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meadow and used for cultivating vegeta-bles. en in 1532, Henry VIII, in his des-peration to obtain a divorce from hislong-suffering wife, Catherine of Aragon,which had been refused by the Pope, de-cided to pass an Act of Parliament for “thedissolution of the monasteries”. HenryVIII was able to form his own church, eChurch of England, and became thesupreme ruler and got his divorce.

Henry VIII kept this piece of land,about 40 acres, for himself and in 1552

Street entertainment has been a main stayof Covent Garden since 1662, when diaristSamuel Pepys wrote about witnessing thepremier of an Italian puppeteer known asSignor Bologna with his charming puppetshow, Punch and Judy. Among his fans wasCharles II, and to this day Punch and Judyremains hugely popular with children, or at the British seaside resorts. ere iseven a plaque that commemorates SignorBologna under the portico of the impres-sive St Paul’s Church on the west side ofthe Piazza.

e famous central piazza is always filledto capacity with the sound of laughter,cheers and rapturous applause as folk of allages gather round to watch entertainersand street performers practise their well-honed acts on the adoring public. All tastesof entertainment are catered for: magic,music, mime, acrobatics, juggling andcomedy – often audience participation is akey feature to these outdoor performances,so be aware of where you stand or youcould find yourself being a stooge or evenpart of the main attraction in these freefun-filled shows.

Covent is a corruption of the word con-vent. Originally, in the Middle Ages, thearea was owned by the monks ofWestminster Abbey; the land was mainly

granted it to John Russell, 1st Earl ofBedford. It wasn’t until the 17th centurywhen Francis Russell, 4th Earl of Bedfordcommissioned Inigo Jones, a Welsh archi-tect who had a love of classic Italian archi-tecture, to redevelop the land and heinstalled London’s first public formalsquare, this amazing piazza. Jones was alsoasked to build a “church not much biggerthan a barn”, to which Jones answered:“You shall have the handsomest barn in England.”

Covent garden

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St Paul’s Church faces the west side ofthe piazza and makes a dramatic backdropfor the street artists’ performances. Youmay be forgiven if you think that the hugeDoric columns supporting the pedimentover the portico seem familiar, since it iswhere the 1964 movie My Fair Lady, anadaptation of George Bernard Shaw’s playPygmalion, took place. Let me set thescene: Professor Higgins first sees ElizaDoolittle, the flower girl played by AudreyHepburn, and she sings one of the many showstopper songs, ‘Wouldn’t It Be Lovely’.

Another name given to St Paul’s is eActors’ Church, due to its location inLondon’s vibrant theatre land. Many actorsover the years have either been buried inthe church yard or have a memorial plaquededicated to them around the walls of thechurch. Some of the distinguished namesthat can be found are: Charlie Chaplin,Noël Coward, Peter O’ Toole and W.SGilbert.

Covent Garden’s association with theatredates back to 1663, when omasKilligrew was granted permission byCharles II to build the eatre Royal (now

eatre Royal Drury Lane), where legiti-mate drama could be performed. CharlesII had recently returned from exile, afterthe interregnum when Oliver Cromwellhad banned all forms of public entertain-ment, and was keen to reignite theLondoners’ love of drama. ere havebeen several rebuilds of the theatre overthe years. e present theatre was built in1812 and has been greatly improved andrefurbished recently. e author, omasArne, who lived in the Covent Gardenarea, composed ‘Rule Britannia’ and na-tional anthem ‘God Save the Queen’ andboth had their debut at eatre RoyalDrury Lane in the 18th century. My FairLady also premiered in April 1958. etheatre is rumoured to be home to severalmischievous ghosts who are said to makeinconspicuous special appearances onstage from time to time.

eatre Royal Covent Garden was theother patented theatre that was given theroyal seal of approval to perform legiti-mate drama. It became e Royal OperaHouse in 1892. Sadler’s Wells became theresident ballet company in 1946. ismagnificent theatre, which today is the

pinnacle of opera and ballet in Britain,opened its doors to the public in 1732.Like so many public buildings of the time,they were prone to fire, so after a huge con-flagration in 1808, a new theatre was builtby famed British architect Sir RobertSmirke. He also designed e BritishMuseum and Canada House in TrafalgarSquare. To offset the costs of the rebuildingprogram, the management and board de-cided to increase seat prices. is led to ariotous effect on the audience, literally.When leading actor John Philip Kemble,who was also running the company, ap-peared on stage to deliver his lines, the pa-trons would boo and hiss to demonstratetheir objections to the increase in seatprices. is would lead to violent scufflesand fatal injuries between the actors onstage and the audience. e Bow StreetRunners, the predecessors to our present-day police force, had to be called in tomaintain peace and order. After severalweeks, the management relented and reduced the seat prices…power to the people.

By 1856, the theatre was ablaze yetagain. Architect Edward Middleton Barry

“Audience participation is a key feature to these outdoor performances, so beaware of where you stand or you could find yourself part of the main attraction.”

“The Floral Hall, with its beautifulVictorian iron and arched glass domedroof was built to accommodate flowersand plants as part of the thriving fruitand vegetable wholesale market..”

Mrs Patrick Campbell as Eliza Doolittle in ‘Pygmalion’ 1914

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was commissioned to rebuild the theatreand told to include a floral hall. e FloralHall, with its beautiful Victorian iron andarched glass, domed roof, was built to ac-commodate flowers and plants as part ofthe thriving fruit and vegetable wholesalemarket that had been established and wasrapidly expanding. More than one thou-sand porters were employed, as well as nu-merous donkeys pulling barrows aroundthe cobbled streets and alleys on marketdays. e market was such a huge com-mercial success that by 1974 it had movedover to Nine Elms, where it had betterstorage facilities and better road links forthe traders and buyers.

David Burnetts is a London blacktaxi driver and accredited tour guide.He offers private guided tours from

the comfort of his iconic London taxi.His website capitalcabbietours.comoffers full tour information. You can

follow him on Facebook andInstagram at @capitalcabbie

The Capital Cabbie top tipAfter a multimillion rebuildingprogram in 1996, The Royal OperaHouse is a stunning building. TheFloral Hall now forms part of themain building and has been adaptedas a public space with rehearsal andperforming studios. There is anexcellent café on the ground floor,where impromptu performances aregiven. Take the escalator up to thetop floor and admire many exhibitsand costumes on show from some ofthe productions over the years.Wander over to the balcony, throughthe fantastic bar and restaurant andpeer down to the hustle and bustle ofpeople from all over the world asthey immerse themselves in thedelights of the shops, bars andentertainment of the piazza. It’s notdifficult to imagine that Shaw, wholived in the area and often visited theFloral Hall, had the inspiration tocreate little cockney flower sellerEliza Doolittle. His thoughts must’vebeen “wouldn’t it be lovely”.