St Giles Circus is a road junction in the St Giles district of the

West End of London The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buil ...

at the eastern end of

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and ...

, where it connects with New Oxford Street,

Charing Cross Road Charing Cross Road is a street in central London running immediately north of St Martin-in-the-Fields to St Giles Circus (the intersection with Oxford Street) and then becomes Tottenham Court Road. It leads from the north in the direction ...

and

Tottenham Court Road Tottenham Court Road (occasionally abbreviated as TCR) is a major road in Central London, almost entirely within the London Borough of Camden. The road runs from Euston Road in the north to St Giles Circus in the south; Tottenham Court Road ...

, which it is more often referred to owing to the location of

Tottenham Court Road Underground station Tottenham Court Road is a London Underground and Elizabeth line station in St Giles in the West End of London. The station is served by the Central line, the Elizabeth line and the branch of the Northern line. The station is located at St Gil ...

directly under the junction. It is near to

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develo ...

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mus ...

and

Fitzrovia Fitzrovia () is a district of central London, England, near the West End of London, West End. The eastern part of area is in the London Borough of Camden, and the western in the City of Westminster. It has its roots in the Manor of Tottenham Co ...

Formation

The circus derives its name from the nearby church of St Giles-in-the-Fields, after which the area is named. From the Middle Ages until the fifteenth century, gallows were located at St Giles Circus alongside a cage for prisoners, and a cattle enclosure known as St Giles's Pound. The area was an infamous

rookery A rookery is a colony of breeding animals, generally gregarious birds. Coming from the nesting habits of rooks, the term is used for corvids and the breeding grounds of colony-forming seabirds, marine mammals ( true seals and sea lions), an ...

until it was cleared in the mid-19th century with the creation of New Oxford Street parallel to St Giles High Street by clearances.

was opened in July 1900 as part of the

Central London Railway The Central London Railway (CLR), also known as the Twopenny Tube, was a deep-level, underground "tube" railwayA "tube" railway is an underground railway constructed in a cylindrical tunnel by the use of a tunnelling shield, usually deep below g ...

, with the platforms under Oxford Street to the west of St Giles Circus, and the station opening on the south west side of the circus, on Oxford Street. The

Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway The Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway (CCE&HR), also known as the Hampstead Tube, was a railway company established in 1891 that constructed a deep-level underground "tube" railway in London. Construction of the CCE&HR was delayed for ...

joined the station with what is now part of the Northern Line in September 1908, with station entrance on the south east side of the circus. The main station ticket hall was later moved underground, built below the circus in the 1920s. The junction became known as St Giles Circus in 1921.

Modern development

The area today is dominated by Centre Point Tower, located on the south-east corner on New Oxford Street and Charing Cross Road. Built between 1963 and 1966 by developer Harry Hyams, the brutalist tower was London's first "

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ri ...

", and is now a Grade II listed building. Crossrail construction TCR

St Giles Circus has been since 2009 the site of construction for

Crossrail Crossrail is a railway construction project mainly in central London. Its aim is to provide a high-frequency hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system crossing the capital from suburbs on the west to east, by connecting two major railway ...

, which have disrupted road flows and led to several buildings being demolished. The Dominion Theatre is close to the north-east corner, on Tottenham Court Road just above New Oxford Street. The

London Astoria The London Astoria was a music venue at 157 Charing Cross Road, in London, England. Originally a warehouse during the 1920s, the building became a cinema and ballroom. It was converted for use as a theatre in the 1970s. After further developm ...

theatre was on the south west side. A new theatre to replace the Astoria is planned. An auditorium/gallery is planned for the south-east corner.

References

{{London encyclopedia Execution sites in England Streets in the London Borough of Camden Streets in the City of Westminster St Giles, London Odonyms referring to religion