On either side of what is now Short’s Gardens lay the cultivated grounds of William Short, gardener of Gray’s Inn who, in 1590, purchased fields known as Newland between Drury Lane and the Marshland. The Short family were prominent parishioners of St Giles until Thomas Short sold the property around 1690 and it became part of Thomas Neale’s Seven Dials development. Originally called Queen Street, Short’s Gardens is now largely 19th century commercial in appearance. Only the western part of this section nearest Seven Dials retains the original domestic architectural scale and character. There, no. 1 on the north side and nos. 2, 4 and 6 on the south still occupy the 17th century building plots.
