 
The Underground Map Added: 8 Dec 2020 00:24 GMT | Othello takes a bow On 1 November 1604, William Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello was presented for the first time, at The Palace of Whitehall. The palace was the main residence of the English monarchs in London from 1530 until 1698. Seven years to the day, Shakespeare’s romantic comedy The Tempest was also presented for the first time, and also at the Palace of Whitehall.
Reply |
 
Linda Webb Added: 27 Sep 2021 05:51 GMT | Hungerford Stairs In 1794 my ancestor, George Webb, Clay Pipe Maker, lived in Hungerford Stairs, Strand. Source: Wakefields Merchant & Tradesmens General Directory London Westminster 1794
Source: Hungerford Stairs
Reply |
 
Roy Batham Added: 7 Jan 2022 07:17 GMT | Smithy in Longacre John Burris 1802-1848 Listed 1841 census as Burroughs was a blacksmith, address just given as Longacre.
Source: Batham/Wiseman - Family Tree
Reply |
 
Reg Carr Added: 10 Feb 2021 12:11 GMT | Campbellite Meeting In 1848 the Campbellites (Disciples of Christ) met in Elstree Street, where their congregation was presided over by a pastor named John Black. Their appointed evangelist at the time was called David King, who later became the Editor of the British Millennial Harbinger. The meeting room was visited in July 1848 by Dr John Thomas, who spoke there twice on his two-year ’mission’ to Britain.
Reply |
 
Scott Hatton Added: 11 Sep 2020 19:47 GMT | Millions Of Rats In Busy London The Daily Mail on 14 April 1903 reported "MILLIONS OF RATS IN BUSY LONDON"
A rat plague, unprecedented in the annals of London, has broken out on the north side of the Strand. The streets principally infested are Catherine street, Drury lane, Blackmore street, Clare Market and Russell street. Something akin to a reign of terror prevails among the inhabitants after nightfall. Women refuse to pass along Blackmore street and the lower parts of Stanhope street after dusk, for droves of rats perambulate the roadways and pavements, and may be seen running along the window ledges of the empty houses awaiting demolition by the County Council in the Strand to Holborn improvement scheme.
The rats, indeed, have appeared in almost-incredible numbers. "There are millions of them," said one shopkeeper, and his statement was supported by other residents. The unwelcome visitors have been evicted from their old haunts by the County Council housebreakers, and are now busily in search of new homes. The Gaiety Restaurant has been the greatest sufferer. Rats have invaded the premises in such force that the managers have had to close the large dining room on the first floor and the grill rooms on the ground floor and in the basement. Those three spacious halls which have witnessed many as semblages of theatre-goers are now qui:e deserted. Behind the wainscot of the bandstand in the grillroom is a large mound of linen shreds. This represents 1728 serviettes carried theee by the rats.
In the bar the removal of a panel disclosed the astonishing fact that the rats have dragged for a distance of seven or eight yards some thirty or forty beer and wine bottles and stacked them in such a fashion as to make comfortable sleeping places. Mr Williams. the manager of the restaurant, estimates that the rats have destroyed L200 worth of linen. Formerly the Gaiety Restaurant dined 2000 persons daily; no business whatever is now done in this direction.
Reply |
 
Bruce McTavish Added: 11 Mar 2021 11:37 GMT | Kennington Road Lambeth North station was opened as Kennington Road and then Westminster Bridge Road before settling on its final name. It has a wonderful Leslie Green design.
Reply |
 
Julian Added: 23 Mar 2021 10:11 GMT | Dennis Potter Author Dennis Potter lived in Collingwood House in the 1970’s
Reply |
 
Jessie Doring Added: 22 Feb 2021 04:33 GMT | Tisbury Court Jazz Bar Jazz Bar opened in Tisbury Court by 2 Australians. Situated in underground basement. Can not remember how long it opened for.
Reply |
 
Richard Roques Added: 21 Jan 2021 16:53 GMT | Buckingham Street residents Here in Buckingham Street lived Samuel Pepys the diarist, Charles Dickens and Rudyard Kipling
Reply |
 
