Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern edge of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is linked to the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, which is now a popular shopping and tourist destination, and with the Royal Opera House, known as "Covent Garden". The district is divided by the main street of Long Acre, with independent shops centered on Neil's Yard and Seven Dials to the north, while the central square with street performers and most of the historic buildings, theaters and entertainments to the south . Facilities including the London Transport Museum and the Theater Royal, Drury Lane.
In the downtown area of Covent Garden in central London, England, the street performer 'Silverman', who floats lightly in the air with one hand and performs impossible stunts, is gaining popularity.
The area was farmland until briefly settled in the 7th century, when it became the center of the Anglo-Saxon trading town of Lundenwick, then abandoned in the late 9th century, after which it returned to farmland . By 1200 part of it had been fenced off by the Abbot of Westminster Abbey for use as arable land and gardens, later called the "garden of the abbey and convent" and later the "convent garden". After the Dissolution of the Monasteries it was granted in 1552 by the young King Edward VI to John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford (c.1485–1555), a trusted advisor to his father, King Henry VIII. The fourth Earl commissioned Inigo Jones to build some fine houses to attract wealthy tenants. Jones designed the Italianate Arcade Square with the Church of St Paul's. The design of the square was new to London and had a significant influence on modern town planning, serving as a prototype for new estates as London developed.
By 1654 a small open-air fruit and vegetable market had developed on the south side of the fashionable square. Gradually, both the market and the surrounding area became infamous, as taverns, theatres, coffee-houses and brothels opened. By the 18th century it had become notorious for its abundance of brothels. An Act of Parliament was drawn up to control the area, and Charles Fowler's neo-classical building was erected in 1830 to cover and help organize the market. The market grew and further buildings were added: the Floral Hall, the Charter Market and in 1904 the Jubilee Market. By the late 1960s traffic congestion was causing problems, and in 1974 the market moved to New Covent Garden Market at Nine Elms, about three miles south-west. The central building was reopened as a shopping center in 1980 and is now a tourist destination with cafes, pubs, small shops and a craft market called the Apple Market, along with another market held in Jubilee Hall.
Covent Garden falls within the London Borough of Westminster and Camden and the parliamentary constituencies of London and Westminster and Holborn and St Pancras. The area has been served by the Piccadilly Line at Covent Garden tube station since 1907; The 300 yard journey from Leicester Square tube station is one of the shortest in London.
