Neal Street (without an ‘e’) commemorates Thomas Neale, MP, the original developer of Seven Dials. Until 1877 it was called King Street or Cross Lane. The present numbering of the buildings was assigned in 1908. It marks the eastern boundary of Marshland Close and today defines part of the eastern edge of the Seven Dials Conservation Area.
Much of the scale and character, as well as several of the original, late-17th or early-18thcentury, three-storey houses survive and there are a number of good, late-Georgian shopfronts. Nos. 27-37 are listed at grade II and are a substantial remnant of the original late-17th century development of Seven Dials, though they were remodelled externally in the late-18th and early-19th centuries. They retain some panelled interiors and original dog-leg staircases.
The tree clusters whilst not part of the original layout, are less likely to obscure all the facades, yet provide shade in the Summer and rows of trees are not suitable for this unusual 17c/18c townscape.
