Seven Dials

Junction of seven streets in the West End of London, England, to the east of Soho and Shaftesbury Avenue. It is marked by a pillar in the centre of the junction. Such a pillar was first erected in the 17th century with seven sundials, each facing one of the streets.

In the 18th and early 19th centuries the area around Seven Dials, a centre for the printing and selling of ballads, bordered on the ‘rookeries’ of St Giles and was criss-crossed with narrow streets.