Almost entirely populated by tourists, this neighbourhood has only 48 registered households despite its large number of buildings. Trafalgar Square occupies the northern part of the area, and one is likely to find this part of town occupied 24/7 by tourists keen to see Nelson’s Column or the marvellous collection of artworks at the esteemed National Gallery. Travelling east from Trafalgar Square and crossing The Strand takes you onto Northumberland Avenue, a fantastic leafy thoroughfare lined with huge stone-façade terraces, which reaches down to the banks of the Thames. The road is home to several British government departments such as the Ministry of Defence and the Air Ministry, as well as the Nigerian High Commission and a halls of residence for the nearby LSE. Transport links to the neighbourhood are excellent, with Charing Cross and Embankment tube stations located to the west and east respectively, Leicester Square just a short walk north, and Waterloo just across the river, as well as over 20 bus routes, which mean commuting to the area is very simple.

The site that Trafalgar Square now stands on has been a significant location since the 13th century, when the area was home to the royal mews. It remained an important mews and stables for a long period, until 1826, when the architect John Nash, who also designed the Regent’s Park and Regent’s Canal, was commissioned to clear a large area of land for a square commemorating William IV. Nash died soon after construction, and around 1835 it was decided that the square would in fact celebrate the Battle of Trafalgar, which Nelson had won in 1805. The National Gallery was finished in 1838, but was widely criticised for its lack of grandeur, which led to plans for Charles Barry to excavate the whole square, allowing for a 15-foot high staircase to be built leading up to the gallery’s entrance. The square opened to the public in 1844.

Unsurprisingly the square became a meeting point for protesters, so a tiny police station was created in a hollowed out lamppost in 1926 to make sure everything stayed peaceful. Surprisingly the square was mostly unaffected by the Blitz, apart from a bomb that very nearly destroyed Nelson’s Column. The square was also used as a space to show off allied weaponry and to celebrate the allied victory.

Another World War II fun fact, in 1940, the Nazis drafted a secret plan to steal Nelson’s Column and move it to Berlin following their expected invasion!

This prestigious part of town was populated by a number of famous literary figures during the 19th century, including Charles Dickens and Herman Melville, both of whom are commemorated with a blue plaque on their respective former abodes.

Building work in the 1950s uncovered some surprising artefacts beneath the square, including remains of cave lions, rhinoceroses, elephants and even hippopotami!

Contrary to popular belief, it is now quite rare to find pigeons in Trafalgar Square. This is because in 2003, then Mayor Ken Livingston banned the feeding of pigeons and the selling of feed anywhere near the square, as well as deploying a hawk which circles the area to keep pigeons away. This has led to a huge drop in maintenance costs as corrosive bird droppings are no longer a problem, and it also means that concerts can now be held in the square.

The area is rather unsurprisingly crowded, but the problem that those who work nearby often cite is the amount of traffic that circles the square, making it noisy, polluted, and dangerous for workers and tourists alike.

Despite its reassuring and timeless feel, Trafalgar Square does in fact have a subtle but ever-changing corner in the form of the famous Fourth Plinth. The plinth was intended, like the other three, to carry a statue of a former monarch, but due to a lack of funds remained bare for over 150 years until the Royal Society for Arts (RSA) decided in 1998 to display temporary sculptures on it. To date, 14 sculptures have been displayed on the fourth plinth, with Antelope, by Samson Kambalu, being the most recent. Antelope restages a 1914 photograph of Baptist preacher and pan-Africanist John Chilembwe and European missionary John Chorley. It replaced a worked entitled THE END, by Heather Phillipson, which portrays a cherry-topped whirl of cream covered with flies and a drone. In 2024, artist Teresa Margolles will take her turn on the plinth with 850 Improntas (850 Imprints), a collection of 850 casts of the faces of trans people from London and around the world.