Seven Dials

Seven Dials is a small but well-known road junction in the West End of London near Covent Garden where seven streets converge to form a roundabout, at the centre of which is a pillar bearing six (not seven) sundials.

The term also refers informally to the immediate surrounding area.

History

The original Seven Dials area was designed by Thomas Neale in the early 1690s. The original plan had six roads converging, although this was later increased to seven. The sundial pillar was built with only six faces, however, probably because of the original design. This high number of roads was chosen in order to maximise the number of houses that could be built on the site.

Neale aimed for the site to be a popular with well-off residents, following the successful development of the nearby fashionable Covent Garden Piazza area. This was not to be, however, and the area deteriorated. At one stage, each of the seven apexes facing the column housed a pub. By the nineteenth century, Seven Dials had become one of the most notorious slums in London, being part of the rookery of St Giles. The area was described colourfully by Charles Dickens in his collection Sketches by Boz, which includes the quote:

It was still a byword for urban poverty in the early twentieth century, when Agatha Christie set "The Seven Dials Mystery" (1929) there.

The original sundial column was removed in 1773. It had been believed that this was due to being pulled down by an angry mob, although recent research suggests it was deliberately removed by the Paving Commissioners in an attempt to rid the area of "undesirables". The remains were acquired by architect James Paine, who kept them at his house in Addlestone, Surrey. In 1820, the remains were purchased by public subscription and re-erected in nearby Weybridge, as a memorial to the Duchess of York.

Seven Dials today

Today, Seven Dials is a prosperous, mainly commercial neighbourhood, between the West End theatre district and the fashion-focused shopping district which is centred on nearby Neal Street. One of the seven apexes of the famous junction itself boasts a pub: The Crown at Seven Dials. Another features the Cambridge Theatre. Despite some redevelopment, many of the original buildings remain. Gentrification has not wiped out all the urban poverty: street homelessness and drug addiction are still present in the area.

The replacement sundial column to be seen today was constructed between 1988 and 1989, to the original design. It was unveiled by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, during her visit to commemorate the tercentenary of the reign of William and Mary, during which the area was developed. Popular tradition as to why the pillar has only "six" dials is that the seventh sundial is formed by the pillar itself casting its shadow on the ground.

External links

* [http://www.sevendials.co.uk/ Information about the Seven Dials shopping area]
* [http://www.sevendials.com/ The Seven Dials Monument Charity]