Covent Garden Market (London, United Kingdom)
There has been a market on this site since the 17th century, and it eventually became London’s principal fruit, vegetable and flower market. It outgrew the area and moved south of the river to Nine Elms in the 1970s, but it is also famous for its original lay out, which was the first open public square in the country. The 4th Duke of Bedford had acquired the land from Westminster Abbey (the “convent garden” which later mutated into the present name) and commissioned the architect Inigo Jones to develop it. Inigo Jones had been impressed with the open piazzas he had seen in Italy and this was a radical change from the narrow, haphazard lanes of London. After the closure of the market in the 70s preservation orders were served on the buildings, which allowed it to become the what it is today. As well as a market, Covent Garden was always associated with artists and theatreland – Covent Garden Opera House stands on one side of the square and Drury Lane is nearby. Today it combines these two strands by being a centre of specialist traders, cafés, restaurants, museums and live street acts. Right in the heart of the West End it is a few minutes walk from Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus or Shaftesbury Avenue. It has its own underground station.
Contact
41 The Market, WC2E 8RF, Telephone: +44(870)7805001 | Fax: +44(20)72405770 | Official site