Trafalgar Square capital. Building work on the south side of the square in the late 1950s revealed deposits from the last interglacial. Among the findings were the remains of cave lion, rhinoceros, straight-tusked elephant and hippopotamus. The site of Trafalgar Square has been a significant location since the 13th century. During Edward I's reign, the area was the site of the King's Mews, running north from the original Charing Cross, where the Strand from the City met Whitehall coming north from Westminster. From the reign of Richard II to that of Henry VII, the mews was at the western end of the
Leicester Square (named after Sir John Cam Hobhouse), Hunt's Court (after Samuel Hunt, 17th century carpenter and leaseholder), Irving Street (after actor Henry Irving), Orange Street (named after William III, Prince of Orange), Oxdendon Street (after Sir Henry Oxenden, 1st Baronet), Panton Street (after local property dealer Thomas Panton), and Trafalgar Square. The land where Leicester Square now lies once belonged to the Abbot and Convent of Westminster Abbey and the Beaumont family. In 1536, Henry VIII took control of of land around the square, with the remaining being transferred to the king the following year. The square is named after Robert