Piccadilly Circus

Piccadilly Circus is a popular London landmark located in the borough of Westminster at the juncture of Coventry Street, Shaftesbury Avenue, Regent Street, and Piccadilly. Much like New York’s Times Square, Piccadilly Circus is a busy tourism hub best known for its bright lights and large, flashy advertisements. First built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with Piccadilly, Piccadilly Circus has evolved significantly over the years. One of the fixtures that has remained relatively unchanged since its installation is the aluminum statue of Eros called the “Angel of Christian Charity” that sits atop a stone island in the middle of the circus. Given its central location, Piccadilly Circus also provides visitors with easy access to the elegant shops on nearby Regent Street and the theaters of the West End. For these and other reasons, Piccadilly Circus remains one of London’s most recognizable locales and a gathering place for tourists from all over the world.

Background

The early history of Piccadilly Circus is tied directly to the development of Regent Street in the nineteenth century. Laid out by distinguished British architect John Nash around 1812 and constructed over fourteen years, Regent Street was an elegantly designed thoroughfare that quickly became home to many of London’s finest shops. In order to connect Regent Street with the existing thoroughfare of Piccadilly, a special junction between the two streets was built in 1819. This junction was soon named Piccadilly Circus.

The name “Piccadilly Circus” itself has historic roots. The source of the “Piccadilly” name can be traced to the early seventeenth century, when a tailor named Roger Baker lived in the area and made a comfortable living selling piccadils. Piccadils were elaborate stiff neck collars that were popular among elite members of society at the time. Baker’s house was referred to as Piccadil Hill, and both it and the surrounding area eventually became known as Piccadilly. The word “circus” is the Latin term for “ring” or “circle.” When it was first built, Piccadilly Circus was circular in shape. Although that shape changed following the construction of Shaftesbury Avenue in 1886, the name Piccadilly Circus stuck.

Before long, Piccadilly Circus was one of the busiest and most crowded places in London, especially after the construction of the Piccadilly Circus tube station in 1906. With so many people passing through the area every day, Piccadilly Circus soon emerged as an ideal place for businesses to erect eye-catching advertisements. When electricity became widely available, glitzy illuminated signs began to appear in Piccadilly Circus. The first of these was a sign for Perrier sparkling water erected in 1908. Numerous similar signs soon followed, including a dazzling array of neon, incandescent, and even moving signs that covered virtually every building surface in Piccadilly Circus. While these signs changed and gradually decreased over time, flashy advertisements remain one of the most recognizable features of modern Piccadilly Circus and a key reason it is often compared to New York’s Times Square.

Overview

Piccadilly Circus is a major traffic hub located at the intersection of the Mayfair, St. James’s, and Soho districts. More specifically, it connects Regent Street, Piccadilly, Shaftesbury Avenue, Haymarket, and Coventry Street. It is also the site of the Piccadilly Circus Underground Station, one of the key stops along the London Underground. Consequently, Piccadilly Circus serves as a critical component of London’s transportation infrastructure.

Beyond its practical purpose as a traffic hub, however, Piccadilly Circus is primarily known as one of London’s most popular sightseeing destinations. Among the circus’ most recognizable sights are its famous, lighted advertisements, commonly referred to as the Piccadilly Lights. Located at the center of the circus, the Piccadilly Lights illuminate the whole circle at night. Since the first lighted advertisements began to appear in the early twentieth century, the Piccadilly Lights have rarely ever been turned off. Some of the few times when the lights were turned off were during World War II and following the deaths of Winston Churchill and Princess Diana. The Piccadilly lights also went dark for much of 2017 while the existing electronic advertising screens were replaced with a giant high-resolution LED display known as the Curve. Multiple companies share advertising space on the Curve, including some, such as Coca-Cola and McDonald’s, that have maintained a brand presence in Piccadilly Circus for decades.

Piccadilly Circus’s other best-known feature is a sculpture commonly known as the “Statue of Eros.” First erected in 1893, the statue is popularly believed to depict Eros, the Greek god of erotic love. While the statue has become both a defining feature of Piccadilly Circus and a symbol of London itself, its true meaning is typically misunderstood. The statue is actually a depiction of Anteros, brother of Eros and the Greek god of selfless love and charity. Sculptor Alfred Gilbert was originally commissioned to craft the statue in honor of Anthony Ashley-Cooper, the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, a noted philanthropist and social reformer who took a stand against child labor in the Victorian era. Many visitors also do not realize that the statue’s real name is actually “The Angel of Christian Charity.”

In addition to the Curve and the so-called “Statue of Eros,” Piccadilly Circus is also home to numerous restaurants, casinos, and other entertainment facilities. Some of these include the expansive Empire Casino and the Criterion Theatre. The latter is a classic underground Victorian theater where popular comedies and farces are regularly staged. Piccadilly Circus also serves as a gateway to London’s West End, where theatergoers can enjoy popular musicals and other top-tier stage performances at such prestigious theaters as the Prince of Wales Theatre, the Leicester Square Theatre, and Her Majesty’s Theatre.

In addition, Piccadilly Circus provides easy access to Regent Street’s wide variety of retail shopping destinations. Some of the many stores found on Regent Street include Bose, POLO Ralph Lauren, and Tommy Hilfiger. Into the 2020s, the tenants of Regent Street had expanded to include new retail stores, as well as mixed-use spaces, such as pop-up stores like Art of Banksy that displays the art and selling merchandise related to the popular artist. Finally, Piccadilly Circus is only a few blocks away from Leicester Square, a similar urban hub that is home to famous London cinemas such as the Odeon Leicester Square and the Prince Charles Cinema.

Bibliography

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