Jude Allen Added: 29 Jul 2021 07:53 GMT | Bra top I jave a jewelled item of clothong worn by a revie girl.
It is red with diamante straps. Inside it jas a label Bermans Revue 16 Orange Street but I cannot find any info online about the revue only that 16 Orange Street used to be a theatre. Does any one know about the revue. I would be intesrested to imagine the wearer of the article and her London life.
Reply |
 
Lena Added: 18 Mar 2021 13:08 GMT | White Conduit Street, N1 My mum, Rosina Wade of the Wade and Hannam family in the area of Chapel Street and Parkfield Street, bought her first “costume” at S Cohen’s in White Conduit Street. Would have probably been about 1936 or thereabouts. She said that he was a small man but an expert tailor. I hope that Islington Council preserve the shop front as it’s a piece of history of the area. Mum used to get her high heel shoes from an Italian shoe shop in Chapel Street. She had size 2 feet and they would let her know when a new consignment of size 2 shoes were in. I think she was a very good customer. She worked at Killingbacks artificial flower maker in Northampton Square and later at the Halifax bombers factory north of Edgware where she was a riveter.
Reply |
 
sam Added: 31 Dec 2021 00:54 GMT | Burdett Street, SE1 I was on 2nd July 1952, in Burdett chambers (which is also known as Burdett buildings)on Burdett street
Reply |
LATEST LONDON-WIDE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PROJECT |
 
Katharina Logan Added: 9 Aug 2022 19:01 GMT | Ely place existed in name in 1857 On 7th July 1857 John James Chase and Mary Ann Weekes were married at St John the Baptist Hoxton, he of full age and she a minor. Both parties list their place of residence as Ely Place, yet according to other information, this street was not named until 1861. He was a bricklayer, she had no occupation listed, but both were literate and able to sign their names on their marriage certificate.
Source: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CSF7-Q9Y7?cc=3734475
Reply |
 
Reginald John Gregory Added: 8 Aug 2022 14:07 GMT | Worked in the vicinity of my ancestor’s house, Between the years 1982-1998 (unknown to me at the time) I worked in an office close to the site of my ancestors cottage. I discovered this when researching family history - the cottage was mentioned in the 1871 census for Colindeep Lane/Ancient Street coming up from the Hyde. The family lived in the ares betwen 1805 and 1912.
Reply |
 
Barry J. Page Added: 27 Jul 2022 19:41 GMT | Highbury Corner V1 Explosion Grandma described the V1 explosion at Highbury Corner on many occasions. She was working in the scullery when the flying bomb landed. The blast shattered all the windows in the block of flats and blew off the bolt on her front door. As she looked out the front room window, people in various states of injury and shock were making their way along Highbury Station Road. One man in particular, who was bleeding profusely from glass shard wounds to his neck, insisted in getting home to see if his family was all right. Others were less fortunate. Len, the local newsagent, comforted a man, who had lost both legs caused by the blast, until the victim succumbed to his injuries. The entire area was ravaged and following are statistics. The flying bomb landed during lunch hour (12:46 p.m.) on June 27th 1944. 26 people lost their lives, 84 were seriously injured and 71 slightly injured.
Reply |
 
ANON Added: 20 Jul 2022 13:36 GMT | The Square & Ashmore park The Square and Ashmore park was the place to be 2000-2005. Those were the greatest times on the estate. everyday people were playing out. the park was full of kids just being kids and having fun, now everyone is grown up and only bump into eachother when heading to the shops or work. I miss the good days( Im 25yrs old as im writing this)
Reply |
 
Added: 18 Jul 2022 13:56 GMT | Map of Thornsett Road Esrlsfield
Reply |
 
Carolyn Hirst Added: 16 Jul 2022 15:21 GMT | Henry James Hirst My second great grandfather Henry James Hirst was born at 18 New Road on 11 February 1861. He was the eighth of the eleven children of Rowland and Isabella Hirst. I think that this part of New Road was also known at the time as Gloucester Terrace.
Reply |
 
