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Piccadilly Circus

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Geography of Great
Britain

   Map of the West End and Piccadilly Circus, 51°30′36″N, 0°8′4″W
   Enlarge
   Map of the West End and Piccadilly Circus, 51°30′36″N, 0°8′4″W

   Piccadilly Circus is a famous traffic intersection and public space of
   London's West End in the City of Westminster. Built in 1819 to connect
   Regent Street with the major shopping street of Piccadilly (the
   "circus" refers to "circular open space at a street junction"), it now
   links directly to the theatres on Shaftesbury Avenue as well as the
   Haymarket, Coventry Street (onwards to Leicester Square) and Glasshouse
   Street. The Circus is close to major shopping and entertainment areas
   in a central location at the heart of the West End. Its status as a
   major traffic intersection have made Piccadilly Circus a busy meeting
   point and a tourist attraction in its own right.

   The Circus is particularly know 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 known as 'Eros' (sometimes
   called 'The Angel of Christian Charity', which would be better
   translated as 'Agape', but formally 'Anteros' - see below). It is
   surrounded by several noted buildings, including the London Pavilion
   and Criterion Theatre. Directly underneath the plaza is the London
   Underground station Piccadilly Circus.

History

   Piccadilly Circus in 1896, with a view towards Leicester Square via
   Coventry Street. London Pavilion may be seen on the right, and the
   Shaftesbury memorial fountain on the left.
   Enlarge
   Piccadilly Circus in 1896, with a view towards Leicester Square via
   Coventry Street. London Pavilion may be seen on the right, and the
   Shaftesbury memorial fountain on the left.
   Piccadilly Circus in 1896, with a view towards Leicester Square via
   Coventry Street. London Pavilion can be seen on the left, and Criterion
   Theatre on the right.
   Enlarge
   Piccadilly Circus in 1896, with a view towards Leicester Square via
   Coventry Street. London Pavilion can be seen on the left, and Criterion
   Theatre on the right.

   Piccadilly Circus connects to Piccadilly, a thoroughfare whose name
   first appeared in 1626 as Pickadilly Hall, named after a house
   belonging to one Robert Baker, 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 of England, 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 the site of a house and garden belonging to a
   Lady Hutton. The circus lost its circular form in 1886 with the
   construction of Shaftesbury Avenue.

   The junction has been a very busy traffic interchange since
   construction, as it lies at the centre of Theatreland and handles exit
   traffic from Piccadilly, which Charles C. B. Dickens, son of Charles
   Dickens, described as "the great thoroughfare leading from the
   Haymarket and Regent-street westward to Hyde Park-corner" and "the
   nearest approach to the Parisian boulevard of which London can boast."

   The Piccadilly Circus tube station was opened 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 intersection's first electric advertisements appeared in 1910, and
   from 1923 electric billboards were set up on the facade of the London
   Pavilion. Traffic lights were first installed in August 3, 1926 at the
   junction.

   At 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, with a new pedestrian concourse above the ground-level traffic.
   This concept was kept alive throughout the rest of 60s, before
   eventually being killed by Sir Keith Joseph and Ernest Marples in 1972;
   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 is referenced in the short-form documentary film
   "Goodbye, Piccadilly", produced by the Rank Organisation in 1967.
   Piccadilly Circus has since escaped major redevelopment, apart from
   extensive ground-level pedestrianisation around its south side in the
   1980s.

   The Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain in Piccadilly Circus was erected in
   1893, to commemorate the philanthropic works of Anthony Ashley Cooper,
   7th Earl of Shaftesbury. During the Second World War, the statue atop
   the Shaftesbury memorial fountain, The Angel of Christian Charity, was
   removed, and was replaced by advertising hoardings. It was returned 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 in 1896

                            1949

                                2006

Location and sights

   Piccadilly Circus is surrounded by several major tourist attractions,
   including the Shaftesbury Memorial, Criterion Theatre, London Pavilion
   and several major retail stores.

Neon signs and the Coca-Cola display

   Neon signs of Piccadilly Circus by day
   Enlarge
   Neon signs of Piccadilly Circus by day
   Neon signs of Piccadilly Circus by night
   Enlarge
   Neon signs of Piccadilly Circus by night

   Piccadilly Circus used to be surrounded by illuminated advertising
   hoardings on buildings since the early 1900s, but only one building now
   carries them, namely the one in the northwestern corner, between
   Shaftesbury Avenue and Glasshouse Street. The site 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 has been owned by
   property investor Land Securities Group since the 1970s.

   The earliest signs used incandescent light bulbs, these were replaced
   with neon lamps, as well as moving signs (there was a large Guinness
   clock at one time). Briefly digital projectors were used for the Coke
   sign, while the early 2000s have seen a gradual move to LED displays.
   The number of signs has reduced over the years as the rental costs have
   increased.

