Neal’s Yard (Courtyard)

Neal’s Yard is a small, vibrant courtyard tucked away in Covent Garden, identifiable by the brightly painted, multi-colored facades of the buildings surrounding it. Although it bears the name of the seventeenth-century property developer Thomas Neale, the yard was largely ignored and eventually fell into total disrepair. By the mid-nineteen seventies, the space was a derelict, rat-infested collection of abandoned warehouses that did not even appear in the London street atlas.