Soho and Covent Garden

1. Introduction

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   This walk goes from Tottenham Court Road station to Covent Garden station through Soho and Covent Garden. You will pass a garden square, a fashion street, a street market, Chinatown and Leicester Square, then reach Seven Dials, Neal's Yard and the old Covent Garden piazza. The route is compact, so you can take it at an easy pace.

2. Stop 1: Soho Square

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   Soho Square was built in the late 1670s, and the first lease was granted in 1677. It began life as King Square, after Charles the Second, and by a map of 1746 it was being called Soho Square. The garden at its centre is looked after by a local committee and leased to Westminster City Council, so it works like a public park. Look for the half-timbered hut in the garden. It was built in 1926 in the style of a market cross, and it hides an electricity substation. Next stop: Carnaby Street.

   Sources for this stop

   • Wikipedia: Soho Square (opens in new tab)

3. Stop 2: Carnaby Street

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   Carnaby Street takes its name from Karnaby House, built in 1683. The origin of that name is unknown. The street was laid out soon after, and was almost fully built by 1690. Its fashion story starts in the 1950s. John Stephen opened his shop, His Clothes, in 1957, and other menswear shops followed. In 1966 Lady Jane became the first women's fashion boutique on the street, and a Time magazine cover story that April brought it international attention as part of Swinging London. The street was pedestrianised in 1973. Next stop: Berwick Street Market.

   Sources for this stop

   • Wikipedia: Carnaby Street (opens in new tab)

4. Stop 3: Berwick Street Market

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   Berwick Street has had a street market for well over a century. A London County Council survey from 1893 says it began around 1843, and it counted thirty-two stalls on Saturdays. Many of the traders had moved over from Seven Dials after Shaftesbury Avenue was built. In 1854 a major cholera outbreak was centred on this street. Today it is still a small outdoor market, selling fruit and vegetables, hot food, clothing and household goods. Traders keep their own hours, so check before you plan a stop. Next stop: Old Compton Street.

   Sources for this stop

   • Wikipedia: Berwick Street (opens in new tab)

5. Stop 4: Old Compton Street

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   Old Compton Street is named after Henry Compton, who raised money for the local parish church, St Anne's, dedicated in 1686. It was plain Compton Street until 1896. In the nineteenth century it was a gathering place for exiles, especially French ones. The Algerian Coffee Stores opened here in 1887 and is counted among the street's oldest shops. Since the 1970s the street has been a focal point for London's LGBT community. In 1999 a nail bomb attack on the Admiral Duncan pub killed three people, and the pub reopened afterwards. Next stop: Chinatown.

   Sources for this stop

   • Wikipedia: Old Compton Street (opens in new tab)

6. Stop 5: Chinatown

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   London's first Chinatown was in Limehouse, in the East End, where Chinese-run businesses served sailors from the docks. After the Second World War, Chinese restaurants opened elsewhere, probably first on Lisle Street. By the 1970s this enclave off Shaftesbury Avenue was being recognised as Chinatown. Before that it was a run-down part of Soho. Gerrard Street is still its core, though the area has no official boundary. A Qing-style gate on Wardour Street opened in July 2016. Next stop: Leicester Square.

   Sources for this stop

   • Wikipedia: Chinatown, London (opens in new tab)

7. Stop 6: Leicester Square

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   The square is named after Robert Sidney, the second Earl of Leicester, who bought the land in 1630. His house, Leicester House, was built by 1635, and the square was laid out in the 1670s as Leicester Fields. In 1874 the MP Albert Grant bought it and gave it to the Metropolitan Board of Works. The statue of Shakespeare with dolphins around it dates from that redesign, and it is the only original statue left. The square is best known for cinemas and film premieres. A big refurbishment finished in 2012. Next stop: Seven Dials.

   Sources for this stop

   • Wikipedia: Leicester Square (opens in new tab)

8. Stop 7: Seven Dials

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   Seven Dials was laid out in the early 1690s by the developer Thomas Neale. He planned six roads meeting here, and a seventh was added later. A sundial column designed by Edward Pierce went up in 1694. It has six dial faces, and the column itself acts as the seventh dial. The original was taken down in 1773. For a long time people believed a mob pulled it down, but recent research suggests the Paving Commissioners removed it on purpose. A new column, following the original design, was unveiled in 1989. Next stop: Neal's Yard.

   Sources for this stop

   • Wikipedia: Seven Dials, London (opens in new tab)

9. Stop 8: Neal's Yard

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   Neal's Yard is named after Thomas Neale, the seventeenth-century developer who also laid out Seven Dials. In the 1970s the activist and entrepreneur Nicholas Saunders bought a derelict warehouse here that had been used by the old Covent Garden fruit and vegetable market, and set up a wholefood warehouse. Other businesses grew from his success, including Neal's Yard Dairy, Monmouth Coffee and Neal's Yard Remedies. In 1976 Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam bought offices at number eleven. Next stop: Covent Garden Piazza and Market.

   Sources for this stop

   • Wikipedia: Neal's Yard (opens in new tab)

10. Stop 9: Covent Garden Piazza & Market

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    In 1630 Francis Russell, the fourth Earl of Bedford, asked Inigo Jones to lay out this piazza, which became London's first modern square. Market traders first set up stalls here in 1654, and in 1670 Charles the Second granted the Earl a charter for a daily fruit and vegetable market. Charles Fowler's neoclassical market hall was built in 1830. In 1974 the market moved about three miles south west to Nine Elms, and in 1980 the central building reopened as a shopping centre. Covent Garden station is close by, where the walk ends.

    Sources for this stop

    • Wikipedia: Covent Garden (opens in new tab)

Written for Britlens from the sources listed under each stop. Check opening times and access on the official sites before you go.