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Covent Garden
Strand. (WC2) Or "Convent Garden," derives its name from occupying the site of what was anciently a vast garden, belonging to the Abbey and Convent of Westminster, which extended as far west as St. Martin's Church. (Reference: Jesse's London, vol. I, p. 333) This has been a market for fruit and vegetables, the finest in England, ever since the year 1634, when Francis, Earl of Bedford, cleared away the old buildings and began the formation of a new and handsome square. Inigo Jones was the architect. (Reference: Smith's Streets of London, p. 154) At the Church of St. Paul's, Covent Garden, was buried Samuel Butler, the author of Hudibras. A monument was erected in Westminster Abbey to Butler's memory forty-one years after his death. John Walcot (Peter Pindar) was also buried at St. Paul's, Covent Garden. The church was burned down in 1786, and no traces of these graves now remain. Among other celebrated persons buried here are Sir Peter Lely (who had a house near by, where he lived in great magnificence) ; Dr. Arne, Wycherley and Sothern, the dramatists, Macklin, etc.
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