Open spaces in English squares of the seventeenth century: the case of Convent Garden

Abstract

Covent Garden square is considered a model experience among the initial transformations in the urban space of London, which was still characterized by a medieval appearance in the seventeenth century. The present work draws on the iconography of that time and on the relevant bibliography to present a comprehensive analysis of the built form of that square. It is pointed out that different types of open spaces contributed to define Covent Garden: besides its central space, also St. Paul´s church yard in the west and the Bedford House garden in the south joined the square. It is concluded that the lay-out of Covent Garden was neither completely regular nor symmetrical and would have been very different from the London squares of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.