Written by: Roger Jeal  |  Posted on: August 14th, 2016

Drury Lane Gardens

Covent Garden: from Sewers to Stews and Studios

In a two-hour guided walk through busy central London streets that was packed with interest we also travelled between the 7th and 21st centuries and were reminded of so many facets of the fascinating city of London.

The history of the Covent Garden area goes back to Saxon times, when it was called Lundenwic and was the heart of commercial London. Market gardens which belonged to the monks of Westminster Abbey from the 1200s were sold by King Henry VIII. In the 1600s the owner of the land, the Duke of Bedford, employed architect Inigo Jones to develop town residences there for gentlemen but many of the latter died in the Civil War. Life can turn out more complicated than was planned.

We began our walk a little way outside Covent Garden by Embankment station and followed a route through space, time and imagination that included pollution, hotels, theatres, broadcasting, revolting peasants, Danish Vikings pulling their ships up on the beach (Strand in Danish) to trade in the very heart of what is now London, the early days of the police force, the first Punch and Judy puppet show and much more. The stews mentioned in the title of the walk were brothels.

Theatre Royal. Drury Lane

As we strolled among hurrying commuters, our excellent Blue Badge Guide, BKS member Sue King, told us intriguing tales of impresario Richard D’Oyly Carte, Swiss hotelier César Ritz, chef Auguste Escoffier and Kaspar the lucky black cat sculpture at the Savoy Hotel, the women who built Waterloo Bridge during the Second World War, the boot blacking factory where Charles Dickens earned some money for his indebted family as a child, artist J.M.W. Turner’s birthplace (now a barber’s shop) and much else.

We learned how the historic Simpson’s-in-the-Strand restaurant held chess tournaments in earlier times, while its more than 200-year-old rival Rules boasts of being where King Edward VII entertained his mistress Lillie Langtry. Not far away the huge Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, is the oldest theatre in London on its original site (although not the original building).

A little extra magic was sprinkled at Australia House, the grand marble interior of which was used for the wizarding bank Gringotts in the Harry Potter movies. Despite having no wands to force entry, we could easily imagine the inside, just as we had all the scenes conjured up for us.

Where better then to review all we had seen and heard than over a shared meal in one of the many restaurants in this cosmopolitan area. Thank you, as always, Sue!

More photos from the cameras of Jim Thomson and Cathy Kim:

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