Covent Garden Piazza

Piazza, Covent Garden, London, England, United Kingdom Photographic Print 12" x 9" $19.99 Unframed

Sir Walter Besant, in The Fascination of London, published in 1903, continues his survey of the Strand district with a look at the Covent Garden Piazza:

The great square called the Covent Garden Market was laid out by the Earl of Bedford in 1631; the Piazza ran along the north and east sides; the church and churchyard formed the west side; on the south was the wall of Bedford House, and by a small grove of trees in the middle stood a sundial. The place gradually grew as a market. In 1710 there were only a few sheds; in 1748 the sheds had become tenements, with upper rooms inhabited by bakers, cooks and retailers of gin.

The square itself is redolent of memories. When first built it was one of the most fashionable parts of London, and the names of the occupiers were all titled or distinguished. We read among them those of the Bishop of Durham, Duke of Richmond, Earl of Oxford, Marquis of Winchester, Sir Godfrey Kneller, and the Earl of Sussex.

The arcade, or Piazza, as it was called, was a fashionable lounging-place, and many foundling children were called Piazza in its honour. One of the scenes in Otway's "Soldier of Fortune" is laid here, and also one in Wycherley's "Country Wife." Sir Peter Lely had a house in the square, and this house was successively occupied by Sir Godfrey Kneller and Sir James Thornhill (Timbs).

Coffee-houses and taverns abounded in and about the square. Of these the most famous were Will's, Button's and Tom's, well known by the references to them in contemporary literature. The first of these in point of time was "Will's," which stood at the north corner of Russell Street and Bow Street.