In the middle of Leicester Square is a statue of William Shakespeare. It depicts him with a scroll with (as a quick Google reveals) a line from Twelfth Night IV ii:
There is no darkness but ignorance
Which strikes me as a pretty good motto.
On the plinth is the legend
This enclosure was purchased, laid out and decorated as a garden by Albert Grant Esqre M.P. and conveyed by him on the 2nd July 1874 to the Metropolitan Board of Works to be preserved for ever for the free use and enjoyment of the public.
From Wikipedia:
In 1848, Leicester Square was the subject of the land-law case of Tulk v. Moxhay. The plot’s previous owner had agreed upon a covenant not to erect buildings. However, the law would not allow purchasers who were not ‘privy’ to the initial contract to be bound by subsequent promises. The judge, Lord Cottenham, decided that future owners could be bound by promises to abstain from activity. Otherwise, a buyer could sell land to himself to undermine an initial promise. Arguments continued about the fate of the garden, with Tulk’s heirs erecting a wooden hoarding around the property in 1873. Finally, in 1874 the flamboyant Albert Grant (1830–1899) purchased the outstanding freeholds and donated the garden to the Metropolitan Board of Works, laying out a garden at his own expense. The title passed to the succeeding public bodies and is now in the ownership of the City of Westminster.
Apologies for the quality of the photos – camera phone!
xD.
This rather unfortunate law, amongst other things, will sour things for tourists. The distinctive uniforms and headgear mean people want to take photos of themselves with the British bobby. Making it harder – in reality or in perception – to photograph and to see photographs of constables will widen the gap between the police and the public. It could be argued that the ‘reasonable’ clause is an effective catch-all as it is clearly reasonable for (say) a family to want to take a photograph with a police officer, perhaps with one of the children wearing the custodian helmet. There is also the issue of taking photographs and video footage at demonstrations. In this and many other instances, it is easy to see how an individual constable2 could act in a manner that is not in accordance with the spirit of the law. I expect that the Home Office will issue guidance in due course.
