Leicester Square

Leicester Square station opened in1906 as part of the Great Northern, Piccadilly and Brompton Railway (now the Piccadilly Line). Like other deep tube stations of that era it was designed by Leslie Green and features the oxblood terracotta tiles on the exterior. Not that you can see them on any of the photos I took!

The station was rebuilt in the 1930s to designs by Willliam Holden and then renovated in the 1980s.

During the last renovations, both sets of platforms had geometric patterns added to the tops and bottoms of the platform walls.

It is meant to look like a spool of film as many of the red carpet premieres take place in Leicester Square.

Long way up to the surface.

The station services both the Northern and Piccadilly lines. It is a large station with four exits.

One of the exits is beneath the Hippodrome. 

The Hippodrome theatre opened its doors in January 1900 with a circus and a variety show.  When it opened it boasted that it could produce everything from singers, orchestras to aquatic performances with seafaring craft floating in a 100,000 gallon tank. In the 1950s it was completely refurbished to become the 'Talk of the Town', a nightclub with acts such as Tom Jones, Cilla black and Cliff Richard. Its next reincarnation was as a casino with four levels of gaming space which is its current function.

At the top of the Hippodrome is a sculpture of a chariot and Roman soldier. Almost impossible to see from the ground.

Easier to spot are the Lion and the Unicorn at the top of the facade.

Leicester Square is named after the 2nd Earl of Leicester who constructed a large residence here in 1631, which included a large square open to the public. The house was demolished in 1792. In the 19th century theatres as well as hotels moved into the area. Then in the 20th century the area became known for its entertainment venues such as cinemas, theatres and casinos. The square was renovated in time for the London Olympics in 2012 and is a popular tourist attraction.

The Odeon Leicester Square was constructed on the site of the Alhambra theatre in 1937. The first film shown there was 'The Prisoner of Zenda' starring Ronald Colman. It could seat 2116 and the seats were covered in mock leopard skin. Today it is Britain's largest single screen cinema. The Odeon still contains the original Compton Rank organ which was used to accompany silent films. It is still played on special occasions including some film premieres. I hadn't realised, until I had a close look at this photo but Batman, the caped crusader is standing on top of the Odeon, in sculpture form, obviously.

At the other side of the square is another Odeon which is a multiplex cinema with five smaller screens.

Also on the Square is the Empire which started life in 1884 as a Music Hall. When converted into a cinema it had 4000 seats but was split up in 1967 into a smaller seat theatre with the rest of the building becoming the Empire Ballroom. That ballroom has now been transformed into a casino and entertainment venue. 

There is always a queue to get into the Leicester Square M & M's store. Advertised as the world's largest candy store, it is spread over four floors. The most impressive part is a wall of different coloured M &M's with over one hundred from which to choose. On the opposite corner is the Lego store another popular destination for families.

 There are a number of hands on activities in the store but I am always surprised by the number of people queuing.

This part of the Square is called Swiss Court as a token of the friendship between Switzerland and the UK. Where M & M now stands there used to be The Swiss Centre, built to promote Switzerland as a tourist destination. . Its main attraction however was the Swiss Glockenspiel which  chimed every hour and had 11 figures, dressed in Swiss national costume rotating  around the clock. The building was demolished in 2008 to make way for a new hotel and the M &M store.

 

 

In 2011 the Swiss Glockenspiel was returned to Swiss Court, now a free standing version that still plays the 27 bells .

A few metres away from the clock is the Cantonal Tree which displays the coats of arms of the 26 Swiss cantons. It was a gift from Switzerland to the UK on the occasion of the Silver Jubilee of H.M Queen Elizabeth II.

  

The centre of the square is dominated by a statue of Shakespeare. A fitting tribute in the centre of theatre land. It has been here since 1874.

There are many more sculptures in the square depicting characters from the last 100 years of cinema. Above is Gene Kelly from Singing in the Rain.

Laurel and Hardy are perched on top of the Ticket Booth representing a scene from the 1929 film Liberty where the two of them balanced on the top of a skyscraper.

The 1964 film Mary Poppins.

Harry Potter

Charlie Chaplin

Mr Bean

Leaving the Square from the north-east corner takes you past the Notre Dame de France Roman Catholic church. The building known as the 'Panorama' was used to exhibit Burford's panoramas.

