Astley's Amphitheatre occupies a unique position in the history of popular entertainment. For over a hundred years it was a familiar feature of London life: no student of the theatre, literature or of social history can have failed to come across it. Astley's began as a riding school, and developed into that vigorous hybrid of theatre and circus which captivated generations of Londoners and was immortalized by Dickens. It formed a vital link between the legitimate and popular theatre, and influenced the development of the circus in Europe and America. - Introduction.