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).
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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.
Monks would have grown plants for medicinal reasons and were in fact at the forefront of plant pharmaceutical practice. They knew quite a bit about different plants and herbs.
A few centuries later, King Henry VIII seized the grounds as part of his dissolution of the monasteries which took place through two acts in the years up to 1540. The Reformation came into being when Henry VIII wished to divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, who had failed to give him a male heir but the Pope refused to grant the divorce, so Henry created the Church of England. The Act of Supremacy in 1534 confirmed the break from Rome, declaring Henry as the Supreme Head of the Church of England. Henry seized many lands and granted them to noblemen around the country in return for support and favours. At the time, monasteries were a reminder of the power of the Catholic Church. By the 1530s, monasteries owned over 25% of all the cultivated land in England.
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 coffee houses, taverns and brothels (with many interesting tales still being told about it). 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.
