St Giles's Pound Explained

St Giles's Pound was a cattle pound at St Giles Circus in central London in the 17th and 18th centuries, at the intersection of the roads from Hampstead and from Oxford.^[1] It became a point from which distances to London were measured.

The pound was located in the parish of St Giles-in-the-Fields, close to the boundary with St Anne, Westminster. It was originally located in the middle of St Giles High Street, but was moved in 1656 to the corner of Tottenham Court Road, Oxford Street and St Giles High Street.^[2] It was removed in 1765.

It is mentioned in the old song Jack Chance: "On Newgate steps Jack Chance was found, and bred up near St Giles's Pound."^[3]

External links

• A London Inheritance: Saint Giles Pound

51.5165°N -0.1305°W

Notes and References

1. Web site: London. Charles. Knight. 3 March 2018. Charles Knight & Company. Google Books.
2. A Handbook for London, Past and Present, Peter Cunningham, (1849)
3. Web site: The history of the united parishes of St. Giles in the Fields and St. George Bloomsbury, combining strictures on their parochial government, and a variety of information of local and general interest. Rowland. Dobie. 3 March 2018. London, Printed for the author [by F. Marshall]. Internet Archive.