other properties, and sundry other rights. The property was part of Beecham Estates and Pills Limited from 1924 to 1928 and from 1928 it was owned by a successor company called Covent Garden Properties Company Limited, owned by the Beechams and other private investors. This new company sold some properties at Covent Garden, while becoming active in property investment in other parts of London. In 1962 the bulk of the remaining properties in the Covent Garden area, including the market, were sold to the newly established government-owned Covent Garden Authority for £3,925,000.

By the end of the 1960s, traffic congestion

Traffic congestion

Traffic congestion is a condition on networks that occurs as use increases, and is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased Queueing theory....
in the surrounding area had reached such a level that the use of the square as a market, which required increasingly large lorries

Lorry

Lorry may refer to:Transport:* Lorry or truck, a large motor vehicle* Lorry, called a tippler in the UK, an open Gondola #Lorry with a tipping trough...
for deliveries and distribution, was becoming unsustainable. The whole area was threatened with complete redevelopment. Following a public outcry

Moral panic

A moral panic can be defined as "the intensity of feeling expressed by a large number of people about a specific group of people who appear to threaten the social order at a given time." Stanley Cohen , author of the seminal Folk Devils and Moral Panics , says moral panic occurs when "[a] condition, episode, person or group of persons eme...
, in 1973 the Home Secretary

Home Secretary

The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the United Kingdom Home Office and is one of the Great Offices of State....
, Robert Carr

Robert Carr

Leonard Robert Carr, Baron Carr of Hadley, Privy Council of the United Kingdom is a British Conservative Party politician.Robert Carr was educated at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge where he read Natural science, graduating in 1938....
, gave dozens of buildings around the square listed building

Listed building

A listed building in the United Kingdom is a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural, historical or cultural significance....
status, preventing redevelopment. The following year the market finally moved to a new site (called the New Covent Garden Market

New Covent Garden Market

New Covent Garden Market is a wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market, known as 'London's Larder', located in Nine Elms between Vauxhall and Battersea, south west London....
) about three miles (5 km) south-west at Nine Elms

Nine Elms

Nine Elms is a district of London, situated in the far north-eastern corner of the London Borough of Wandsworth between Battersea and Vauxhall....
. The square languished until its central building re-opened as a shopping centre and tourist attraction in 1980. Today the shops largely sell novelty items, though street performers can be seen almost every day of the year, both on the pitches within the market, and on the West and East Piazza's/James Street outside. More serious shoppers gravitate to Long Acre, which has a range of clothes shops and boutiques, and Neal Street, noted for its large number of shoe shops. London's Transport Museum

London's Transport Museum

The London Transport Museum, or LT Museum based in Covent Garden, London, seeks to conserve and explain the transport heritage of United Kingdom's capital city....
and the side entrance to the Royal Opera House

Royal Opera House

The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in the London district of Covent Garden. The large building, often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", is the home of Royal Opera, London , Royal Ballet, London and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House....
box office and other facilities are also located on the Piazza.

In August 2007, Covent Garden launched the UK's first food Night Market. Fresh produce from over 35 different stalls included Neal's Yard's specialist cheeses, Spore Boys' mushroom sandwiches, Gourmet Candy Company, Ginger Pig sausages and Burnt Sugar fudge. The aim of the Night Market was to bring Covent Garden back to its roots as the "Larder of London". Organisers are hoping to make it a permanent event in 2008 as part of a wider initiative to regenerate interest in the Covent Garden area.

Covent Garden Market and Piazza was bought by Capital and Counties

Capital and Counties

Capital and Counties USA, Inc. is a real-estate and investment company based in San Francisco, California. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty International PLC, one of the largest publicly traded property companies in the United Kingdom....
in August 2006 for £421 million. In March 2007 Capco also acquired the shops located under the Royal Opera House. The complete Covent Garden Estate owned by Capital and Counties

Capital and Counties

Nine Elms

Nine Elms is a district of London, situated in the far north-eastern corner of the London Borough of Wandsworth between Battersea and Vauxhall....
. Currently one of the most famous and popular parts of the covered Covent Garden market is Apple Market, a small subsection of the main market. Street entertainment at Covent Garden was first mentioned in Samuel Pepys

Samuel Pepys

Samuel Pepys, Fellow of the Royal Society was an English people Navy Board and Member of Parliament, who is now most famous for his diary. Although Pepys had no maritime experience, he rose by patronage, hard work and his talent for administration, to be the Chief Secretary to the Admiralty under James II of England....
' diary in 1662. Today Covent Garden is the only part of London licensed for street entertainment with performers having to undertake auditions for the Market's management and representatives of the performers' union and signing up to timetabled slots.

