The Nun of Covent Garden

Covent Garden (or Convent Garden) was a 40 acre area owned by the Abbey of Westminster that was used as a market garden in the Middle Ages. It was managed through the issuing of leases by the Abbot of Westminster until the Dissolution of the Monasteries by King Henry VII between 1536 and 1541, when it was taken by the state and eventually passed into the private ownership of the Earl of Bedford.

Covent Garden is large area with many interesting buildings and as I am not 100% sure about the exact location of the following experience I do not want to delve into any specific histories.

The famous British actor Bob Hoskins (Born 26 October 1942) who has starred in such films as Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Mona Lisa, The Long Good Friday, Hook, Enemy at the Gates and Mermaids had a strange experience whilst working as a porter in Covent Garden.

“I was down in the cellar at the time, when on the wall appeared a woman’s face. She was wearing a nun’s habit and reaching out to me with upwardly turned hands. She spoke but I couldn’t tell what she said. Later I learned that Covent Garden was once called ‘Convent Garden’ and was owned by the Benedictines of Westminster”

Bob left school at age 15 and over the following ten years had a number of jobs, including being a Covent Garden porter, so I assume this even took place sometime between 1957 and 1967.