Covent Garden and the Back-to-Front Church

Transcript

The area known as Covent Garden lies in the heart of London’s Theatreland. It was long known for its fruit and vegetable market and its flower sellers - just think of Eliza Doolittle - but its story goes back much further. This district lay at the heart of the old Saxon city, Lundenwic, and it’s been a trading hub for a long time.

 The market moved out to Nine Elms in 1974, but the Piazza remains a busy, slightly chaotic place, with its antiques markets, street entertainers, upmarket boutiques, cafes and restaurants. The Royal Opera House has an entrance on the square itself.

A New Square and a Back-to-Front Church

The square dates back to the seventeenth century, when the Duke of Bedford redeveloped the site, and created London’s first planned city square. He hired the architect Inigo Jones to create an Italianate piazza, complete with grand houses and colonnades on three sides. The western edge of the square was reserved for St Paul’s Church.

The story goes that the Duke was not that bothered about having a church there, and instructed Jones to build something “not much better than a barn”. Jones was not one to build any old building however, and he is reputed to have declared: “I shall build the handsomest barn in England.”

The site caused a problem though. Jones’ entrance, a grand portico was at the eastern end of the church, overlooking the piazza, which had the church authorities up in arms. The building was nearly finished, but Jones was forced to close the entrance, and build a new entrance at the western end.

Today, the portico frequently acts as a stage for street entertainers. It was here that Samuel Pepys saw the first performance of Italian puppetry in England, the ancestor of the Punch and Judy show.

St Paul’s Church has become known as the “Actor’s Church”. It has built close relations with the surrounding theatrical community, and even has its own drama company. Inside it is small and cozy, and you can see many memorials to famous figures from the stage and screen, including Ellen Terry, Edith Evans, Boris Karloff, Vivien Leigh and Charlie Chaplin.

The church, an afterthought on the part of the Duke, is the only remaining building on the site to survive from the seventeenth century.

Londinium, Lundenwic, London - a city of stories

Welcome to this, the first post on my new blog, London Histories!

Samuel Pepys' quote, about the man who is tired of London being tired of life, has become a cliche, but he wasn't wrong. There's always something going on in this huge, ancient city. It's not always good, but it's certainly always interesting! For a history geek like me, it's the perfect place to live.

This blog will, I hope, tells some of London's stories from its 2,000 years of history. And there are a lot, from Boudica's rebellion to the poet buried standing up, from the execution of King Charles I to the woman who survived an air raid as she was sheltered by her cast-iron bathtub. As the metropolis sees new skyscrapers soar, archaeologists are taking the opportunity to discover the origins of the city, uncovering artefacts and stories as they go. The city is always reinventing itself, shaking off war and rebellion and the depredations of developers alike.

I plan to document both new discoveries and the stories of the ordinary Londoner, as they are so often no less interesting than stories about the great and the powerful. I hope you can join me!