London Photo Gallery - Covent Garden

Covent Garden's history goes back to the 13th century when this was the "garden of the Abbey and Convent". This estate became an urban planning experiment in 1630 with a public square and houses for rich families bordering it. It became a huge marketplace after the 1666 Great Fire. The present market building was designed by Charles Fowler in the early 19th century, but became too small and was threatened with redevelopment in the 1970s. Local residents stepped in and renovated it into a speciality retail destination.

The streets leading to the market building have plenty of interesting shops to browse and are bursting with tourists.

Hanging above the market building over summer 2024 is 'Little Cloud World', an art installation by Los Angeles-based FriendsWithYou with 40 floating clouds to inspire people to spread kindness and compassion.

Just a short walk away, the Strand has been a very important street along the Thames riverfront since the late 12th century. It connected the political and economic centres between Westminster and the City and was home to the rich and famous.

The Savoy was the first purpose-built high-class hotel in the city, attracting the upper classes since it opened in 1889. It was inspired by new American hotels that had modern amenities, which have yet to be deployed on the other side of the Atlantic. The hotel was lit by electricity, and the boilers powered the central heating system with plenty of hot water for the rooms.

Just behind the hotel on Carting Lane is a restored Victorian lamp powered by sewage gas. Engineers at the time used this design to rid the foul smells and to ventilate the sewers by burning off the methane for light, although they were also connected to the town gas supply just in case. It seems the guests at the Savoy produced enough waste to keep it going.