The Seven Dials: Sinners, Actors & Scribblers
London, United Kingdom
This walk through Covent Garden traces how theatre, drinking, and street life shaped one of London’s great centres of entertainment. From The Old Bell and Theatre Royal Drury Lane to the Royal Opera House, it explores the world of actors, audiences, coffee houses, taverns, and debate. It also touches on the Gin Craze and the harsher realities of places like Seven Dials. The route captures the mix of brilliance and breakdown that defined these streets.
The stops
- 01 The Old Bell, Covent Garden
The Old Bell is a Grade II listed public house at 16 Exeter Street and 23 Wellington Street in Covent Garden, known for its historic corner pub frontage.
- 02 Theatre Royal Drury Lane
Theatre Royal Drury Lane is a historic theatre on Drury Lane whose site has been in theatrical use since 1663 under a royal patent granted to Thomas Killigrew.
- 03 Novelty Theatre
The Novelty Theatre was a London theatre at 8 Great Queen Street, opened in 1882 and later demolished after Blitz damage.
- 04 Short’s Gardens
Short's Gardens is a street in the Seven Dials area, remembered for its association with gin drinking during the Gin Craze.
- 05 Neal's Yard
Neal's Yard is a small courtyard off Shorts Gardens in Covent Garden, now known for its intimate scale and colourful buildings.
- 06 Donmar Warehouse
The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat not-for-profit Off-West End theatre in Covent Garden that opened in 1977.
- 07 Seven Dials
Seven Dials is the junction of seven radiating streets laid out around 1694 by Thomas Neale and marked by a replica sundial column installed in 1989.
- 08 Cambridge Theatre
The Cambridge Theatre is a West End theatre on Earlham Street facing Seven Dials, built in 1929 to 1930 on an irregular triangular site.
- 09 Lamb and Flag
The Lamb and Flag is a historic pub in Covent Garden on Rose Street, long associated with writers, drinkers, and the rough social life of the area.
- 10 The Long Acre
The Long Acre is a West End theatre on Aldwych that was known as the Strand Theatre between 1913 and 2005.
- 11 The Nags Head
The Nags Head was a coffee house established by Joseph Addison in 1712 and remembered as a literary rival to Will's Coffee House.
- 12 Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House stands on the Covent Garden theatre site first opened in 1732 by John Rich, with the present building dating from 1858.
The narration at every stop is in the app — this is the map of where it takes you, with a line on each stop.
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Walk The Seven Dials: Sinners, Actors & Scribblers with a voice in your ear.
Download Odyssey Guide on iPhone to start this walk.
Download on the App StoreiPhone · iOS 16 and later