Erection date: 2/4/2018
Inscription
Astley's
Philip and Patty Astley first staged spectacular horse-riding feats nearby on Easter Monday 1768. Adding acrobats and clowns, they created what we know as a Circus.
250th anniversary 2018
Easter Monday in 1768 was 4 April. The plaque was erected by the .
Site: Astley's first venue and Action for Children (1 memorial)
SE1, Cornwall Road
. You can just see one of the horses in our photo, and the gray wigs are on the "cossack" riders. The site of Astley's first performance space, in a field, was just about 50 yards to the east of the plaque. By the next year success meant that the Astleys could set up the more permanent Astley's Amphitheatre, a short distance away. But this plaque marks where "circus" began.
The building is a London Underground electrical substation.
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