Currently performers operate in a number of venues around the market, including the North Hall, West Piazza, and South Hall Courtyard. The courtyard space is dedicated to classical music

Classical music

Classical music is a broad term that usually refers to mainstream music produced in, or rooted in the traditions of Western art history Religious music and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 9th century to present times....
only. There are street performances at Covent Garden Market every day of the year, except Christmas Day. Shows run throughout the day and are 30-40 minutes in length.

In March 2008, Capital and Counties

Capital and Counties

Capital and Counties USA, Inc. is a real-estate and investment company based in San Francisco, California. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty International PLC, one of the largest publicly traded property companies in the United Kingdom....
proposed to reduce street performances by approximately 50%. In the Courtyard, shows currently run back to back from 10:30am to 7:00pm, with short breaks in between each show, allowing for two shows each hour. Under the new proposal, performances would be cut to one 30 minute show each hour. The musicians and performers staged a demonstration "busk" in the Piazza against these cuts on 27 March with the opera singer Lesley Garrett

Lesley Garrett

Lesley Garrett Order of the British Empire is an England soprano, broadcaster and media personality....
who is supporting their campaign. They have organised a petition which so far has over 5,000 signatures including Ken Livingstone

Ken Livingstone

Kenneth Robert Livingstone, is a United Kingdom politician. He has twice held the List of heads of London government in London local government: firstly as leader of the Greater London Council from 1981 until the council was abolished in 1986 by the government of Margaret Thatcher, and secondly as the first Mayor of London, a post he held fr...
, Brian Paddick

Brian Paddick

Brian Leonard Paddick is a United Kingdom politician, and was the Liberal Democrats candidate for the London mayoral election, 2008, coming third behind Boris Johnson and Ken Livingstone....
, Vasko Vassilev, Brian Eno

Brian Eno

Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno , is an England musician, composer, record producer, music theory and singer, who, as a solo artist, is best known as the People known as the father or mother of something of ambient music....
and Victoria Wood

Victoria Wood

Victoria Wood Commander of the British Empire is a British Academy of Film and Television Arts award winning England comedian, actor, singer and writer, educated at Bury Grammar School....
.

Royal Opera House

In the 1960s an extension to the rear of the Royal Opera House had somewhat improved its facilities, but as time passed, it became clear that a major remodelling was needed. In 1975 the government gave adjacent land for the modernisation, refurbishment and extension of the house and, by 1995, with the availability of National Lottery

National Lottery (United Kingdom)

The National Lottery is the largest lottery in the United Kingdom. It is operated by Camelot Group, to whom the licence was granted in 1994, 2001 and again in 2007....
money, significant funds had been raised. A major reconstruction of the building took place between 1996 and 2000, involving the demolition of almost the whole site (except for the auditorium itself), including several adjacent buildings, to make room for a major increase in the overall scale of the complex. In terms of volume, well over half of the complex is new.

The new opera house has greatly improved technical, rehearsal, office and educational facilities, a new studio theatre, the Linbury Theatre, and much more public space. The inclusion of the adjacent old Floral Hall, long a part of the old Covent Garden Market but in general disrepair for many years, into the actual opera house created a new and extensive public gathering place. The venue is now claimed by the ROH to be the most modern theatre facility in Europe.

St Paul's Church

In 2005 the path leading up to the front of St Paul's Church

St Paul's, Covent Garden

Leicester Square

Leicester Square is a pedestrianised city square in the West End of London of London, England. The Square lies within an area bound by Lisle Street, to the north; Charing Cross Road, to the east; Orange Street, to the south; and Whitcomb Street, to the west....
and the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Hollywood Walk of Fame

The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a sidewalk along Hollywood Boulevard and Vine Street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA, that serves as an entertainment hall of fame....
, which became known as the Avenue of Stars

Avenue of Stars, London

The Avenue of Stars was London's version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It opened in 2005 with one hundred names.The Avenue of Stars was a walkway through Covent Garden passing St Paul's, Covent Garden Church, commonly known as the "Actors' Church"....
. The plaques quickly deteriorated and only lasted a year before being removed.

