Bedford Square

The north side of Bedford Square, viewed from near the north-east corner

Bedford Square is a garden square in the Bloomsbury district of the Borough of Camden in London, England.

Built between 1775 and 1783 as an upper middle class residential area, the square has had many distinguished residents, including Lord Eldon, one of Britain's longest serving and most celebrated Lord Chancellors, who lived in the largest house in the square for many years. The square takes its name from the main title of the Russell family, the Dukes of Bedford, who owned much of the land in what is now Bloomsbury.

Bedford Square from the BT Tower in 1966

Bedford Square is one of the best preserved set pieces of Georgian architecture in London, but most of the houses have now been converted into offices. Numbers 1-10, 11, 12–27, 28–38 and 40–54 are grade I listed buildings. The central garden remains private. Bedford College, the first place for female higher education in Britain, was formerly located in (and named after) Bedford Square.

Current occupants

Bedford Square (2005)

The London office of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is in Bedford Square.

Nos. 1 and 2: Cameron Mackintosh (Overseas) Limited
No. 3: Winston House (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's European Study Center)
Nos. 4, 5 and 6: New York University's London campus
No. 7: Birkbeck, University of London
Nos. 8 & 9: London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
No. 11: Royal Holloway, University of London
No. 12: ACCENT International Consortium for Academic Programs Abroad: London Study Center
No. 16: Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art
No. 17: The Wylie Agency
No. 18: Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, London^[1]
No. 19 New College of the Humanities
No. 21 FSPG Chartered Accountants
No. 26 SIS Digital the home of Digital out of Home
No. 20: Reflex Solutions offices
No. 29: London office of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
No. 30: Sotheby's Institute of Art
No. 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38 and 39: Architectural Association School of Architecture
No. 47: Yale University Press, London
Nos. 49, 50 and 51: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Former occupants

No. 6: Lord Eldon — Lord Chancellor
No. 10: Charles Gilpin — MP
No. 11:
- John Scarlett Davis - artist; died there in 1845
- Henry Cavendish — scientist
No. 13: Harry Ricardo — engine designer — born here
No. 22: Johnston Forbes-Robertson — actor
No. 26: National Council for Voluntary Organisations, 1928 – 1992
No. 30: Jonathan Cape — publishing company
No. 35: Thomas Hodgkin — physician, reformer and philanthropist
No. 35: Thomas Wakley — founder of The Lancet
No. 41: William Butterfield — architect
No. 41: Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins — novelist
No. 44: Margot Asquith — wife of the Prime Minister H. H. Asquith; before that, Ottoline Morrell
No. 48: Elizabeth Jesser Reid — anti-slavery activist and founder of Bedford College for Women
No. 49: Francis Walker — entomologist; before that Ram Mohan Roy — Indian scholar and reformer
No. 52: — used as the contestants' house in the 2010 series of The Apprentice

References

↑ http://www.hketolondon.gov.hk/contact/index.htm

Steen Eiler Rasmussen: "London, the Unique City".

External links

Bedford Square, discussed in Survey of London, Riley & Gomme, 1914

Blue plaques

A number of houses have blue plaques recording famous residents:

Harry Ricardo
Thomas Hodgkin
Thomas Wakley
Anthony Hope Hawkins
William Butterfield
Elizabeth Jesser Reid
Ram Mohan Roy
Lord Eldon

Bloomsbury

Buildings	Barbadian H.C. Brunswick Centre Church of Christ the King Connaught Hall Goodenough College Hotel Russell The Lamb Montagu House Senate House St. George's St George the Martyr Holborn St Pancras Church UCL Main Building

Squares and parks	Bedford Square Bloomsbury Square Brunswick Square Cartwright Gardens Coram's Fields Gordon Square Mecklenburgh Square Queen Square Russell Square Tavistock Square Torrington Square Woburn Square

Roads	Cartwright Gardens Gower Street Great Russell Street Guilford Street Gray's Inn Road Lamb's Conduit Street Malet Street Museum Street Southampton Row Woburn Place

History	The Bedford Estate Bloomsbury Gang Bloomsbury Group

Coordinates: 51°31′08.08″N 00°07′48.39″W / 51.5189111°N 0.1301083°W / 51.5189111; -0.1301083

Plaquemap.com London blue plaque scheme — For exact location of these plaques within the square.

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/8/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.