Editing Leicester Square (section)

===16th–18th centuries===
[[File:Leicester Square en 1750.JPG|thumb|Leicester Square in 1750, looking north towards Leicester House, then one of the largest houses in London.{{sfn|Weinreb et al|2008|p=479}}]]
The land where Leicester Square now lies once belonged to the Abbot and Convent of [[Westminster Abbey]] and the [[Baron Beaumont|Beaumont family]]. In 1536, [[Henry VIII]] took control of {{convert|3|acre|ha}} of land around the square, with the remaining {{convert|4|acre|ha}} being transferred to the king the following year. The square is named after [[Robert Sidney, 2nd Earl of Leicester]], who purchased this land in 1630.{{sfn|Weinreb et al|2008|p=479}} By 1635, he had built himself a large house, [[Leicester House (Westminster)|Leicester House]], at the northern end. The area in front of the house was then enclosed, depriving inhabitants of [[St Martin in the Fields (parish)|St Martin in the Fields]] parish of their right to use the previously common land. The parishioners appealed to King [[Charles I of England|Charles I]], and he appointed three members of the [[privy council]] to arbitrate. Lord Leicester was ordered to keep part of his land (thereafter known as Leicester Fields and later as Leicester Square) open for the parishioners. <ref name=north>{{cite journal|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=41120|title=Leicester Square, North Side, and Lisle Street Area: Leicester Estate: Leicester House and Leicester Square North Side (Nos 1–16)|journal=Survey of London|volume=33–34 : St Anne Soho|year=1966|pages=441–472|access-date=2 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131015054410/https://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=41120|archive-date=15 October 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>

The square was laid out to the south of Leicester House and developed in the 1670s. The area was originally entirely residential, with properties laid out in a similar style to nearby [[Pall Mall, London|Pall Mall]].{{sfn|Weinreb et al|2008|p=479}} In 1687, the northern part of the square became part of the new parish of [[St Anne Within the Liberty of Westminster|St Anne, Soho]]. The [[Jocelyn Sidney, 7th Earl of Leicester|7th Earl of Leicester]] took ownership of the property in 1728 and it was the residence of [[Frederick, Prince of Wales]], from 1742 until his death in 1751 and that of his wife Princess [[Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha|Augusta]] until 1771.<ref name=north/> The poet [[Matthew Prior]] lived at what is now No.&nbsp;21 around 1700 and artist [[William Hogarth]] resided at No&nbsp;30 between 1733 and 1764, where he produced some of his best known works including ''[[Gin Lane]]''.{{sfn|Weinreb et al|2008|p=479}} The magistrate [[Thomas de Veil]], later to found [[Bow Street Magistrates' Court]], lived at No&nbsp;40 between 1729 and 1737; this location is now The Londoner hotel and [[Odeon Luxe West End]] cinema.{{sfn|Weinreb et al|2008|p=480}} The painter [[Joshua Reynolds]] lived at No&nbsp;47 from 1760 until his death in 1792; this location is now Fanum House, once [[the Automobile Association]] head office.{{sfn|Weinreb et al|2008|p=479}}

At the end of the 17th century, Lord Leicester's heir, [[Philip Sidney, 3rd Earl of Leicester]], permitted a small amount of retail development in booths along the front of Leicester House.{{sfn|Weinreb et al|2008|p=479}} A statue of [[George I of Great Britain|George I]] was built on the square in 1760 following the coronation of his great-grandson, [[George III]].{{sfn|Moore|2003|p=89}} The square remained fashionable throughout most of the 18th century, with notable residents including the architect [[James Stuart (1713–1788)|James Stuart]] at No&nbsp;35 from 1766 to 1788 and the painter [[John Singleton Copley]] at No.&nbsp;28 from 1776 to 1783.{{sfn|Weinreb et al|2008|p=480}}

Leicester House was intermittently inhabited during the mid-18th century, and was finally sold to the naturalist [[Ashton Lever]] in 1775. Lever turned the house into a museum with a significant amount of natural history objects. In turn, the square began to serve as a venue for popular entertainments.<ref name=north/> [[Brothel]]s began to appear around Leicester Square during the century, and visitors could pay to watch the severed heads of traitors executed at [[Temple Bar, London|Temple Bar]] through a [[telescope]].{{sfn|Moore|2003|pp=87,89}} Leicester House became home of a museum of natural curiosities called the [[Leverian collection|Holophusikon]] in the 1780s.<ref name=north/>{{sfn|Weinreb et al|2008|pp=478–479}} It was demolished in 1791–72 due to rising debts following the extinction of the Leicester peerage, and replaced by Leicester Place. That in turn was converted into a church in 1865 and is now the site of the [[Prince Charles Cinema]].{{sfn|Weinreb et al|2008|p=479}}

In 1790, a new [[Royal Opera House]] was proposed to be built in Leicester Square. The scheme was led by the [[George IV|Prince of Wales]], [[Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford]] and [[James Cecil, 1st Marquess of Salisbury]] and aimed to re-establish London as a centre for Italian opera and ballet, with an opera house to rival those in mainland Europe. The opera house was never built, as the [[patent theatre|royal patent]] needed at that time to license a theatre was refused.<ref>{{cite journal|title=A Royal Opera House in Leicester Square (1790)|periodical=Cambridge Opera Journal|last1=Price|last2=Milhous|last3=Hume|first1=Curtis|first2=Judith|first3=Robert D.|date=March 1990|pages=1–28|volume=2|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge, UK}}</ref> The plans for the original design are preserved in [[Sir John Soane's Museum]], while a 1790 painting by [[William Hodges]], which displays the finished design, belongs to the [[Museum of London]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/leicester-square-london-with-the-design-for-a-proposed-new-opera-house-50836|title=Leicester Square, London, with the Design for a Proposed New Opera House|access-date=20 January 2015|publisher=[[Art UK]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160314044831/http://artuk.org/discover/artworks/leicester-square-london-with-the-design-for-a-proposed-new-opera-house-50836|archive-date=14 March 2016|url-status=live}}</ref>