46-621: Piccadilly Circus is a road junction and public space of London 's West End in the City of Westminster . It was built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with Piccadilly . In this context, a circus , from the Latin word meaning "circle", is a round open space at a street junction. The Circus now connects Piccadilly, Regent Street, Shaftesbury Avenue , the Haymarket , Coventry Street (onwards to Leicester Square ) and Glasshouse Street . It
92-524: A bomb injured 16 people. A 2 lb bomb exploded on 6 October 1992, injuring five people. The Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain at Piccadilly Circus was erected in 1893 to commemorate the philanthropic works of Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury . It was removed from the Circus twice and moved from the centre once. The first time was in 1922, so that Charles Holden 's new tube station could be built directly below it. The fountain returned in 1931. During
138-440: A new London Pavilion was constructed, which also served as a music hall. In 1924 electric billboards were erected on the side of the building. In 1934, the building underwent significant structural alteration and was converted into a cinema . In 1986, the building was rebuilt, preserving the 1885 façade, and converted into a shopping arcade . In 2000, the building was connected to the neighbouring Trocadero Centre , and signage on
184-597: A one-way roundabout on 19 July 1926. Traffic lights were first installed on 3 August 1926. During World War II many servicemen's clubs in the West End served American soldiers based in Britain. So many prostitutes roamed the area approaching the soldiers that they received the nickname "Piccadilly Commandos", and both Scotland Yard and the Foreign Office discussed possible damage to Anglo-American relations. At
230-407: A tailor famous for selling piccadills , or piccadillies, a term used for various kinds of collars . The street was known as Portugal Street in 1692 in honour of Catherine of Braganza , the queen consort of King Charles II but was known as Piccadilly by 1743. Piccadilly Circus was created in 1819, at the junction with Regent Street , which was then being built under the planning of John Nash on
276-466: A very busy traffic interchange since construction, as it lies at the centre of Theatreland and handles exit traffic from Piccadilly, which Charles Dickens Jr. described in 1879: "Piccadilly, the great thoroughfare leading from the Haymarket and Regent-street westward to Hyde Park-corner , is the nearest approach to the Parisian boulevard of which London can boast." Piccadilly Circus tube station
322-563: Is Grade II listed. The Piccadilly Circus station on the London Underground is located directly beneath Piccadilly Circus itself, with entrances at every corner. It is one of the few stations which have no associated buildings above ground and is fully underground. The below ground concourse and subway entrances are Grade II listed . The station is on the Piccadilly line between Green Park and Leicester Square , and
368-483: Is close to major shopping and entertainment areas in the West End. Its status as a major traffic junction has made Piccadilly Circus a busy meeting place and a tourist attraction in its own right. The Circus is particularly known for its video display and neon signs mounted on the corner building on the northern side, as well as the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain and statue of Anteros (which
414-535: Is extremely busy with people. It has been said that a person who stays long enough at Piccadilly Circus will eventually bump into everyone they know. Probably because of this connection, during World War II, "Piccadilly Circus" was the code name given to the Allies' D-Day invasion fleet's assembly location in the English Channel. Piccadilly Circus has inspired artists and musicians. Piccadilly Circus (1912)
460-620: Is often considered to be part of the Piccadilly Circus shopping area and is known for its expansive food hall. Dominating the north side of the circus, on the corner of Glasshouse Street, is the County Fire Office building, with a statue of Britannia on the roof. The original building was designed by John Nash as the extreme southern end of his Regent Street Quadrant. Its dramatic façade was clearly influenced by Inigo Jones 's old Somerset House. Although Robert Abraham
506-501: Is popularly, though mistakenly, believed to be of Eros ). It is surrounded by several notable buildings, including the London Pavilion and Criterion Theatre . Underneath the plaza is Piccadilly Circus Underground station , part of the London Underground system. Piccadilly Circus connects to Piccadilly , a thoroughfare whose name first appeared in 1626 as Piccadilly Hall, named after a house belonging to one Robert Baker,
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#1732780759887552-633: Is referenced in the short-form documentary film "Goodbye, Piccadilly", produced by the Rank Organisation in 1967 as part of their Look at Life series when it was still seriously expected that Holford's recommendations would be acted upon. Piccadilly Circus has since escaped major redevelopment, apart from extensive ground-level pedestrianisation around its south side in the 1980s. The Circus has been targeted by Irish republican terrorists multiple times. On 24 June 1939 an explosion occurred, although no injuries were caused. On 25 November 1974
