Covent Garden London
The heart of London's West End
Architecture, history and horology
 Seven Dials Monument |
The Seven Dials Monument Charity has a very interesting exhibition on display at Holborn Library until 30th June 2001.
The exhibition consists of 36 panels, many with historical illustrations, and celebrates a small piece of 'urban renaissance' in central London - carried out by the efforts of the local community working in partnership with the local authority. The Charity published a pioneering Environmental Study, which sets out ambitious plans for the area's streetscape. Works on two streets (Shorts Gardens, and Earlham Street West) have already been carried out with £500,000 raised by the charity.
In 1971 the then GLC proposed to demolish two thirds of Covent Garden. This exhibition is a reminder of the battles fought by long standing local communities in the 1970s (and indeed today!) to ensure that parts of central London, such as Seven Dials, Soho and Fitzrovia, retain thriving residential communities. It sets out the history of this much loved area, describes who built it, how it was transformed from a fashionable neighbourhood into one of London's most notorious rookeries, and its revival.
Seven Dials, together with the Piazza at Covent Garden, is one of the great architectural set pieces of the area. It was laid out c.1692 by Thomas Neale, MP - 'The Great Projector'. He was one of the renowned entrepreneurs of late Stuart England, the organiser of England's first lottery and a member of no fewer than 62 parliamentary committees.
Neale chose Edward Pierce to build a Sundial Pillar at the centre of Seven Dials. Pierce was the greatest carver of his generation - working in stone, wood and marble. The Pillar was later moved to Weybridge, where its remains can still be seen. The exhibition describes the restoration of a replica of the Pillar at Seven Dials in 1989, the first monumental column to be built in London since Nelson's column in the 1840s, and illustrates the Seven Dials Charity's award winning environmental improvements to the area.
The exhibition was produced by the Civic Design Partnership for the Seven Dials Monuments Charity. Visitors to the exhibition can order David Gentleman's limited edition (150 no. only) lithograph of Seven Dials & the Sundial Pillar and purchase other items produced by the Charity, including the Environmental Study volumes.
Where?
Camden Local Studies and Archives Centre
Holborn Library,
32-38 Theobalds Road,
London WC1X 8PA
(nearest tube: Holborn or Chancery Lane stations)
- When?
- Monday 30th April - Saturday 30th June 2001
- Mondays 10:00-19:00 hrs
- Tuesdays 10:00-18:00 hrs
- Wednesdays closed
- Thursdays 10:00-19:00 hrs
- Fridays 10:00-18:00 hrs
- Saturdays 10:00-13:00 and 14:00-17:00 hrs
Contact:
Malcolm Holmes, Senior Archivist
Richard Knight,
Principal Officer: Local Studies and Archives
Tel: 020 7974 6342
Fax: 020 7974 8284
E-mail: localstudies@camden.gov.uk
Web: www.sevendials.com
© Covent Garden Community Association, June 2001
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