Richard Added: 12 Jul 2022 21:36 GMT | Elgin Crescent, W11 Richard Laitner (1955-1983), a barrister training to be a doctor at UCL, lived here in 1983. He was murdered aged 28 with both his parents after attending his sister’s wedding in Sheffield in 1983. The Richard Laitner Memorial Fund maintains bursaries in his memory at UCL Medical School
Source: Ancestry Library Edition
Reply |
 
Anthony Mckay Added: 11 Jul 2022 00:12 GMT | Bankfield Cottages, Ass House Lane, Harrow Weald Bankfield Cottages (now demolished) at the end of Ass House Lane, appear twice in ’The Cheaters’ televison series (made 1960) in the episodes ’The Fine Print’ and ’Tine to Kill’
Source: THE CHEATERS: Episode Index
Reply |
Admiral Duncan The Admiral Duncan is well-known as one of Soho’s oldest gay pubs. British Museum British Museum was a station on the Central line, located in Holborn and taking its name from the nearby British Museum in Great Russell Street. De Hems De Hems has become a base for London’s Dutch community, serving bitterballen and frikandellen. Garrick Yard Garrick Yard, together with the more familiar Garrick Street to the northeast of here, both took their names from the Garrick Club which commemorates the famous 18th century actor, David Garrick. L’Escargot L’Escargot is one of London’s oldest restaurants. Queen’s Theatre The Queen’s Theatre is located in Shaftesbury Avenue on the corner of Wardour Street. St Giles St Giles is a district of central London, at the southern tip of the London Borough of Camden. Trident Studios Trident Studios was located at 17 St Anne’s Court between 1968 and 1981. Andrew Borde Street, W1D Andrew Borde Street was situated opposite the end of Sutton Row and under the Centre Point development. Archer Street, W1D Archer Street was Arch Street in 1675, Orchard Street in 1720 and Archer Street by 1746. Arne Street, WC2E Arne Street was named after the 18th century composer Thomas Arne, who was born near here. Bainbridge Street, WC2H Bainbridge Street takes its name from Henry Bainbridge, a local resident in the 17th century. Banbury Court, WC2E Banbury Court is named for Nicholas Knollys, 3rd Earl of Banbury, who owned a house here called Banbury House. Bateman Street, W1D Bateman Street was named for Sir James Bateman, local landowner and Lord Mayor of London in the 1670s. Bedford Square, WC1B Bedford Square was designed as a unified architectural composition in 1775-6 by Thomas Leverton. Bloomsbury Street, WC1A Bloomsbury Street runs from Gower Street in the north to the junction of New Oxford Street and Shaftesbury Avenue in the south. Bow Street, WC2B Bow Street was built in the shape of a bow between 1633 and 1677. Bow Street, WC2E Bow Street was first developed by Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedford in 1633. Brewer Street, W1D Brewer Street runs west to east from Glasshouse Street to Wardour Street. Broad Court, WC2B Broad Court is one of the streets of London in the WC2B postal area. Bury Place, WC1A Bury Place is one of the streets of London in the WC1A postal area. Charing Cross Road, WC2H Charing Cross Road is a street running immediately north of St Martin-in-the-Fields to St Giles Circus. Ching Court, WC2H Ching Court is one of the streets of London in the WC2H postal area. Covent Garden, WC2E Covent Garden, is the name of a district, but also the name of the central square which formerly hosted a fruit-and-vegetable market. Cranbourn Street, WC2H Cranbourne Street was named after local landowner the Earl of Salisbury, Viscount Cranbourn (Cranbourne) after the town in Dorset. Crown Court, WC2E Crown Court is one of the streets of London in the WC2B postal area. Dansey Place, W1D Dansey Place is one of the streets of London in the W1D postal area. Dean Street, W1D Dean Street is one of the streets of London in the W1D postal area. Drury Lane, WC2B Drury Lane is one of the streets of London in the WC2B postal area. Duck Lane, W1F Duck Lane is one of the streets of London in the W1F postal area. East Street, W1T East Street is one of the streets in the Twickenham postal district. Endell Street, WC2H Endell Street, originally known as Belton Street, is a street that runs from High Holborn in the north to Long Acre and Bow Street in the south. Excel Court, WC2H Excel Court is one of the streets of London in the WC2H postal area. Galen Place, WC1A Galen Place is one of the streets of London in the WC1A postal area. Great Russell Street, WC1A Great Russell Street commemorates the marriage of the daughter of the 4th Earl of Southampton to William Russell in 1669. Great Windmill Street, W1F Great Windmill Street has had a long association with music and entertainment, most notably the Windmill Theatre. Greens Court, W1D Greens Court is one of the streets of London in the W1F postal area. Ham Yard, W1D Ham Yard is one of the streets of London in the W1D postal area. Hanway Place, W1T Hanway Place is one of the streets of London in the W1T postal area. High Holborn, WC2B High Holborn is a road which is the highest point in the City of London - 22 metres above sea level. Hog Lane, WC2H Hog Lane was a lane that went from St Giles’ leper hospital (set up in the 12th century) to the monument to