Covent Garden, The City, Strand & Bloomsbury

The origins of Covent Garden date back to medieval times when it was the Benedictine convent garden and pasture land of the Convent of St Peter at Westminster. The whole of Covent Garden is built around the Piazza, an open square with a covered arcade designed in the 1630's by Inigo Jones. The Piazza gradually fell into disrepair and in 1670, Covent Garden market was established. For more than 300 years it remained the principal fruit, flower and vegetable market in London until it moved to its present site in Nine Elms in 1974. Today, Covent Garden is a bustling precinct of shops, theatres, cafés, craft stalls and restaurants clustering in and around the Victorian cast-iron market.

The square mile of the City of London is built over the site of the original walled Roman city of Londinium founded on the north bank of the River Thames in AD43 by Emperor Claudius. It stretches from Temple Bar in the west to the Tower of London in the east. Few medieval buildings remain since four fifths of the City was destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. Today, it is the financial powerhouse of London. 

The Strand runs for three quarters of a mile and is the main road connecting Westminster to the City. It was originally a bridle path which ran along the riverbank but achieved its present location when the Victorians shored up the banks of the Thames to form the Embankment. In the 1890's the Strand contained more theatres than any other street in London; today only three remain - the Adelphi, the Savoy and the Vaudeville.

Bloomsbury is situated in central London to the east of Tottenham Court Rd and north of Holborn, and is an area of fine Georgian squares and neat Victorian terraces. The name dates back to the 13th century and derives from the manor ("bury") of William Blemund known as Blemundisberi or Blemundisbury. The area is synonymous with literature, art and learning, home to the British Museum and London University.