598-703: Is the name and subject of a painting by British artist Charles Ginner , part of the Tate Britain collection. Sculptor Paul McCarthy also has a 320-page two-volume edition of video stills by the name of Piccadilly Circus . In the lyrics of their song "Mother Goose", on the Aqualung album from 1971, the band Jethro Tull tells "And a foreign student said to me: 'was it really true there were elephants, lions too, in Picadilly Circus?'". Bob Marley mentioned Piccadilly Circus in his song "Kinky Reggae", on
644-475: Is unnamed (usually referred to as "Monico" after the Café Monico , which used to be on the site); its addresses are 44/48 Regent Street, 1/6 Sherwood Street, 17/22 Denman Street and 1/17 Shaftesbury Avenue , and it has been owned by property investor Land Securities Group since the 1970s. The earliest signs used incandescent light bulbs ; these were replaced with neon lights and with moving signs (there
690-472: The Catch a Fire album from 1973. L. S. Lowry R.A painting Piccadilly Circus, London (1960), part of Lord Charles Forte 's collection for almost three decades, sold for £5,641,250 when auctioned for the first time at Christie's 20th Century British & Irish Art sale on 16 November 2011. Contemporary British painter Carl Randall 's painting 'Piccadilly Circus' (2017) is a large monochrome canvas depicting
736-478: The Cultural Institute of Radical Contemporary Arts has broadcast specially commissioned two-minute artworks for the screens, broadcast at the same time each evening. In 2022 the segments were shown at 8:22 p.m. At the south-eastern side of the Circus, moved after World War II from its original position in the centre, stands the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain , erected in 1892–1893 to commemorate
782-490: The Second World War , the fountain was removed for the second time and replaced by advertising hoardings. It was returned again in 1948. When the Circus underwent reconstruction work in the late 1980s, the entire fountain was moved from the centre of the junction at the beginning of Shaftesbury Avenue to its present position at the southwestern corner. Piccadilly Circus is surrounded by tourist attractions, including
828-536: The Shaftesbury Memorial, Criterion Theatre , London Pavilion and retail stores. Nightclubs, restaurants and bars are located in the area and neighbouring Soho , including the former Chinawhite club. Piccadilly Circus was surrounded by illuminated advertising hoardings on buildings, starting in 1908 with a Perrier sign, but only one building now carries them, the one in the northwestern corner between Shaftesbury Avenue and Glasshouse Street. The site
874-584: The Bakerloo line between Charing Cross and Oxford Circus . The Circus' status as a high-profile public space has made it the destination for numerous political demonstrations, including the February 15, 2003 anti-war protest and the "Carnival Against Capitalism" protest against the 39th G8 summit in 2013. The phrase it's like Piccadilly Circus is commonly used in the UK to refer to a place or situation which
920-566: The Lights Out London campaign. After the death of Elizabeth II , all advertising on Piccadilly Circus was replaced with an image honouring the Queen, as part of a suspension of out-of-home advertising agreed upon by the industry. Other companies and brands that have had signs on the site were Bovril , Volkswagen , Max Factor , Wrigley's Spearmint , Skol , Air India and Gold Flake (as Will's Gold Flake Cigarettes). Since 2020,
966-650: The area at night with crowds, the making of which involved painting over 70 portraits from life. Books Articles and websites Road junction Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 218642648 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 07:59:20 GMT William Graham Holford William Graham Holford, Baron Holford , RA (22 March 1907 – 17 October 1975)
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#17327807598871012-497: The boundaries of the county town . Holford's restrictive strategy only unraveled in the early 1980s when 260 small high tech companies had been established in Cambridge. Much of the report's road proposals were never completed. This included his proposal to build a ring road around Cambridge , only sections of which were ever built. These sections include Perne Road, Brooks Road and Barnwell Road. At Cambridge railway station
1058-466: The building was altered in 2003 to read "London Trocadero". The basement of the building connects with the Underground station. The former Swan & Edgar department store on the west side of the circus between Piccadilly and Regent Street was built in 1928–29 to a design by Reginald Blomfield . Since the closure of the department store in the early 1980s, the building has been successively