Eleanor at Charing Cross. Kemp’s Court, W1F Kemp’s Court is situated in the heart of Berwick Street Market where a line of stalls stretch down both sides of the road. King Street, WC2E King Street is one of the streets of London in the WC2E postal area. Long Acre, WC2E Long Acre is one of the streets of London in the WC2E postal area. Manette Street, W1D Manette Street in Soho is named after the character from Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities. Meard Street, W1D John Meard, the younger was a carpenter, later a landowner, who developed the street. Moor Street, W1D Moor Street is one of the streets of London in the W1D postal area. Museum Street, WC1A Museum Street is so-named since it approaches the main entrance of the British Museum. Neal Street, WC2H Neal Street is one of the streets of London in the WC2H postal area. Neals Yard, WC2H Neals Yard is one of the streets of London in the WC2H postal area. New Row, WC2E New Row is one of the streets of London in the WC2N postal area. Newport Court, WC2H Newport Court was laid out approximately on the site of the courtyard of Newport House. Newport Place, W1D Newport Place was named after Mountjoy Blount, Earl of Newport (Isle of Wight), who owned a house on Newport Street in the 17th century. Odhams Walk, WC2H Odhams Walk is one of the streets of London in the WC2H postal area. Parker Mews, WC2B Parker Mews is one of the streets of London in the WC2B postal area. Peter Street, W1F Peter Street is one of the streets of London in the W1F postal area. Rathbone Place, W1T Rathbone Place honours Captain Rathbone who was the builder of the road and properties thereon from 1718 onwards. Romilly Street, W1D Romilly Street is a small street that runs behind Shaftesbury Avenue and takes its name from lawyer Samuel Romilly. Rose Street, WC2N Rose Street is one of the streets of London in the WC2E postal area. Royalty Mews, W1D Royalty Mews is one of the streets of London in the W1D postal area. Rupert Court, W1D Rupert Court was named for Prince Rupert of the Rhine, the First Lord of the Admiralty when the court was built in 1676. Seven Dials, WC2H Seven Dials was built on the site of the Cock-and-Pie Fields, named for a nearby inn. Shaftesbury Avenue, W1D Shaftesbury Avenue is a major street in the West End of London, named after Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury. Shaftesbury Avenue, WC2H Shaftesbury Avenue was named after Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, Victorian politician and philanthropist. Sicilian Avenue, WC1V Sicilian Avenue is a shopping parade that diagonally runs in between Southampton Row and Bloomsbury Way. Silver Place, W1F Silver Place is one of the streets of London in the W1F postal area. Smiths Court, W1D Smiths Court is one of the streets of London in the W1D postal area. Soho Square, W1D In its early years, Soho Square was one of the most fashionable places to live in London. Soho Street, W1D Soho Street is one of the streets of London in the W1D postal area. Stephen Mews, W1T Stephen Mews is one of the streets of London in the W1T postal area. The Market, WC2E The Market is one of the streets of London in the WC2E postal area. The Piazza, WC2E The Piazza is one of the streets of London in the WC2E postal area. Tower Court, WC2H Tower Court is one of the streets of London in the WC2H postal area. Walker’s Court, W1D Walker’s Court is one of the many passageways which in past years was known as ’Paved Alley’. Wardour Street, W1D The W1D part of Wardour Street south of Shaftesbury Avenue runs through London’s Chinatown. Wardour Street, W1F Wardour Street is a street that runs north from Leicester Square, through Chinatown, across Shaftesbury Avenue to Oxford Street. West Street, WC2H West Street is one of the streets of London in the WC2H postal area. Wild Street, WC2B Wild Street is one of the streets of London in the WC2B postal area. Admiral Duncan The Admiral Duncan is well-known as one of Soho’s oldest gay pubs. Apartment 58 This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Ape and Bird This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Bar Termini This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Be@One This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Blocks Cafe This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Bloomsbury Tavern This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Byron Hamburgers This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Carlisle Arms This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Clock House The Coach & Horses is a pub on the corner of Romilly Street and Greek Street. Club 49 This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Comptons Of Soho This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. De Hems De Hems has become a base for London’s Dutch community, serving bitterballen and frikandellen. Dog and Duck The Dog and Duck is on the corner of Frith Street and Bateman Street. Duke Of Argyll This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Duke of Wellington This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Fitzroy Tavern This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Garlic & Shots