St Paul's Church, Covent Garden

| territorial_extent = England and Wales | royal_assent = 29 December 1660 | commencement = 25 April 1660 | repeal_date = | repealing_legislation = | related_legislation = | status = Current | original_text = | collapsed = yes }} In 1630, the 4th Earl of Bedford was given permission to demolish buildings on an area of land he owned north of the Strand, and redevelop it. The result was the Covent Garden Piazza, the first formal square in London. The new buildings were classical in character. At the west end was a church, linked to two identical houses. The south side was left open. Work on the church was completed in 1633, at a cost to the Bedford estate of £4,886, but it was not consecrated…

, before 1677]] painted in 1737 by Balthazar Nebot]] The east end, facing the piazza, is now faced in stone, with a massive portico, its boldly-projecting pediment supported by two columns and two piers. There were originally three doorways behind the portico; the middle one, which survives, was built as a false door as the interior wall behind it is occupied by the altar. William Prynne, writing in 1638 said that it was originally intended to have the altar at the west end, but pressure from the church hierarchy led to the imposition of the traditional orientation. The 9th Duke of Bedford's architect.

St Paul's connection with the theatre began as early as 1663 with the establishment of the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, and was further assured in 1723 with the opening of Covent Garden Theatre, now the Royal Opera House. On 9 May 1662, Samuel Pepys noted in his diary the first "Italian puppet play" under the portico—the first recorded performance of "Punch and Judy", a fact commemorated by the annual MayFayre service in May. The portico of St Paul's was the setting for the first scene of Shaw's Pygmalion, the play that was later adapted as My Fair Lady. Since 2007 St Paul's has been home to its own in-house professional theatre company, Iris Theatre, originally created to mount a production…