Leicester Square

(Redirected from Leicester House)

Categories: Streets of London | London squares | Westminster | Visitor attractions in London

For details on the adjacent London Underground station, see Leicester Square tube station.

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Leicester Square in 1750, looking north. The large house set back behind a forecourt at the north east corner is Leicester House, then the residence of Frederick, Prince of Wales.
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Leicester Square in 1880, looking north east.

Leicester Square (pronounced 'Lester Square') is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, United Kingdom, lying to the west of Charing Cross Road, north of Trafalgar Square and east of Piccadilly Circus. It is named and built on the site of Leicester Fields, which were the fields in front of the Earl of Leicester's mansion, Leicester House. The area was developed in the 1670s. It was initially a fashionable area, and Leicester House was even the residence of Frederick, Prince of Wales at one time, but by the later part of the 18th century it was no longer a smart address.

In 1848 Leicester Square was the subject of the famous land law case of Tulk v Moxhay. The plot's previous owner had agreed upon a covenant not to erect buildings after his purchase. However, the law would not allow purchasers who were not 'privy' to the initial contract to be bound by any subsequent promises. The leading judge, Lord Chancellor Cottenham, decided that future owners of land could be bound by promises to abstain from activity. Otherwise, a buyer could simply sell land to himself again to undermine an initial promise. Hence the Leicester Square known today was saved from development. By the 19th century Leicester Square was known as an entertainment venue, and also housed several hotels. It was popular with overseas residents and visitors to London. A large theatre called the Alhambra, built in 1854, dominated the square.

In the middle of the Square is a small park, in the centre of which is a statue of William Shakespeare surrounded by dolphins. At each corner gate of the park is a statue: those featured are: Sir Isaac Newton (famous scientist), Sir Joshua Reynolds (the first President of the Royal Academy), John Hunter (a pioneer of surgery), William Hogarth (famous painter). The most recent addition is a statue of Charlie Chaplin (film star).

Leicester Square is the centre of London's cinema land. UK film premieres are typically hosted at one of the four cinemas located directly within the square. It is claimed that the square contains a cinema with the largest screen and a cinema with the most number of seats (over 2000).

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The Centre of Leicester Square

The square is also the home for 'tkts', formerly known as the Official London Half-Price Theatre Ticket Booth. This booth is jointly owned and operated by various theatre groups. Tickets for theatre performances taking place around the West End that day are sold from the booth for around half-price. The popularity of the booth has given rise to many other booths and stores around the square advertising 'half price' tickets for West End shows. It is claimed that at least some of these booths are fraudulent. Despite having names like 'Official Half-Price Ticket Booth', they are neither official nor do they offer half-price tickets.

The square is home to several nightclubs and is consequently often very busy, particularly on Friday and Saturday evenings.

Capital Radio moved its headquarters and London studios to the east side of Leicester Square, close to the Odeon Leicester Square, in 1997. XFM, an indie music radio station owned by Capital Radio, also shares the building.

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Major cinemas

  • Odeon Leicester Square, which dominates the east side of the Square, had the first digital projector in Europe (1999), hosting most premieres with capacity of approx 1700.
  • The adjacent Odeon Mezzanine has five smaller auditoria (capacities of 50-60 people each).
  • Empire on the north of the Square is the next-largest cinema, with 1330 seats in the main screen. It also has two smaller screens, with 350 and 77 seats.
  • Odeon West End, on the south side, contains two screens which can sit 1000 each and is used for smaller premieres.
  • Vue, on the north side near the north east corner, was previously the Warner Brothers Village, a multiplex that hosted only Warner Bros film premieres. Together with the rest of the Warner Village chain, it was bought out by Vue in 2004.
  • A short distance to the west of the Square on the south side of Panton Street is the Odeon Panton Street, another 2-screen Odeon cinema.

Other Cinema

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Major pubs, clubs and restaurants

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External links

fr:Leicester Square he:כיכר לסטר no:Leicester Square sv:Leicester Square