   As of 2005, the site has five illuminated advertising screens above
   three large retail units, facing Piccadilly Circus on the north side,
   occupied by Boots, Burger King and GAP and a mix of smaller retail,
   restaurant and office premises fronting the other streets. In September
   2003, Coca Cola replaced its old illuminated board and the site
   formally occupied by Nescafé with a state-of-the-art LED video display
   that curves round with the building. Below the Coca Cola sign, are
   Sanyo and TDK, together with the squarish McDonald's LED. On the left
   is the Samsung board, being upgraded from neon to LED in 2005.

   Vodafone also has a sign installed on the roof of Coventry House facing
   Piccadilly Circus. In addition to the logo of the company, the sign
   displays personal messages that can be entered on a Vodafone website
   and displayed at a certain time and date.

Shaftesbury Memorial and Eros

   Piccadilly Circus memorial fountain, atop The Angel of Christian
   Charity, popularly referred to as Eros, one of the first statues to be
   cast in aluminium
   Enlarge
   Piccadilly Circus memorial fountain, atop The Angel of Christian
   Charity, popularly referred to as Eros, one of the first statues to be
   cast in aluminium

   At the south-western side of the Circus, moved from its original
   position in the centre, stands the Shaftesbury Monument memorial
   fountain, erected in 1892-1893 to commemorate the philanthropic works
   of Lord Shaftesbury. It is topped by Alfred Gilbert's winged nude
   statue, sometimes known as The Angel of Christian Charity. It is
   popularly known as Eros after the mythical Greek God of Love, although
   he is intended to be Eros' twin Anteros. The statue has become a London
   icon, and a graphical illustration of the statue is used as the symbol
   of the Evening Standard newspaper and appears on its masthead.

   The use of a nude figure on a public monument was controversial at the
   time of its construction, but it was generally well-received by the
   public. The Magazine of Art described it as, "...a striking contrast to
   the dull ugliness of the generality of our street sculpture, ... a work
   which, while beautifying one of our hitherto desolate open spaces,
   should do much towards the elevation of public taste in the direction
   of decorative sculpture, and serve freedom for the metropolis from any
   further additions of the old order of monumental monstrosities."'

   Technologically ground-breaking at the time, this statue was the first
   in the world to be cast in aluminium. The statue originally pointed its
   bow to the north, up Shaftesbury Avenue. However, during the Second
   World War the statue was removed for safe keeping, and when it was
   returned its bow was fixed pointing in to the south, towards Lower
   Regent Street.

   The winged figure on the fountain is generally called Eros, is often
   supposed to be The Angel of Christian Charity, but was intended to be
   Anteros, a brother of Eros, and is recorded as such in the records of
   Westminster City Council. The sculptor Alfred Gilbert had already
   sculpted a statue of Anteros, when commissioned for the Shaftesbury
   Memorial Fountain, and chose to reproduce the same subject, who as 'The
   God of Selfless Love' was deemed to suitably represent the
   philanthropic 7th Earl of Shaftesbury. Gilbert described Anteros as
   portraying 'reflective and mature love, as opposed to Eros or Cupid,
   the frivolous tyrant.' The model for the sculpture was a 16-year-old
   Italian, whose name appears to have vanished from history. The
   fountain, when originally placed, was meant to have Anteros pointing
   his bow towards Wimborne Saint Giles in Dorset, which was the Earl's
   country seat.

   When the memorial was unveiled, there were numerous complaints. Some
   felt it was sited in a vulgar part of town (the theatre district) and
   others felt that it was too sensual as a memorial for a famously sober
   and respectable Earl. Some of the objections were tempered by renaming
   the statue as The Angel of Christian Charity, which was the nearest
   approximation that could be invented in the Christian pantheon for the
   role of Anteros in the Greek. But the name never became widely known,
   and the original name came back, under the shortened form Eros,
   signifying the God of Sensual Love; quite inappropriate to commemorate
   the Earl, but just right to signify the carnal neighbourhood of London,
   into which Soho had developed.

   The iconography deteriorated to the level where the memorial came to be
   seen as the lustful, half-naked Eros burying his shaft up Shaftesbury
   Avenue, absolutely typifying degenerate Soho. During his life-time
   Gilbert had already said of his sculpture 'There is more than £3,000
   worth of copper. take it down, melt it, and turn it into pence and give
   it to the unfortunate people who nightly find a resting place on the
   Thames Embankment, to the everlasting shame and disgrace of the
   greatest metropolis in the world'.

