Seven Dials

Seven Dials is a distinctive road junction in Covent Garden where seven streets radiate from a central pillar bearing sundials. Laid out in the 1690s as a speculative development, the area later became a notorious slum before its Victorian revival and modern gentrification into a district of independent shops and theatres. The present sundial column is a 1980s reconstruction of the original, which had been removed. Its unusual geometric plan and the converging views along each street give the square a memorable character.