Burford's Panorama - Among the various attractive exhibitions of London, is that belonging to Mr. Burford, situated at the Eastern corner of Leicester Square, where a series of unrivalled productions, from the pencil of that distinguished painter, afford a truly gratifying treat to the curious in topographical delineation. There are, generally, two views of celebrated places; admission to each view, 1s., and catalogues 6d.

 New Picture of London and Visitor's Guide to it Sights, 1844

(I found this description at the following website:

 https://www.victorianlondon.org/entertainment/panoramals.htm)

A mission was established here by the Marist fathers in conjunction with the French Sisters of Charity. The sisters were also responsible for the establishment of a hospital, dispensary, girls' school and creche.

Continuing past the church the passageway brings you out in Chinatown. Here in the West End of London, Chinatown is comparatively new, developing in the 1960s onwards. The Chinese gates were erected in the 1980s. The original Chinatown was over on the other side of London in the East End. From the late 1700s, Chinese seamen were brought to London to load and unload ships. They were mainly recruited by the exploitative East India Company. Chinese sailors were paid less than half that of the British sailors. A number of them decided to stay on and live in the East End. By 1914 there was a Chinese community with new restaurants and shops catering for sailors. Limehouse where many of the Chinese had settled had a lot of poverty and overcrowding. With the severe economic depression of the 1930s and the bombing of the area in the 1940s many of the Chinese community moved to the more affluent West end of London. Soldiers returning from the Far East had developed a taste for Far Eastern food and so there was a call for Chinese restaurants and supermarkets. Nowadays it has everything from Chinese barbers to travel agents.

The building to the left of the Chinese gates has a blue plaque referring to the Magic Circle. The Headquarters of the Magic Circle is not too far away near Euston. It is apparently open to the public so I must search it out when I am visiting Euston station which is just 3 stops from here. To gain entry to the Circle, magicians have to prove their skill and give their word to abide by their Latin motto Indocilis private loqui: not apt to disclose secrets.

Most of the restaurants and shops are on Gerrard Street and surrounding streets.

Some restaurants are more popular than others.

Running parallel to Gerrard Street is Shaftesbury Avenue with its numerous theatres. There are approximately 40 theatres in the West End of London.

Walking back towards Leicester Square I came across this 18th century building in Wardour Street.

The Exchange and Bullion Office  1798. These were the premises of goldsmith and bullion dealer Benjamin Smart who , along with future members of his family, traded here in the 18th and 19th century. During the 17th and 18th centuries, gold replaced silver coinage and England became the centre of the world gold exchange.

 

Walking back to the station, I noticed this frieze going around the LSQ building in the Square. The 1920s building has been recently refurbished on the inside bringing it up to modern standards but the facade remains unchanged apart from these blackbirds which have been fixed to covered windows. The frieze has been influenced by the early development of motion pictures in particular by the photographic studies of motion by Edward Muybridge.

Probably unnoticed by most passers-by but definitely worth a second look. 

I left the square and walked back to Charing Cross road. This building is the National Portrait Gallery. It is described as having the most extensive collection of portraits in the world with 220,000 works from the 8th century to the present day. If you like art galleries then this is an excellent one to visit.

I have kept this visit just to the square and adjoining streets as there are a few other tube stations close by which I have already written about such as Piccadilly Circus and Charing Cross.

Angel

This is the 17th station I have visited on the Northern Line and 205th out of 272 tube stations. The original station opened in 1901 as the northern terminus of a new extension from Moorgate. In 1907 the line was extended to Euston so Angel became a through station. 

When built it had an island platform with trains running on either side with the tracks going through a single tunnel. The platform was only 3.7m across and for years was considered a major safety issue.

Consequently the station was rebuilt between 1989 and 1992. A new northbound tunnel and platform were built and the lifts and old station building were closed. This photo shows the southbound platform which is really wide as it was the original island platform.   

 Because of the distance between the new entrance and the platforms, two flights of escalators were needed. The old station building houses the ventilation system and other services for the platforms below. You can only access the platforms via the escalator which, with a vertical rise of 27m and length of 61m is, not only the longest on the underground, but also in the UK.

There is work being carried out around the outside of the station so it wasn't possible to get a clear photo.