1104-426: The capital's prime tourist attractions was widely considered grim and an embarrassment. A redevelopment competition was launched in 1986 and after numerous changes in plans and architects, the new Paternoster Square was completed in 2003. Holford was a sought-after consultant outside the UK. In 1957 he was part of the committee selecting Lúcio Costa 's plan for Brasília . Between 1965 and 1968 he produced reports on
1150-527: The city as it exists today was created. He also advised extensively on Canberra's planning and this advice was largely accepted by the NCDC and led to the evolution of Canberra into a city of car-based suburbs based on the British New Town concept. William Holford and Partners worked with English landscape architect Sylvia Crowe on the design of Commonwealth Gardens in 1964. One unfortunate legacy
1196-730: The development of Durban in South Africa. In the mid-1950s the Robert Menzies Government of Australia asked Holford to report on the planning and development of Canberra , which had become disorganised due to the Great Depression , World War II and post-war economic stringency. His report led to the creation of the National Capital Development Commission (NCDC), which controlled Canberra's development 1957–89, when
1242-484: The entire theatre, with nearly 600 seats, is underground and is reached by descending a tiled stairway. Columns are used to support both the dress circle and the upper circle, restricting the views of many of the seats inside. The theatre was designed by Thomas Verity and opened as a theatre on 21 March 1874, although original plans were for it to become a concert hall. In 1883, it was forced to close to improve ventilation and to replace gaslights with electric lights and
1288-607: The flagship London store of music chains Tower Records , Virgin Megastore and Zavvi . The current occupier is clothing brand The Sting . Lillywhites is a major retailer of sporting goods located on the corner of the circus and Lower Regent Street, next to the Shaftesbury fountain. It moved to its present site in 1925. Lillywhites is popular with tourists, and they regularly offer sale items, including international football jerseys up to 90% off. Nearby Fortnum & Mason
1334-512: The former RAF Mount Farm , Oxfordshire to form the new village of Berinsfield . The redesign has been criticized as little more than a huge council estate . From 1961 Holford presented a series of plans to solve road traffic congestion at Piccadilly Circus , some of which included a raised piazza for pedestrians above the ground-level traffic. This concept was kept alive for the rest of 60s, before eventually being terminated by Sir Keith Joseph and Ernest Marples in 1972. The key reason given
1380-545: The north side, occupied by Boots , Gap and a mix of smaller retail, restaurant and office premises fronting the other streets. A Burger King located under the Samsung advert, which had been a Wimpy Bar until 1989, closed in early 2008 and was converted into a Barclays Bank. On special occasions the lights are switched off, such as the deaths of Winston Churchill in 1965 and Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997. On 21 June 2007, they were switched off for one hour as part of
1426-516: The philanthropic works of Lord Shaftesbury , a Victorian politician , philanthropist and social reformer. The subject of the Memorial is the Greek god Anteros and was given the name The Angel of Christian Charity but is generally mistaken for his brother Eros . The Criterion Theatre , a Grade II* listed building , stands on the south side of Piccadilly Circus. Apart from the box office area,
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1472-473: The planning philosophies of Lewis Mumford and showed his appreciation for the architect Le Corbusier . He was appointed a lecturer at the University of Liverpool from 1933 and succeeded Patrick Abercrombie as Professor of Civic Design there in 1937. In 1948 he again succeeded Abercrombie as Professor of Town Planning at University College, London . He held this post until he retired in 1970. Holford
1518-482: The report proposed a new footbridge linking East Cambridge directly to the railway station, with a proposed car park and bus stop on a site off Rustat Road opposite the current station. Despite numerous calls over the decades, an eastern entrance to Cambridge railway station has never been built. Holford designed significant individual buildings, including Clarendon House in Cornmarket Street , Oxford, which
1564-492: The site of a house and garden belonging to a Lady Hutton; the intersection was then known as Regent Circus South (just as Oxford Circus was known as Regent Circus North) and it did not begin to be known as Piccadilly Circus until the mid 1880s, with the rebuilding of the Regent Street Quadrant and the construction of Shaftesbury Avenue. In the same period the circus lost its circular form. The junction has been
1610-431: The six remaining advertising screens were switched off as part of their combination into one large ultra-high definition curved Daktronics display, turning the signs off during renovation for the longest time since the 1940s. On 26 October 2017, the new screen was switched on for the first time. Until the 2017 refurbishment, the site had six LED advertising screens above three large retail units facing Piccadilly Circus on
