Everything about Seven Dials totally explained
Seven Dials is a small but well-known
road junction in the
West End of
London near
Covent Garden where seven streets converge to form a roundabout, at the centre of which is a pillar bearing six (not seven) sundials.
The term also refers informally to the immediate surrounding area.
History
The original Seven Dials area was designed by
Thomas Neale in the early
1690s. The original plan had six roads converging, although this was later increased to seven. The
sundial pillar was built with only six faces, however, probably because of the original design. This high number of roads was chosen in order to maximise the number of houses that could be built on the site.
Neale aimed for the site to be a popular with well-off residents, following the successful development of the nearby fashionable Covent Garden Piazza area. This wasn't to be, however, and the area deteriorated. At one stage, each of the seven apexes facing the column housed a
pub. By the
nineteenth century, Seven Dials had become one of the most notorious
slums in London, being part of the
rookery of
St Giles. The area was described colourfully by
Charles Dickens in his collection
Sketches by Boz, which includes the quote:
It was still a byword for urban poverty in the early
twentieth century, when
Agatha Christie set
The Seven Dials Mystery (1929) there.
The original sundial column was removed in
1773. It had been believed that this was due to being pulled down by an
angry mob, although recent research suggests it was deliberately removed by the Paving Commissioners in an attempt to rid the area of
undesirables. The remains were acquired by architect
James Paine, who kept them at his house in
Addlestone,
Surrey. In
1820, the remains were purchased by public subscription and re-erected in nearby
Weybridge, as a memorial to the
Duchess of York.
Seven Dials today
Today, Seven Dials is a prosperous, mainly commercial neighbourhood, between the
West End theatre district and the fashion-focused shopping district which is centred on nearby
Neal Street. Despite some redevelopment, many of the original buildings remain.
Gentrification hasn't wiped out all the urban poverty: street
homelessness and
drug addiction are still present in the area. One of the seven apexes of the famous junction itself boasts a
public house: The Crown at Seven Dials. Another features the
Cambridge Theatre.
The replacement sundial column to be seen today was constructed between
1988 and
1989, to the original design. It was unveiled by
Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, during her visit to commemorate the tercentenary of the reign of
William and Mary, during which the area was developed. Popular tradition as to why the pillar has only
six dials is that the seventh sundial is formed by the pillar itself casting its shadow on the ground.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Seven Dials'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://seven_dials.totallyexplained.com">Seven Dials Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
