Two queens, two phoenixes and a couple of chapels and castles

Earlier this week I alluded to the re-naming of streets, something that became necessary as London became expanded, such that a rendezvous arranged in Church Street could mean one person waiting in Hackney whilst the other was stood checking their fob watch in Soho.

This Georgian map illustrates my point. I had taken a quick snap during a visit to The London Archives merely as reference, hence the shadow coming in from the left. Apologies, but I forgot to note the cartographer and the exact year. 

When I later viewed on a large screen I spotted Phenix Street at the middle left exactly where I'd expect it to be – today we have the Phoenix Theatre there backing on to Phoenix Gardens: 

But, confusingly, there's another Phenix Street north of St Giles Church and these two streets don't look like they would have ever been connected:

Either side of this second Phenix Street you'll see Church Street, an extension of Church Lane, and Castle Street which has a doppelganger at the bottom of the map, though I am not sure which castle they alluded to. There are also two Queen Streets.

To make it clearer, I've added some colour-coded rings:

East of the Seven Dials at the bottom left, we see King Street (today Neal Street) which also had a counterpart in the north, just east of Bloomsbury Square (off the map, today approx Southampton Row). there's also another King Street adjacent to Covent Garden market. 

Amazing how close these streets were to each other, with many less than 5mins walk away. It suggests to me that the people who lived north of St Giles rarely ventured south and vice-versa.

A quick glance at today's A-Z shows we have only x12 King Streets in Greater London, just x6 Queen Streets, x18 Church Streets (and a mere x3 Chapel Streets) and only two Castle Streets but neither is central. There is now only the one Phoenix Street and it's the only street shown on the old map above that has retained its original name, albeit alternatively-spelled.