This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Glasshouse Stores This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Golden Lion This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Hercules Pillar This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Hudsons House This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Jack Horner This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Kopapa This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Lyric This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Marquis Of Granby This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Museum Tavern This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. My Old Dutch This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Nellie Dean This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Newman Arms The Newman Arms has been a Fitzrovia fixture for centuries. Nordic Wine Bar This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. O’Neills This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Philomena’s This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Pillars Of Hercules This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Princess Louise This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Salsa! This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Secrets This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. St Martin’s Theatre This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Sway This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Angel This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Blue Post This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Blue Posts This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Cambridge Theatre This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Crown This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Crown This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The O’ Bar This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Old Crown This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Plough This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Ship This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Sun This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Sussex This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Tottenham This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Toucan This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Wheatsheaf This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. The Yard Bar This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Three Greyhounds This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Troy Club This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Truckles Wine Bar This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Two Brewers This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Unknown as yet This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Unknown as yet This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Unknown as yet This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Unknown as yet This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Vinyl Bar This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. Waxy’s Little Sister This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. White Hart This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so. White Horse This pub existed immediately prior to the 2020 global pandemic and may still do so.
St Giles is a district of central London, at the southern tip of the London Borough of Camden.
There has been a church at St Giles since Saxon times, located beside a major highway. The hospital of St Giles, recorded c. 1120 as Hospitali Sancti Egidii extra Londonium was founded, together with a monastery and a chapel, by Queen Matilda, wife of Henry I. St Giles (c. 650 – c. 710) was the patron saint of lepers and the hospital was home to a leper colony, the site chosen for its surrounding fields and marshes separating contagion from nearby London.
A village grew up to cater to the brethren and patients. The crossroads which is now St Giles Circus, where Oxford Street, Charing Cross Road, Tottenham Court Road and New Oxford St meet, was the site of a gallows until the fifteenth century. Grape Street, in the heart of the St Giles district, runs beside the site of the hospital’s vineyard.
The monastery was dissolved during the Reformation and a parish church created from the chapel. The hospital continued to care for lepers until the mid sixteenth century, when the disease abated and the hospital instead began to care for indigents. The parish was known as St Giles in the Fields and it is recorded in 1563 as Seynt Gyles in the Field.
The first post-Catholic parish church was built in 1631 and from the mid-seventeenth century church wardens note "a great influx of poor people into this parish".
The 1665 Great Plague started in St Giles and the first victims were buried in the St Giles churchyard. By September 1665, 8000 people were dying a week in London. By the end of the plague year there were 3216 listed plague deaths in St Giles parish, which had fewer than 2000 households. After the Restoration, the area was populated by Huguenot refugees who had fled persecution and established themselves as tradesmen and artisans, particularly in weaving and the silk trade.
