A Walk around Covent Garden & Strand

London is packed full of stories and tales - and Covent Garden has its fair share. Exploring this famous market area and its history can help us appreciate how it has evolved, and perhaps how it will evolve in future (if you happen to be interested in improving urban environments, visit surediscities.com).

If you want to go on a professional London guided walking tour, check the options available from the teams at London Walks, London Guided Walks and Look Up London Walks. They all offer some great guided tours of London of various types, which are typically packed with lots of information.

The name “covent” is an Anglo-French term meaning a religious community. The area now known as Covent Garden is thought to have been briefly settled in the 7th century when it became the centre of the Anglo-Saxon trading town called Ludenwic (which pre-dated London). The area was later abandoned and it wasn't until 1200AD that mention in records is made of a walled garden, as an area that was walled off for use as a convent by Westminster Abbey to grow produce, for which purpose it served for many years.

A few centuries later, King Henry VIII seized the grounds as part of his dissolution of the monasteries which took place in 1540. Henry seized many lands and granted them to noblemen around the country in return for support and favours. John Russell, the first Earl of Bedford was granted the lands of Covent Garden in 1552 by Henry VIII’s son, Edward VI. The Bedford family would hold onto the land for over 350 years, until 1918. 

By the mid-1600s a small open-air fruit-and-vegetable market had developed on the south side of the area. Gradually, both the market and the surrounding area fell into disrepute, as taverns, theatres, coffee-houses and brothels opened up. By the 18th century it had become notorious for its abundance of brothels. An Act of Parliament was drawn up to control the area, and Charles Fowler's neo-classical building was erected in 1830 to cover the market. Further buildings were added: the Floral Hall, Charter Market, and in 1904 the Jubilee Market. By the end of the 1960s traffic was causing problems, and in 1974 the actual market relocated to the New Covent Garden Market about three miles (5 km) south-west at Nine Elms. The main building re-opened as a shopping centre in 1980 and it now serves as a major tourist location of London, including a craft market. Much of its history survives, which you can see in a visit to the area.

If you want to go on a professional London guided walking tour, check the options available from the teams at London Walks, London Guided Walks and Look Up London Walks as well as Blue Badge Guides (I do not provide any opinions one way or the other - find what works for you).

The 4th Earl of Bedford, Francis Russell, is responsible for creating the footprint we see of the current Covent Garden in the early 1630s. A key driver for the creation of the square in the first place was the dissatisfaction of King Charles I with Long Acre nearby, which had become run down. 

The first Covent Garden square, which was intended to be a church on one side and three terraces of stately houses on the three others, was commissioned by Francis Russell employing Inigo Jones as the architect. Not much of what Jones created remains in place today - the only remaining part of the first square is the front of the church. 

The Piazza square that resulted was a watershed in English architecture. Covent Garden was the first Square in London and it was an instant hit; everyone wanted to live there. Wealthy families moved into the arcaded houses that Jones designed to the north and east. After Covent Garden a proliferation of squares were created – including Russell Square, Tavistock Square and Bedford Square. 

After the Great Fire of London of 1666, the entire square was devoted to the selling of fresh fruit and vegetables, as Covent Garden became London's largest market.