Transport and locale

Location in Context

**Neighbouring areas of London**

Also nearby

Aldwych
Aldwych

Aldwych is a place and road in the City of Westminster in London, England. The road is a crescent, connecting to Strand, London at both ends....
Leicester Square
Leicester Square

Leicester Square is a pedestrianised city square in the West End of London of London, England. The Square lies within an area bound by Lisle Street, to the north; Charing Cross Road, to the east; Orange Street, to the south; and Whitcomb Street, to the west....
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square is a square in central London, England. With its position in the heart of London, it is a tourist attraction; its trademark is Nelson's Column which stands in the centre and the four lion statues that guard the column....

Nearest stations

Covent Garden
Covent Garden tube station

Covent Garden is a London Underground station in Covent Garden. It is on the Piccadilly Line between Leicester Square tube station and Holborn tube station....
(Piccadilly Line
Piccadilly Line

The Piccadilly line is a line of the London Underground, coloured dark blue on the Tube map. It is the third busiest line on the Underground network judged by its passengers per annum....
)
Charing Cross
Charing Cross tube station

Charing Cross tube station is a London Underground station at Charing Cross in the City of Westminster with entrances located in Trafalgar Square and Strand, London....
(Northern Line
Northern Line

The Northern line is a deep-level tube line on the London Underground, coloured black on the Tube map. It carries more passengers per year than any other Underground line; 206,734,000 passengers per annum....
, Bakerloo Line
Bakerloo Line

The Bakerloo line is a line of the London Underground, coloured brown on the Tube map. It runs partly on the surface and partly at deep level, from the Elephant and Castle in south-east to Wealdstone in north-west of London....
, National Rail
Charing Cross station

Charing Cross station may refer to:In London, England:*Charing Cross railway station*Charing Cross tube station **Embankment tube station was previously named Charing Cross...
)
Leicester Square
Leicester Square tube station

Leicester Square is a station on the London Underground, located on Charing Cross Road, a short distance to the east of Leicester Square itself....
(Piccadilly Line
Piccadilly Line

The Piccadilly line is a line of the London Underground, coloured dark blue on the Tube map. It is the third busiest line on the Underground network judged by its passengers per annum....
, Northern Line
Northern Line

The Northern line is a deep-level tube line on the London Underground, coloured black on the Tube map. It carries more passengers per year than any other Underground line; 206,734,000 passengers per annum....
)
Holborn
Holborn tube station

Holborn is a station of the London Underground in Holborn in London, located at the junction of High Holborn and Kingsway . It is on the Piccadilly Line between Covent Garden tube station and Russell Square tube station, and on the Central Line between Tottenham Court Road tube station and Chancery Lane tube station....
(Piccadilly Line
Piccadilly Line

The Piccadilly line is a line of the London Underground, coloured dark blue on the Tube map. It is the third busiest line on the Underground network judged by its passengers per annum....
, Central Line
Central Line

The Central line is a London Underground line, coloured red on the tube map. It is a deep-level "tube" line, running east-west across London, and has the greatest total length of track of any line on the Underground....
)
Embankment
Embankment tube station

Embankment tube station is a London Underground station in the City of Westminster, known for most of its history as Charing Cross.The station is served by the Circle line , District Line, Northern Line and Bakerloo Line Lines....
(Circle Line, District Line
District Line

The District line is a line of the London Underground, coloured green on the Tube map. It is a "sub-surface" line, running through the central area in shallow cut-and-cover tunnels....
, Northern Line
Northern Line

The Northern line is a deep-level tube line on the London Underground, coloured black on the Tube map. It carries more passengers per year than any other Underground line; 206,734,000 passengers per annum....
and Bakerloo Line
Bakerloo Line

The Bakerloo line is a line of the London Underground, coloured brown on the Tube map. It runs partly on the surface and partly at deep level, from the Elephant and Castle in south-east to Wealdstone in north-west of London....
)

