Leicester Square : Attraction of London

Leicester Square is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, United Kingdom. It is located west of Charing Cross Road, east of Piccadilly Circus, 0.23 miles (0.37 km) north west of Charing Cross and within the City of Westminster.

History of Leicester Square

The square takes its name from the title of Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester. In 1630 he purchased four acres of land in St. Martin’s Field and by 1635 he had built himself a large house, known as Leicester House, at the northern end of it. The enclosure of part of the site for building deprived the inhabitants of St. Martin’s Parish of their rights to use the common land. The King appointed three members of the Privy Council to arbitrate and Lord Leicester was ordered to keep part of his land (which thereafter was known as Leicester Field and later as Leicester Square) open for use by the parishioners.

The area was developed in the 1670s. It was initially a fashionable area, and Leicester House was even the residence of Frederick, Prince of Wales at one time, but by the later part of the 18th century the square was no longer a smart address. Leicester House was demolished circa 1791-2.

In 1848 Leicester Square was the subject of the famous land law case of Tulk v Moxhay. The plot’s previous owner had agreed upon a covenant not to erect buildings after his purchase. However, the law would not allow purchasers who were not ‘privy’ to the initial contract to be bound by any subsequent promises. The leading judge, Lord Cottenham, decided that future owners of land could be bound by promises to abstain from activity. Otherwise, a buyer could simply sell land to himself again to undermine an initial promise. Hence the Leicester Square known today was saved from development. By the 19th century Leicester Square was known as an entertainment venue, and also housed several hotels. It was popular with overseas residents and visitors to London. A large theatre called the Alhambra, built in 1854, dominated the square.

Gardens

In the middle of the Square is a small park, in the centre of which is a statue of William Shakespeare surrounded by dolphins. At each corner gate of the park is a statue: those featured are: Sir Isaac Newton (famous scientist), Sir Joshua Reynolds (the first President of the Royal Academy), John Hunter (a pioneer of surgery), William Hogarth (famous painter). The most recent addition is a statue of Charlie Chaplin (film star). On the floor, one can note that the distance in miles from countries of the former British Empire

Entertainment

Leicester Square is the centre of London’s cinema land. UK film premieres are typically hosted at one of the four cinemas located directly within the square. It is claimed that the square contains a cinema with the largest screen and a cinema with the most number of seats (over 2000).

The square is also the home for ‘tkts’, formerly known as the Official London Half-Price Theatre Ticket Booth. This booth is jointly owned and operated by various theatre groups. Tickets for theatre performances taking place around the West End that day are sold from the booth for around half-price. The popularity of the booth has given rise to many other booths and stores around the square advertising ‘half price’ tickets for West End shows. It is claimed that at least some of these booths are fraudulent. Despite having names like ‘Official Half-Price Ticket Booth’, they are neither official nor do they offer half-price tickets.

The square is home to several nightclubs and is consequently often very busy, particularly on Friday and Saturday evenings.