Bounded by Shaftesbury Avenue to the north, and Long Acre and Covent Garden to the south, the neighbourhood of Seven Dials sits right at the heart of London’s West End theatre district, incorporating the fashionable Neal’s Yard. This part of town is home to very few permanent residents, but what it lacks in locals, it more than makes up for in tourists. The array of shops, housed in a mish mash of architectural styles, are busy at all times of the day, and with an abundance of cafes, restaurants, bars, and pubs, there’s no shortage of stop off points on your travels through some of London’s most well-known attractions. The nearby tube stations of Covent Garden and Leicester Square provide convenient Piccadilly and Northern line services across London, and while ill-advised at busy times, there are a huge number of buses in all directions. The Strand and the River Thames are only a short walk south, Tottenham Court Road is just to the north, Holborn is to the east, and Soho to the west, all of which make Seven Dials the ideal location for one who wishes to see the sights.

The estate that Seven Dials stands on was once owned by the Worshipful Company of Mercers, which allowed building on what was open farmland in order to profit from the rapidly developing West End metropolitan area. The junction that exists now was designed in the early 1690s with a six-faced central column which acted as sundials. The triangular plots made by the seven converging roads maximised house and shop frontage. The area did not prove to be popular with well-off residents as it had been initially intended and it deteriorated into one of London’s most notorious slums, one that John Keats described as “… where misery clings to misery for a little warmth”. It remained synonymous with poverty until well into the 20th century, when, in 1974, the neighbourhood was named a conservation area, and later the Housing Action Area Committee ensured that the vacant homes were in use, encouraging business to the area. Today over 25% of the area’s buildings are listed and Seven Dials is a prosperous, commercial locality.

The cheap rent that the area once afforded attracted a number or artists and musicians during the 20th century. Founding member of Pink Floyd, Syd Barret (1946-2007), lived at 2 Earlham Street while writing much of the music for the band’s debut album, Piper at the Gates of Dawn, which was released in 1967. And Keith Moon (1946-1978), the original drummer for The Who, lived at 14 Upper St Martins Lane.

Charles Dickens wrote a great deal about the Seven Dials area during the 19th century, describing it as “streets and courts [that] dart in all directions, until they are lost in the unwholesome vapour which hangs over the house-tops and renders the dirty perspective uncertain and confined.” He also makes reference to the area in his collection Sketches by Boz, which was illustrated in great detail by George Cruikshank.

There was once a pub on each of the seven ‘dials’ that were full every night!

It was long believed that the original sundial column was removed in 1773 by an angry mob, but recent research has shown that it was in fact deliberately moved by the Paving Commissioners in order to discourage ‘undesirables’ from sitting around it.

Today’s column stands at 38ft, and still tells the time. As the Seven Dials is 0° 07’ west of Greenwich, the time it shows is 3.048 seconds behind Greenwich mean time.

Londoners often avoid walking through Seven Dials and Covent Garden unless they have to be there for a reason as the huge number of tourists mean the streets are always very busy. However, when speaking to local shop employees they all say it’s a great location to work as there’s always a steady stream of customers.

The opening of the Elizabeth Line, which stops at the nearby tottenham Court Road station, in March 2022 is expected to have a huge impact on the congestion at Covent Garden station and the streets around it. It is hoped that it will cut congestion by 30% and was designed to increase user capacity by 7,000 people. Considering its proximity to Seven Dials, the area is more accessible to people who live outside Greater London, bringing even more tourism to the area.