Cultural connections

The marketplace and Royal Opera House were memorably brought together in the opening of George Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw, was an Irish people playwright.Although Shaw's first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, his talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60 plays....
's play, Pygmalion
Pygmalion (play)

Pygmalion is a Play by George Bernard Shaw loosely inspired by Pygmalion . It tells the story of Henry Higgins, a professor of phonetics who makes a bet with his friend Colonel Pickering that he can successfully pass off a Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, as a refined society lady by teaching her how to speak with an upper class...
, as well its musical adaptation by Alan Jay Lerner

Alan Jay Lerner

Alan Jay Lerner was an United States Broadway theatre lyricist and librettist. Together with Frederick Loewe, he created some of the world's most popular and enduring works of musical theatre....
, My Fair Lady
My Fair Lady

My Fair Lady is a musical theater based upon George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe....
. In both, Professor Henry Higgins

Pygmalion (play)

Pygmalion is a Play by George Bernard Shaw loosely inspired by Pygmalion . It tells the story of Henry Higgins, a professor of phonetics who makes a bet with his friend Colonel Pickering that he can successfully pass off a Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, as a refined society lady by teaching her how to speak with an upper class...
is waiting for a cab to take him home from the opera when he comes across Eliza Doolittle selling flowers in the market.

In the mid-1950s, before he directed such films as If.... and O Lucky Man!
O Lucky Man!

O Lucky Man! is a British comedy film, intended as an allegory on life in a capitalist society. Directed by Lindsay Anderson, it stars Malcolm McDowell as Mick Travis films, whom McDowell had first played as a disaffected public schoolboy in his debut performance in Anderson's 1968 film if........
, Lindsay Anderson

Lindsay Anderson

Lindsay Gordon Anderson was an Indian-born England feature film, theatre and documentary film director, film critic, and leading light of the Free Cinema movement and the British New Wave....
directed a short film about the daily activities of the Covent Garden market called Every Day Except Christmas
Every Day Except Christmas

Every Day Except Christmas is a 37-minute documentary film made at Covent Garden in 1957 and directed by Lindsay Anderson. It was produced by Karel Reisz and Leon Clore under the sponsorship of Ford of Britain, the first of the "Look At Britain" series....
. It shows 12 hours in the life of the market and market people, now long gone from the area, but it also reflects three centuries of tradition in the operation of the daily fruit and vegetable market.

Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, Order of the British Empire was a British filmmaker and film producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres....
's 1972 film, Frenzy
Frenzy

Frenzy is a Thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and is the penultimate feature film of his extensive career. The film is based upon the novel Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square by Arthur La Bern, and was adapted for the screen by Anthony Shaffer....
, likewise takes place amongst the pubs and fruit markets of Covent Garden. The serial sex killer in Frenzy is a local fruit vendor, and the film features several blackly comic moments suggesting a metaphorical correlation between the consumption of food and the act of rape–murder. Hitchcock was the son of a retail greengrocer in North-East London and would have known the area; and so, the film was partly conceived (and marketed) as a semi-nostalgic return to familiar streets from the director's childhood.

Streets

Neal Street, named after Thomas Neale

Thomas Neale

Thomas Neale was a British projector and politician and well known in the United States as being the first equivalent to a postmaster general of the colonies....
(1641-1699) who designed the Seven Dials

Seven Dials

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed the perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock....
club The Roxy

The Roxy

The Roxy was a fashionable nightclub on Neal Street in London's Covent Garden, known for hosting the flowering British punk music scene in its infancy....
in 1977. It is the centre of a fashion

Fashion

Fashion refers to the styles and customs prevalent at a given time. In its most common usage, "fashion" exemplifies the appearances of clothing, but the term encompasses more....
-focused mid-market retailing district which caters mainly for young people.

Bibliography

Boursnell, Clive, Covent Garden Market, London: Studio Vista, 1977, ISBN 0-289-70806-0 (mainly author's photographs of the Market activities and people)

External links

of the Survey of London
Survey of London

The Survey of London is a research project to produce a comprehensive historical and architectural survey of the former County of London. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Robert Ashbee, an Arts and Crafts movement architect and social thinker, and was motivated by a desire to record and preserve London's ancient monuments....
online (published 1970). A very detailed architectural history.