Criterion Theatre

   The Criterion Theatre, a grade II* listed building, stands on the south
   side of Piccadilly Circus. Apart from the box office area, 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
   March 21, 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 was reopened the following
   year. The theatre closed in 1989 and was extensively refurbished,
   reopening in October 1992.

London Pavilion

   On the north-eastern side of the 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 site of the
   Pavilion. A new London Pavilion was constructed, which also served as a
   music hall. In 1923, electric billboards were erected on the side of
   the building.
   Facade of the London Pavilion in 2002
   Enlarge
   Facade of the London Pavilion in 2002

   In 1934, the building underwent significant structural alteration, and
   was converted into a cinema. In 1986, the building was rebuilt,
   preserving the 1885 facade, and converted into a shopping arcade. In
   2000, the building was connected to the neighbouring Trocadero Centre,
   and signage on the building was altered in 2003 to read "London
   Trocadero." The basement of the building connects with Piccadilly
   Circus tube station.

Major shops

   The former Tower Records flagship store, now acquired by Virgin
   Megastore, can be found at Number 1 Piccadilly, on the west side
   between Regent Street and Piccadilly, directly facing Piccadilly
   Circus. There is a direct exit to the Underground station on the
   basement level. Rival store HMV also has a branch inside the London
   Trocadero.

   Lillywhites is a major retailer of sporting goods located on the south
   side, next to the Shaftesbury fountain. It moved to its present site in
   1925.

Underground station and the Piccadilly Line

   Inside Piccadilly Circus tube station.
   Enlarge
   Inside Piccadilly Circus tube station.
   Piccadilly Circus underground station entrance at 1 Piccadilly.
   Criterion Theatre is on the right.
   Enlarge
   Piccadilly Circus underground station entrance at 1 Piccadilly.
   Criterion Theatre is on the right.

   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. It is itself a Grade 2
   listed building.

   The station is on the Piccadilly Line between Green Park and Leicester
   Square, and the Bakerloo Line between Charing Cross and Oxford Circus.

   Metronet, one of the three private operators of the London Underground
   under a public-private partnership arrangement, is investing some £14
   million to refurbish Piccadilly Circus station. Works are scheduled to
   begin in March 2005 and will be completed in spring 2007. Major
   improvements planned include new floor and wall finishes, a new CCTV
   system, new help points, a new public address system, new electronic
   information displays and clocks, improved platform seating,
   waterproofing measures, measures to assist visually impaired passengers
   and improved lighting. Escalators will also be replaced.

Piccadilly Circus in popular culture

   The phrase "it's like Piccadilly Circus" is commonly used in the UK to
   refer to a place or situation which 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. In the United States,
   this would be the equivalent to "it's like Grand Central Station."
   Probably because of this connection, during World War II, "Piccadilly
   Circus" was the code name given the Allies' D-Day invasion fleet's
   assembly location in the English Channel.

   Piccadilly Circus has inspired artists and musicians. Piccadilly Circus
   (1912) is the name and subject of a painting by British artist Charles
   Ginner, part of the Tate Britain collection. Photographer Paul McCarthy
   also has a 320-page two-volume edition of photographs by the name of
   Piccadilly Circus.

   Piccadilly Circus is the name of Swedish singer Pernilla Wahlgren's hit
   song from 1985. Northern Irish punk band Stiff Little Fingers had a
   different song of the same name from their 1981 album Go For It, a true
   story about a friend of theirs migrating to London to escape The
   Troubles of Belfast only to get stabbed by strangers in Piccadilly
   Circus. A compilation album from the British pop/rock band Squeeze
   released in 1996 was titled Piccadilly Collection and showed a picture
   of Piccadilly Circus on its cover.

   The Dire Straits song "Wild West End" is about the area around
   Piccadilly. The Morrissey song Piccadilly Palare from the album "Bona
   Drag" recounts the life of male prostitutes by employing the use of
   "palare" (alternatively spelled ' polari'), argot used by this
   subculture and by gay men generally. A lost verse: "Around the centre
   of town/is where I belong/am I really doing wrong?" Jethro Tull mention
   Piccadilly Circus in Mother Goose on Aqualung album: "And a foreign
   student said to me/was it really true there are elephants and lions
   too/in Piccadilly Circus?"

   Bob Marley makes mention of Piccadilly Circus in his song "Kinky
   Reggae" off of the album Catch A Fire. The Sundays mention Piccadilly
   Circus in their song "Hideous Towns" off their 1990 album Reading,
   Writing, and Arithmetic.

   Stormbreaker, the first novel in the bestselling Alex Rider serie by
   Anthony Horowitz, featured many major landmarks in London, one of them
   Picadilly Circus. The main characters race down the circus on
   horseback.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piccadilly_Circus"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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