The station exits onto Islington High Street. In the 16th century the road was lined with inns and taverns catering, in particular, for those bringing livestock to London. Nothing of those early buildings still remains but in the late 17th and 18th centuries there was an increase in road transport and three important coaching inns emerged, the Peacock, The Angel and The White Lion.

The most important was  the 'Angel Inn' built in the early 17th century and a crossing nearby became  known as the 'Angel'. Properties on the site were rebuilt many times with the current building opening as the Angel Hotel in 1903.  The building was bought by J. Lyons and Co in 1921 and opened as a restaurant.  In 1935 it was chosen as a property for the UK version of Monopoly. It was also responsible for the area and underground station being called Angel.

 The building is currently used as offices and is Grade II listed.

Like the Angel, the White Lion was frequented by cattle drovers and at one point in its history was as big as the Angel. It  was first built as an inn in the 17th century. It became a public house in 1897-8 when it was rebuilt. 

The Lion Panel of 1714 was reset into the wall when it was rebuilt. Another one dated 1898 was placed on the other side of the window.

 

In the late 1960s the White Lion closed and was purchased by the Greater London Council for proposed road widening. In 1984 it was bought by Land and Equity group and was refurbished with offices above a bank.

A little further along from the White Lion is another listed building. This former theatre was built in 1913. It became the Odeon cinema in 1963 but closed as a cinema 9 years later. The auditorium was demolished and offices constructed on the site. However, the tower and Balcony entrance were retained although bricked up for the next 25 years. It wasn't until 1999 when Starbucks bought the building, refurbished it and opened it up as a coffee shop. that the balcony and tower were opened again.


I left the High Street and followed the signs to the Sadler Wells Theatre. Sadler's Wells history began with the discovery of a mineral Spring in 1683 by Richard Sadler in the grounds of his music house. People would came to experience the 'healing properties' of the well and then stayed for the entertainment. Eventhough the well dried up, audiences still came and the performances continued for hundreds of years. There was a variety of entertainment from Shakespeare and opera to vaudeville. Sadler's Wells has played a very important role in the history of the theatre with the Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal ballet and the English National Opera all starting life here. In the 1990s the theatre was redesigned to incorporate a purpose built dance theatre, three rehearsal theatres and a bigger stage with more seating.

 

Next to Sadler's Wels on Roseberry Avenue is the historic site of New River Head. Originally this was the London terminus of the New River, an artificial watercourse that was opened in 1613 to supply water to London. A circular reservoir known as Round Pond collected the water. From here it was taken through a network of wooden mains which conveyed the water to the cisterns in London. It continued to be developed with further ponds and buildings covering an area of 7 acres. In 1708 a new upper Pond was constructed on higher ground to increase the pressure so as to serve more distant areas in the West End of London. At first this was pumped from the Round Pond by windmill and horse power but in 1768 a steam engine was added and was replaced over the years with other engine power. In 1820 the offices of the New River Company moved from the City of London to New River Head to administer London's water supply.  Between 1915 and 1920 the Metropolitan Water Board( successor to the New River Company) constructed this new head office. 

A water testing laboratory was added to the site in 1937. Ten years later the London end of the New River was moved to Stoke Newington with the water being fed into the East Reservoir there and the operational usage of the site was no longer needed. However the laboratory and the Head Office continued to be used by the Metropolitan Water Board and later Thames Water as it is now known

. In 1964 a seven storey block of staff flats was built on the site but once the Head office of Thames Water was relocated to Reading in 1989, all the buildings were converted to apartments. Some of the sites industrial buildings still exist such as the engine room, coal stores and windmill base. This site is now going to be the new home of the Quentin Blake Centre for Illustration which should be opening sometime this year,

Further down Roseberry Avenue is the old Finsbury Town Hall. The building was built in two stages. The first part was built in 1894 and became the Clerkenwell Vestry Hall and adjoined the early 19th century vestry hall. The new vestry Hall had a mixture of influences including art nouveau which is evident in the iron and stained glass canopy. Inside there apparently is a stunning great hall with a series of winged female figures holding sprays of foliage with light bulb flowers. I was not allowed into the building so have only seen photos of the magnificent interior.

