London Flights - Piccadilly Circus -  London's Sites of Interest

London's Piccadilly Circus

The name of the Piccadilly Circus no doubt makes you envision clowns, elephants, lions, and folks balancing on the tightrope and flying through the air on a trapeze. Oddly enough, the Piccadilly Circus is not really a circus at all; instead it is a trapezoidal area at the edge of London’s West End. While there is no true circus here, the environment seems to have taken on the essence of a circus as the area is known as one of the most diverse in the city. Many make comparisons between Piccadilly Circus and New York’s Times Square. That is because both are filled with massive amounts of people, traffic, and when the lights go out in the sky the neon lights up

By 1743 the area was already known as the Piccadilly Circus, with the actual junction of roads forming in 1819. Located at the junction is a memorial fountain that shows the age of the area as it was placed there in 1893 and is a bronze Shaftsbury memorial fountain with a statue of the Angel of Christian Charity on top. This sculpture was considered very modern at the time of its erection as it was cast in aluminum. The sculpture was first placed in the middle of the intersection, but was moved in the 1980s to the southwest corner of the intersection.

One of the attractions in this area is The Reduced Shakespeare Company, which has performed since 1995 at the Criterion Theatre. The company is known for their unusual presentations of Shakespeare in little more than 90 minutes. The shows sell out well in advance, so if you would like to get a seat in the 600-seat theatre you need to plan ahead. If this type of show doesn’t fit your style, you can walk to the London West End shows in just a few minutes. These will encompass British theatre shows that often are seen on Broadway.

On the northeastern side of the Circus is the London Pavilion. This structure was built in 1859 and was a planned music hall, but Shaftsbury bisected the plot of land in 1885. In 1923 a new music hall was built and this time it was complete with electric billboards. In 1986, though the 1885 façade was preserved, the area was changed into a shopping arcade and then connected to the Trocadero Centre.

If you are hungry while in the area, you’ll have your choice of great pubs to choose from. Some tend to cater to the tourist traffic while others would prefer that only local dine with them. If you are wondering how you’ll get to the Piccadilly Circus, you’ll be glad to know that the Tube is directly under the area. So when you come up out of the Tube you will likely get a glimpse of the curved television screen in the square, and you’ll know you are in the right place!