Shepherd Market

Shepherd Market is a small square in the Mayfair area of central London, developed in 1735-46 by Edward Shepherd on the open ground then used for the annual May fair from which Mayfair gets its name. It is located between Piccadilly and Curzon Street and has a village-like atmosphere. It has been associated with prostitutes since the Eighteenth century; in the 1980s, Jeffrey Archer met the prostitute Monica Coghlan in Shepherd Market. In the 1920s it was a popular residential area for writers and artists, such as Anthony Powell, Michael Arlen and Sophie Fedorovitch.

History

Shepherd Market is a square developed in 1735-46 by Edward Shepherd from an open area called Brook Field, through which flowed the Tyburn, and where a May fair was held, from which the surrounding area of Mayfair derives its name. Shepherd, a local architect, was commissioned to develop the site and work was completed in the mid-18th century. It contained paved alleys, a duck pond, and a two-storey market topped by a theatre.