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Piccadilly Circus
(By Jane Lawson)
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Piccadilly Circus
A man wearing a picadill Queen Elizabeth I Beefeater Guards
One of the most famous places in London is Piccadilly Circus. Of course, it is not a real circus, with lions and acrobats! The word ‘circus’ is used because the road goes in a circle. You can see a picture of Piccadilly Circus in the top right hand picture. The street that runs from Piccadilly Circus to Hyde Park Corner is called Piccadilly. Piccadilly is a strange word, isn’t it? So where does it come from?
. In the late 16th and early 17th centuries, there was a fashion for both men and women from the upper social classes to wear stiff, wide collars, which were either pleated or frilled. In those days, these round, starched collars were called Picadills, or ruffles. Today, we call them ruffs. In the picture, you can see a painting of a man from the 16th century wearing a picadill round his neck. Queen Elizabeth I (Queen Elizabeth the First) also wore them, as you can see in the picture. Even today, at the Tower of London, you will see the famous Beefeater Guards wearing ruffs as part of their traditional costume.
. So, what is the connection between the street called Piccadilly and this once-fashionable and rather ridiculous neckwear? Well, in the early 17th Century (in other words, the early 1600s) a tailor called Robert Baker made such a lot of money from making and selling picadills that he bought some land to the west of London (at the time, this area was not actually in London!), and in 1612 he built a mansion there. People called the mansion Piccadilly Hall, because selling picadills was how he had got so rich! Over time, the road that passed the mansion became known as Piccadilly.
. Piccadilly is now in the heart of London’s West End, the part of London where there are the most theatres and tourist attractions. It’s where the main bright lights of London can be found. It’s an exciting place, and if you are in the UK, I hope you will visit the West End!
“Big Ben”
Photo: Julia Kudryashova
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