Thai Square

Henry Fawcett Memorial

London · 0.1 miles

The Henry Fawcett Memorial is a memorial fountain commemorating Henry Fawcett, installed during 1886 at the Victoria Embankment Gardens in London, United Kingdom. Mary Grant created the portrait relief and George Frampton produced the ornamental elements. Basil Champneys was the architect for the memorial. The memorial is listed at Grade II.

Covent Garden Market

Blackfriars · 0.1 miles

The former fruit-and-vegetable market at Covent Garden provides a compact city-centre experience, combining cafés, pubs, independent shops and two small markets – the Apple Market and the Jubilee Hall market – within the historic arcade that dominates the square. Set on the eastern edge of the West End, between St Martin’s Lane and Drury Lane, the landmark lies close to Blackfriars and is served by the Piccadilly line at Covent Garden tube station; a short 300-yard walk links it to Leicester Square station. Originally part of the Anglo-Saxon trading settlement of Lundenwic, the site became a walled garden belonging to Westminster Abbey by the early thirteenth century. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, King Edward VI granted the land to John Russell, 1st Earl of Bedford, whose family held it until 1918. Inigo Jones designed the Italianate arcaded square in the early seventeenth century, and by 1654 a modest open-air market had taken root on the south side. The market was formalised in a neo-classical building by Charles Fowler in 1830, later supplemented by the Floral Hall, Charter Market and the Jubilee Market of 1904. Traffic pressures led to the relocation of the wholesale market to New Covent Garden Market at Nine Elms in 1974; the central building reopened as a shopping centre in 1980, retaining its heritage listing by Historic England. Visitors can reach the area on foot or by public transport, though wheelchair access is limited. The square remains a focal point for street performers and retains many of its historic façades, offering a blend of retail, food and cultural attractions within a protected urban setting.

Royal Courts of Justice

St Clement Danes · 0.1 miles

The Royal Courts of Justice, commonly called the Law Courts, is a court building in Westminster which houses the High Court and Court of Appeal of England and Wales. The High Court also sits on circuit and in other major cities. Designed by George Edmund Street, who died before it was completed, it is a large grey stone edifice in the Victorian Gothic Revival style built in the 1870s and opened by Queen Victoria in 1882. It is one of the largest courts in Europe. It is a Grade I listed building.

Temple Bar

St Clement Danes · 0.1 miles

The historic gateway that once marked the main ceremonial approach from Westminster into the City of London lies at the junction where Fleet Street meets The Strand, close to St Clement Danes. Known as Temple Bar, the site originally held a barrier that regulated trade and signalled the boundary of the City’s jurisdiction. From medieval times the route linked the Tower of London, the Palace of Westminster and St Paul’s Cathedral, making the bar a focal point for royal processions; the Lord Mayor traditionally presented the Sword of State to the monarch there. The surrounding built environment includes the 19th-century Royal Courts of Justice to the north and, on the south side, Temple Church together with the Inner and Middle Temple Inns of Court. The present structure is a memorial erected after the 17th-century Wren-designed archway was taken down in 1878. The monument is topped by a dragon symbolising the City and incorporates statues of Queen Victoria and Edward VII. Although the original stone arch was later re-erected in Paternoster Square beside St Paul’s Cathedral, the memorial at Temple Bar remains the focal point for visitors. The site is listed as a heritage monument and offers step-free, wheelchair-accessible access. No admission fee is required, and the open space allows a clear view of the surrounding legal precincts and the historic streetscape.

Cecil Court

Aldgate · 0.6 miles

A pedestrian lane with a line of Victorian shop-fronts connects Charing Cross Road and St Martin’s Lane in Westminster, and forms part of the Jubilee Walkway. The thoroughfare, whose origins trace back to the late 1600s, originally followed a hedgerow and served as a tradesmen’s route. After a fire in 1735, the street was rebuilt, and in 1764 it provided temporary accommodation for the eight-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who lodged with barber John Couzin and performed for King George III. A plaque at number 9 marks the site of Mozart’s residence, while a second plaque installed in 2012 commemorates the street’s early cinema links. Today the lane is home to roughly a dozen independent antiquarian and second-hand bookshops, offering specialities such as modern first editions, collectible children’s books, early printing, rare maps, antique prints, music and esoterica. Adjacent premises include art galleries, an antiques dealer, and shops dealing in silver, militaria, numismatics, porcelain, jewellery and art-deco items. The area acquired the nickname “Flicker Alley” because, from 1897 onward, it hosted a concentration of film-related businesses, including early offices of Cecil Hepworth, James Williamson and international firms such as Gaumont and Vitagraph. The street remains in the ownership of the Cecil family, with the present buildings laid out around 1894. Access is pedestrian only; the nearest Underground station is Leicester Square, and entry to the shops is free, each setting its own opening hours.

The Original Cell

Bank · 0.6 miles

The library is first fire-proof building in the country. As a result, the cell doors weigh half a ton each and are cast iron in order to attempt any outbreak of fire. Cell was used to store documents and other archives.