 In 1897 the building was extended over the original vestry hall. The building was renamed Finsbury Town Hall in 1900 when there was a reorganisation of London's local government and Finsbury became a Metropolitan Borough. In 1965 Finsbury was absorbed into the London Borough of Islington. Although no longer needed as a town hall it was still used for council offices. It was also used as a registry office for civil weddings until 2003. In 2005-6 the building was restored and used by a performing arts school. The venue is also used for wedding ceremonies and receptions with all profits going to the Urdang performing arts school.

I walked back towards the High Street and came across Duncan Terrace Gardens. I can never resist wandering through green areas in built up areas.


A brief history of the gardens revealed that they formed a link in the New River Walk series of green spaces. The New River is not a useful descriptive name as it is neither a river nor new. As I mentioned earlier when I was looking at the Metropolitan Water Board headquarters, it is a water supply aqueduct completed in 1613 to bring drinking water from Hertfordshire to North London. Before this London's water supply was the Thames, local streams and wells which were often contaminated. Thames Water , alongside other partners has created a 28 mile long distance path following the river's course.

I walked through the park and crossed over a road and followed a downward path to Regent's Canal. Although it looked an inviting walk I needed to return and have a look at the areas closest to the tube station. Looking the other way along the canal is a long tunnel, the Islington Tunnel. On a notice board next to the tunnel it said:

'rather than building a flight of locks to climb the hill at Angel, the Regent's Canal Company held a competition to design a tunnel. The entries were disappointing and in the end the chief engineer, James Morgan ended up designing a tunnel himself. It took three years to build from 1815 to 1818 and was dug by a group of navvies (labourers used in the excavation and construction of roads, canals or railways). '

There was no path through the long tunnel so I needed to go back up to the road. The term 'leg-it' comes from the time before boats had engines. The boatmen would lay on their sides and walk the boat through the tunnel which they did here in the 878 metre long Islington tunnel.

I returned along St John Street passed the Red Lion Pub. There has been a pub on this site since 1415. The current building was constructed in 1899. Then in 1979 the pub opened as a theatre as well as a pub. It is an important venue for new playwrights and performers.

This is Myddelton Square, developed by the New River Company in 1824-27. It's named after Sir Hugh Myddelton who was responsible for building the New River. The houses on the north side were destroyed in the Blitz in 1941 and were subsequently rebuilt in 1947 by the new River company as purpose built flats, making them look similar to the rest of the square.

 In the centre of the Square is St Mark's church which was also damaged in the Blitz and was restored in the 1960s.

I left Myddelton Square and walked the short distance to Pentonville Road, another location on the British Monopoly board.

This used to be a chapel but is now home to the Crafts Council Gallery. It holds free exhibitions and events highlighting various crafts such as bookbinding, rugmaking, pottery and so on. 

Just off Pentonville Road is another London Square, Claremont Square. I was expecting the usual elegant houses on each side with a church or garden in the centre. The houses were as I imagined but I was taken aback to see that the centre of the square was not a garden but a reservoir. The reservoir is about 55m square, 6.5m deep and holds about 16 million litres. Claremont Square was built in the 1820s around the Upper Pond of the New River Company which was constructed in 1709. The first reservoir was open to the sky and provided water for the surrounding district which lies at a lower level. The Upper Pond was drained in 1855 and replaced with an enclosed brick structure. It was covered with grass and trees were planted. Railings surround the reservoir preventing public access. The water was originally supplied by pumping it up from the New River Head. Today the reservoir is supplied from the Thames Water Ring Main. This was a huge surprise to me as I know of no other London Square that has a reservoir at its centre.

I crossed over and walked through Chapel market back onto Islington High Street.

Walking along the High Street I noticed this large building set back from the main road. It looked an interesting design so I went over to have a closer look. The security man on the door very kindly said I could go in to take photos of the inside. Once inside I was blown away by the scale of the building. It was built in 1862 to house the Smithfield Show which continued until the outbreak of war in 1939.

During that time the venue hosted a variety of events including circuses, balls, military tournaments and motor shows. It held the first Cruft's dog show here in 1891.

During the Second World War the building was requisitioned by the Post Office and was not used again as an agricultural hall. By the 1980s it had fallen into neglect. Sam Morris, founder of the Business Design Group, realised its potential as an exhibition centre and had it restored to its original splendour.

In October 1986 it opened as the new Business Design Centre and holds a variety of events from conferences, exhibitions to the annual London Art Fair.

