Leicester Square
|
Leicester Square at night in 2005: a view toward the northeast corner. |
Leicester Square (pronounced "Lester Square") is a
pedestrianised
square in the
West End of
London,
United Kingdom. The Square lies within an area bound by Lisle Street, to the north;
Charing Cross Road, to the east; Orange Street, to the south; and Whitcomb Street, to the west. The park at the centre of the Square is bound by Cranbourn Street, to the north; Leicester Street, to the east; Irving Street, to the south; and a section of road designated simply as Leicester Square, to the west. It is within the
City of Westminster, and about equal distances (about 0.2
miles or 300
meters) north of
Trafalgar Square, east of
Piccadilly Circus, west of
Covent Garden, and south of
Cambridge Circus.
|
Leicester Square in 1750, looking north. The large house set behind a forecourt at the northeast corner is Leicester House, then the residence of Frederick, Prince of Wales. |
The Square is named for
Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester, who purchased four
acres (1.6
hectares) of land in St. Martin's Field in
1630; by
1635, he had built himself a large house, known as Leicester House, at the northern end of it. The enclosure of part of the site for building deprived the inhabitants of St. Martin's
Parish of their right to use the common land. The parishioners appealed to
King Charles I for assistance, and he appointed three members of the
Privy Council to arbitrate. Lord Leicester was ordered to keep part of his land (which thereafter was known as Leicester Field and later as Leicester Square) open for use by the parishioners.
The area was developed in the 1670s. It was initially a fashionable area, and Leicester House was once even the residence of
Frederick, Prince of Wales; but, by the later part of the 18th century, the Square was no longer a smart address. Leicester House was demolished about
1791â€"
1792.
In
1848, Leicester Square was the subject of the famous land-law case of
Tulk vs. Moxhay. The plot's previous owner had agreed upon a covenant not to erect buildings after his purchase. However, the law would not allow purchasers who were not 'privy' to the initial contract to be bound by any subsequent promises. The leading judge,
Lord Cottenham, decided that future owners of land could be bound by promises to abstain from activity. Otherwise, a buyer could simply sell land to himself again to undermine an initial promise. Hence, the Leicester Square known today was saved from development. By the 19th century, Leicester Square was known as an entertainment venue, and also housed several hotels. It was popular with overseas residents and visitors to London. A large theatre, the
Alhambra, built in
1854, dominated the site. It has remained the heart of the
West End entertainment district ever since.
Gardens
|
The centre of Leicester Square |
In the middle of the Square is a small park, in the centre of which is a statue of
William Shakespeare surrounded by
dolphins. The four corner gates of the park have one statue each, depicting Sir
Isaac Newton, the scientist; Sir
Joshua Reynolds, the first President of the
Royal Academy;
John Hunter, a pioneer of surgery; and
William Hogarth, the painter. The most recent addition is a statue of film star and director
Charlie Chaplin. On the pavement are inscribed the distances in miles to countries of the former
British Empire.
Entertainment
Leicester Square is the centre of London's
cinema land, and one of the signs marking the Square bears the legend "Theatreland". UK
film premieres are typically hosted at one of the square's four cinemas. It is claimed that the Square contains a cinema with the largest screen and a cinema with the most seats (over 2000).
|
Leicester Square's Odeon. |
The Square is also the home for 'tkts', formerly known as the Official London Half-Price Theatre Ticket Booth. This booth is jointly operated by TKTS and LondonTown.com. Tickets for
theatre performances taking place around the West End that day are sold from the booth for about half the usual price. The popularity of the booth has given rise to many other booths and stores around the Square that advertise half-price tickets for West End shows. It is claimed that at least some of these booths operate
fraudulently. Despite having names like 'Official Half-Price Ticket Booth', they are not official and they do not offer half-price tickets.
The Square is home to several
nightclubs, making it often very busy, particularly on Friday and Saturday evenings.
Major cinemas
|
Leicester Square in 1880, looking north east. |
*
Odeon Leicester Square, which dominates the east side of the square, had the first digital projector in
Europe (
1999), hosting most premieres with capacity of about 1,700 persons.
*The adjacent Odeon Mezzanine has five smaller auditoria (capacities of 50â€"60 each).
*
Empire, on the north of the Square, is the next-largest cinema, with 1,330 seats before the main screen, as well as two smaller screens, with 350 and 77 seats.
*
Odeon West End, on the south side, contains two screens, which can seat 1,000 each, and is used for smaller premieres.
*
Vue, on the north side, near the north east corner, was previously the
Warner Brothers Village, a multiplex that hosted only
Warner Bros. film premieres. Together with the rest of the
Warner Village chain, it was bought out by Vue in
2004.
*A short distance from the west of the Square, on the south side of
Panton Street, is the
Odeon Panton Street, another two-screen Odeon cinema.
Other cinemas
*
Prince Charles Cinema is a cheap-ticket second-run and
cult cinema famed for its regular showing of
The Rocky Horror Picture Show and a sing-along version of
The Sound of Music.
Clubs, bars, restaurants
*
Hippodrome, London*
Pizza Hut*
Radisson Edwardian Hampshire (hotel, and Apex and Crescent bars)
*The Moon under Water: one of many
J D Wetherspoon pubs named after an idyll of "solid comfortable ugliness" extolled by
George Orwell in a
1946 essay in the
Evening Standard.
*Equinox nightclub: soon to be closed and turned into a casino.
*Zoo Bar
*Oxygen
*All Bar One
*Chiquito, Mexican Bar and Grill
*
The Comedy Store*The Venue (West End theatre)
Media
GCap Media has its headquarters on the east side of Leicester Square, close to the
Odeon Leicester Square. The building houses the radio stations
Capital Radio,
Classic FM,
Xfm,
Choice FM,
Capital Gold,
Capital Disney, Capital Life and
Planet Rock.
In what was formerly Home (a seven-floor superclub launch in 1999, which went into receivership [
1] after having its licence revoked by police for one month [
2] in March
2001 because of drugs issues, and at which
Paul Oakenfold was a resident
D.J.) is an
MTV UK television studio, used for the UK version of
Total Request Live and the
Russell Brandâ€"fronted show
1 Leicester Square.
Other attractions
Affixed to the corner of the
Swiss Centre, in the northwest corner of the square, is an elaborate mechanical
clock, installed in 1984.
Infrastructure
Beneath the Square is the main electricity
substation for the
West End. The cables carrying the high-voltage electricity to the substation are in a large tunnel that ends at Leicester Square and originates in
Wimbledon, at Plough Lane, behind the former
Wimbledon FC football ground, before which the cables are above ground, carried by
pylons.
*
Leicester Square tube station*
Detailed information about the history and buildings of Leicester Square from the Survey of London*
Leicester Square webcam (not working as of April 2006)
*
More on the history of Leicester Square at www.VictorianLondon.org
