Portman Estate area remained largely residential, attracting the prosperous middle class who wanted to live near the centre of London. There were also mews for tradesmen and servants. At the southwest corner of the Estate, where Marble Arch now stands, was the Tyburn gallows, London’s principal place of public execution until 1783. Development of the area north of the Marylebone Road around Dorset Square continued after 1815, and to the North West in Lisson Green, workers’ cottages were built from 1820 to 1840. Many of the original Georgian houses north of Portman Square were redeveloped as mansion blocks, which were let on
St Giles, London stood on the main road from Holborn to Tyburn, a place of local execution. Convicted criminals were often allowed, in tradition, to stop at St Giles en route to Tyburn for a final drink - a "St Giles Bowl" - before hanging. As London grew in the 18th and 19th centuries, so did the parish's population, rising to 30,000 by 1831. Later, a large percentage were Irish, having emigrated because of the Great Famine (Ireland) during 1845 and 1849. The rookery stood between the church and Great Russell Street, and Seven Dials near where Centre Point stands today, now home