George Johann Scharf’s illustration of the market before Fowler’s hall was built in 1830
Circa 1820
If there was any doubt that the once fruit and vegetable market had been inundated by red light district activities by the Georgian era, I found an interesting publication from 1789 that lists all the “Covent Garden Ladies” and indeed gives a bit of background and description of their particular attributes.
Covent Garden, by the Regency, also housed many other entertainments including theatre and the Royal Opera House.
It began as an open air fruit and vegetable market around 1654 along the south side of the fashionable square. Taverns, coffee houses, theatres and brothels began to crowd the surrounding area and by the Regency era the internal market was a scene of chaos. If you visit today you will find a structured market that was conceptualized following an act of Parliament and the efforts of the sixth Duke of Bedford. A covered building was first erected in 1830 with the hope to contain said chaos. There are some lovely snippets and characterisations of the people from the 19th century market captured here: http://www.coventgardenmemories.org.uk/page_id__59.aspx?path=0p36p
Walks Through London, Including Westminster and the Borough of Southwark (1817).
Entrance to Covent Garden
Needless to say Covent Garden would have been a noisy, bustling place during the Regency era filled with a variety of goods for sale. With its seedier reputation, it teeters on the edge of being a true hot spot (at least for the haute ton) but I think its no doubt a fascinating place that can be used to great advantage in a historical romance to show a wide-eyed ingénue the realities of life, serve as the humble beginnings of foundling, or in general be a place to blend into the crowd and do some fantastic people watching.