1656-498: The start of the 1960s, it was determined that the Circus needed to be redeveloped to allow for greater traffic flow. In 1962, Lord Holford presented a plan which would have created a "double-decker" Piccadilly Circus; the upper deck would have been an elevated pedestrian concourse linking the buildings around the perimeter of the Circus, with the lower deck being solely for traffic, most of the ground-level pedestrian areas having been removed to allow for greater vehicle flow. This concept
1702-674: Was knighted in 1953 and on 29 January 1965 he was made a life peer as Baron Holford , of Kemp Town in the County of Sussex by the Wilson Government, the first town planner to be made a Lord. He served as president of the Royal Town Planning Institute between 1953 and 1954. Later, Holford served as president of the Royal Institute of British Architects between 1960 and 1962. Holford
1748-777: Was a British architect and town planner . Holford was educated at Diocesan College , Cape Town and returned to Johannesburg. From 1925–30 he studied architecture at the University of Liverpool , where he won the British Prix de Rome in Architecture to the British School at Rome in 1930. While in Rome he met British mural painter Marjorie Brooks , who had independently won the British Prix de Rome for Painting, and married her in 1933. Holford outwardly adopted
1794-586: Was a large Guinness clock at one time). The first Neon sign was for the British meat extract Bovril . From December 1998, digital projectors were used for the Coke sign, the square's first digital billboard, while in the 2000s there was a gradual move to LED displays, which completely replaced neon lamps by 2011. The number of signs has reduced over the years as the rental costs have increased, and in January 2017
1840-518: Was built in 1956–57 for F.W. Woolworth . Sir Nikolaus Pevsner commended Clarendon House in Oxford as one of the best recent buildings in the city's main shopping streets and showing "how this kind of job can be done tactfully and elegantly." Holford undertook at least three commissions for Eton College : Villiers House (under construction 1960), Farrers House (1959) and the ceiling of Eton College Chapel (1957). In 1960 Holford redesigned part of
1886-639: Was heavily involved with the development of post-World War II British town planning and was largely responsible for drafting the Town and Country Planning Act 1947 . In 1948 Holford was appointed by Cambridgeshire County Council as consultant to prepare a plan for Cambridge . In 1950 Holford, along with H Myles Wright produced a report for Cambridgeshire County Council titled "Cambridge Planning Proposals". Holford recommended that Cambridge should not grow. The number of residents should be capped at 100,000 and new manufacturing should not be allowed to develop with
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1932-607: Was kept alive throughout the rest of the 1960s. A final scheme in 1972 proposed three octagonal towers (the highest 240 feet (73 m) tall) to replace the Trocadero, the Criterion and the "Monico" buildings. The plans were permanently rejected by Sir Keith Joseph and Ernest Marples ; the key reason given was that Holford's scheme only allowed for a 20% increase in traffic, and the Government required 50%. The Holford plan
1978-597: Was opened on 10 March 1906, on the Bakerloo line , and on the Piccadilly line in December of that year. In 1928, the station was extensively rebuilt to handle an increase in traffic. The junction's first electric advertisements appeared in 1910, and, from 1923, electric billboards were set up on the facade of the London Pavilion . Electric street lamps, however, did not replace the gas ones until 1932. The circus became
2024-527: Was reopened the following year. The theatre closed in 1989 and was extensively renovated, reopening in October 1992. On the north-eastern side of Piccadilly Circus, on the corner between Shaftesbury Avenue and Coventry Street, is the London Pavilion . The first building bearing the name was built in 1859 and was a music hall . In 1885, Shaftesbury Avenue was built through the former site of the Pavilion, and
2070-629: Was that Holford's scheme only allowed for a 20% increase in traffic, whereas the Government wanted 50%. Holford is noted for his redevelopment plan of the area around St Paul's Cathedral . London had been devastated by aerial bombardment in the Blitz . However, only part of Holford's concept plan was carried out between 1961 and 1967, foremost the Paternoster Square development between St Paul's churchyard and Newgate Street. St Paul's churchyard and Newgate Street immediately north of one of
2116-565: Was the County Fire Insurance Company's architect, it was probably Nash who was instrumental in choosing the design. In 1924 the old County Fire Office was demolished and replaced with a similar but much coarser building designed by Reginald Blomfield , but retaining the statue of Britannia. During the London Blitz it was the only building in the Circus to be damaged, with a few window panes blown out. The building
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