Leicester Square, London

Leicester Square - pronounced "Lester Square" - is a pedestrian square in the West End of London. The Square is bound by Lisle Street to the north, Charing Cross Road to the east, Orange Street to the south and Whitcomb Street to the west.

Leicester Square is located within the London borough of the City of Westminster, and is about 400 yards or 300 metres north of Trafalgar Square, east of Piccadilly Circus, west of Covent Garden, and south of Cambridge Circus.

Leicester Square was named after Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester. The earl had bought a piece of land at St Martin's Field in 1630, and built a house for himself called Leicester House at its northern end. He sealed off the land in front of the house, preventing the villagers of St. Martin's Parish access to the common land. The parishioners appealed to King Charles I for help. The king appointed three members of the Privy Council to settle the matter. Lord Leicester was ordered to keep part of his land open for use by the parishioners. It was then known as Leicester Field, and subsequently today, Leicester Square.

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Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.