Seven Dials Sundial Pillar
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Seven Dials was the creation of Thomas Neale MP (1641 – 1699), who held key Government positions including Master of the Mint and also introduced the first lottery, raising £1m for the King, a vast sum in 1694. Neale commissioned England’s leading stonemason, Edward Pierce, to design and construct the Sundial Pillar in 1693/4 as the centrepiece of his development in Seven Dials. The sundial seen today is not the original, this was removed in 1773. Every book on London says the pillar was pulled down by an angry mob, but research by the Seven Dials Trust uncovered newspaper coverage from 1773 protesting at its removal and pointing out that it ended up in the garden of one of the Commissioners. The replacement sundial column was constructed between 1988 and 1989, to the original design. Today Seven Dials is the only quarter in London remaining from the 1690’s with many original houses, unusual early 19th century shop fronts, massive brewery buildings and unique street layouts. Photograph by Julian Andrews. Column height: 40 ft (12.19 meters)
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