This is the Screen on the Green cinema. It is one of the oldest cinema buildings in Britain that is still in use. It opened in 1913 with the double doors opening straight into the auditorium. A foyer was not added until 1981. The original seating capacity was for 600. The addition of a foyer reduced this to 300 and then in 2010, the introduction of luxury armchair seating and a licensed bar reduced the seating even more to just 120.

What is now Cafe Nero used to be another cinema. The Electric Theatre opened in Feb 1909. The exterior remains the same as it did over a hundred years ago. The single storey building with its domed roof is still adorned with a female figure holding a lighted torch. The Electric theatre closed in 1913 and went through a number of different guises from an antiques emporium to a clothing shop until 1917 when it became a branch of Cafe Nero.

Looking at the Franco Manca restaurant I could see there was a blue plaque above the first floor windows. I couldn't possibly read it and I do wonder why these plaques are placed in unreadable places. Anyway, I zoomed in with the camera and was surprised to see that this is where Gracie Fields (1898-1979) lived. 

Born in Rochdale she had a very strong Lancashire accent so I assumed she had always lived in the North. She was a writer, actress, singer and comedienne and was the highest paid actress in the world in 1937. Her most famous song was 'Sally'  which she sang at the start of every performance since 1931. She entertained troops during WW2 and became a Dame shortly before her death in 1979.

I was intrigued by the name at the top of this building 'London Salvage Corps'. Further research informed me that it was formed in 1865 to reduce the loss and damage caused by fires, salvaging both premises and goods affected by fire. The corps was funded by insurance companies. During the 1930s the service was accused of participating in a criminal arson scandal. It was claimed that the arson group had taken half a million in false insurance claims. The ringleader was sentenced to 13 years in jail. 

On the other side of the High Street is Islington Memorial Green. The original war memorial of an obelisk needed to be replaced and in 2007 a new one took its place. The twisted concrete wreath was designed by the artist John Maine.

At the head of the Green is this large statue of Sir Hugh Myddelton (1560-1631). He was a Welsh clothmaker, entrepreneur, mine owner, goldsmith, banker and self taught engineer. He was responsible for the construction of the New River and bringing fresh water into London. Until visiting Angel I had no idea that a source of fresh water had been brought into the city via the construction of channels, locks and aqueducts as early as the beginning of the 17th century. I had assumed it all happened in the 19th century. The 38 miles of the New River was completed in 1613. The 1862 statue depicts Myddleton holding a map of the New River in one hand and a spade in the other.

At the other end of the Green is another statue which probably attracts much more attention than Myddleton's. This is Bob the cat still dressed in his Christmas outfit.

This is a much better photo of the bronze statue

https://londonist.com

In 2007, James Bowen, a local busker, found the stray cat when it was injured and he took it to a local pet charity and then nursed the cat back to health. At the time James was a drug addict and homeless. The friendship was the turning point in his life. James went on to write a series of books about their time together and in 2016 a movie was released based on the books: 'A Street cat named Bob.' Bob died in 2020 and this bronze statue was sculpted in his memory by Tanya Russell. The statue is positioned on the side of a pink granite bench with the words :

 

On the other side of the Green is Waterstone's bookshop. You can buy the many books written about 'Bob' the cat here. But this hasn't always been a shop. It started as a pub with a theatre as far back as 1790. In the early 1860s it was bought by Samuel Collins who renamed it Collin's Music Hall. After being rebuilt and extended, it reopened in 1897 and continued as a variety hall until 1958 when fire at the Wood Merchants behind the theatre caused so much damage that the theatre had to close. It remained empty for many years. In 1963 it was used as a wood store until it was demolished in 2000. However, the facade was kept and is now the entrance to Waterstone's.

On my way back to the station  I passed this building which dates from 1906. It was built to house an Electrical Transformer for the local tramways. In 1979 it was repurposed as an antiques shopping arcade. Angel was well known for its antiques trade. A couple of minutes walk away is Camden Passage, once a major location for antiques. The building is no longer an antiques centre but an Amazon food store. 

Camden Passage is still here with its numerous shops but it is no longer a centre for antiques, although this stall seemed to be attracting a number of customers. 

 

This is a very long post so a huge thank you if you stayed with it until the end. I found Angel  a fascinating place to visit, with so much to see within a few minutes walk from the station. The research took me longer than anticipated and so my plan of posting about an underground station twice a month has failed in the first month!