The southern area of the parish, around present day Shaftesbury Avenue, was a wasteland named Cock and Pye Fields. Houses were not built there until 1666, after the Great Fire, and not fully developed until 1693, becoming known as Seven Dials. Thomas Neale built much of the area, giving his name to Neal Street and Neal’s Yard. St Giles and Seven Dials became known for their astrologers and alchemists, an association which lasts to this day. The village of St Giles stood on the main road from Holborn to Tyburn, a place of local execution. Convicted criminals were often allowed, in tradition, to stop at St Giles en route to Tyburn for a final drink - a St Giles Bowl - before hanging.
The ancient parish of St Giles in the Fields formed part of the Ossulstone hundred of Middlesex. The parish of St George Bloomsbury was split off in 1731, but the parishes were combined for civil purposes in 1774 and used for the administration of the Poor Law after the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834.
As London grew in the 18th and 19th centuries, so did the parish’s population, rising to 30 000 by 1831. The Rookery stood between the church and Great Russell Street, and Seven Dials near where Centre Point stands today, now home to the Centrepoint homeless charity. It was of one of the worst slums within Britain, a site of overcrowding and squalor, a semi-derelict warren. From Georgian affluence in the 18th century, the area declined rapidly, as houses were divided up, many families sharing a single room. Irish Catholic immigrants seeking to escape desperate poverty took up residence and the slum was nicknamed ’Little Ireland’ or ’The Holy Land’. The expression "a St Giles cellar" passed into common parlance, describing the worst conditions of poverty. Open sewers often ran through rooms and cesspits were left untended. Residents complained to the Times in 1849 : "We live in muck and filth. We aint got no priviz, no dust bins, no drains, no water-splies, and no drain or suer in the hole place." The rookery was a maze of gin shops, prostitutes’ hovels and secret alleyways that police had little of hope navigating. William Hogarth, Thomas Rowlandson and Gustav Dore, among others, have drawn the area, novelists Henry Fielding and Charles Dickens have written about it extensively. Peter Ackroyd writes "The Rookeries embodied the worst living conditions in all of London’s history; this was the lowest point which human beings could reach".
From the 1830s to the 1870s plans were developed to demolish the slum as part of London wide clearances for improved transport routes, sanitation and the expansion of the railways. New Oxford Street was driven through the area to join the areas of Oxford Street and Holborn. The Rookery dwellers were not re-housed by the authorities. 5000 were evicted and many just moved into near by slums, such Devil’s Acre and Church Lane making those more overcrowded still. The unchanging character of the area, failing investment schemes and inability to sell new properties ensured that plans for wholesale clearance were stymied until the end of the century.
Upon the creation of the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1855 the combined parishes became the St Giles District and were transferred to the County of London in 1889.
The local government of London was reorganised in 1900 and St Giles became part of the Metropolitan Borough of Holborn.
The Central London Railway opened Tottenham Court Tube Station, between the Church of St Giles in the Fields and St Giles Circus on 30 July 1900. Tottenham Court Road underwent improvements in the early 1930s to replace lifts with escalators.
In 2009, Transport for London began a major reconstruction of large parts of the station. Much of the St Giles area alongside St Giles High Street was cleared to make way for the new development including Crossrail expansion.
Since 1965. St Giles has been part of the London Borough of Camden.
In the neighbourhood...
Click an image below for a better view...










Trident Studios was located at 17 St Anne’s Court, Soho between 1968 and 1981.
"My Name is Jack" by Manfred Mann was recorded at Trident in March 1968, and helped launch the studio’s reputation. Later that year, the Beatles recorded their song "Hey Jude" there and part of their self-titled double album (also known as the "White Album"). Other well-known albums and songs recorded at Trident include Elton John’s "Your Song", David Bowie’s The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, Lou Reed’s Transformer, Carly Simon’s No Secrets, and Queen’s albums Queen, Queen II and Sheer Heart Attack.
Other artists recorded at Trident included the Bee Gees, Chris de Burgh, Frank Zappa, Genesis, Brand X, James Taylor, Joan Armatrading, Joe Cocker, Golden Earring, Harry Nilsson, Kiss, Tygers of Pan Tang, Lou Reed, Peter Gabriel, Marc Almond, Marc and the Mambas, Soft Cell, Rick Springfield, the Rolling Stones, Rush, Free, Thin Lizzy, Tina Turner, T.Rex, Van der Graaf Generator, Yes and John Entwistle.Credit: The Underground MapLicence: