Mercer Street is a street in the Seven Dials district of

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

, London, England. Mercer Street runs south east to north west from

Long Acre Long Acre is a street in the City of Westminster in central London. It runs from St Martin's Lane, at its western end, to Drury Lane in the east. The street was completed in the early 17th century and was once known for its Coach_(carriage), co ...

Shaftesbury Avenue Shaftesbury Avenue is a major road in the West End of London, named after The 7th Earl of Shaftesbury. It runs north-easterly from Piccadilly Circus to New Oxford Street, crossing Charing Cross Road at Cambridge Circus. From Piccadill ...

, crossing Shelton Street. About two-thirds up, it meets Seven Dials, where it intersects with

Monmouth Street Monmouth Street is a street in the Seven Dials district of Covent Garden, London, England. Monmouth Street runs north to south from Shaftesbury Avenue to a crossroads with Tower Street and Shelton Street, where it becomes St Martin's Lane. A ...

Earlham Street Earlham Street is a street in Covent Garden, in the London Borough of Camden that runs from Shaftesbury Avenue in the west to Neal Street in the east, crossing Seven Dials midway, where it intersects with Monmouth Street, Mercer Street, and ...

, and

Shorts Gardens Shorts Gardens is a street in the St Giles, London, St Giles area of Central London. It runs eastwards from Seven Dials, London, Seven Dials to Drury Lane, crossing Neal Street and Endell Street. The Covent Garden district is located just to t ...

. The street takes its name from the

Mercers' Company The Mercers' Company, or the Worshipful Company of Mercers, is a livery company of the City of London in the Great Twelve City Livery Companies, and ranks first in the order of precedence of the Companies. Mercer comes from the Latin for merch ...

, who owned much of the land next to the seven acres of Covent Garden purchased by the

Earl of Bedford Earl of Bedford is a title that has been created three times in the Peerage of England and is currently a subsidiary title of the Dukes of Bedford. The first creation came in 1138 in favour of Hugh de Beaumont. He appears to have been degraded ...

in 1552. Originally, the name Mercer Street was only given to the section between Long Acre and Shelton Street; the section from Shelton Street to Seven Dials was called ''Little White Lion Street'', and the section from Seven Dials to Shaftesbury Avenue was called ''Great White Lion Street''. In the 1930s the name Mercer Street was given to the whole street.

Freed of London Freed may refer to: People * Alan Freed (1921–1965), American radio personality * Arthur Freed (1894–1973), American film producer and lyricist * Dan Freed (born 1959), American mathematician * Gene Freed (1930–2009), American bridge playe ...

manufactured

pointe shoes A pointe shoe (, ), also referred to as a ''ballet shoe'', is a type of shoe worn by ballet dancers when performing pointe work. Pointe shoes were conceived in response to the desire for dancers to appear weightless and sylph-like and have evolv ...

for ballet dancers in Mercer Street from 1947 until 1971, when production moved to Well Street, Hackney.

References

External links

Covent Garden Shopping streets in London Streets in the London Borough of Camden Streets in the City of Westminster {{London-road-stub