Gordon Square Gardens, London Borough of Camden, WC1

Gordon Square is a public park square in

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mus ...

, London, England. It is part of the

Bedford Estate The Bedford Estate is an estate in central London owned by the Russell family, which holds the peerage title of Duke of Bedford. The estate was originally based in Covent Garden, then stretched to include Bloomsbury in 1669.Tavistock Square Tavistock Square is a public square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden. History Tavistock Square was built shortly after 1806 by the property developer James Burton and the master builder Thomas Cubitt for Francis Russell, 5th Duke ...

. It is owned by the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

History and buildings

Rabindranath Tagore Bust in Gordon Square

The square was developed by master builder

Thomas Cubitt Thomas Cubitt (25 February 1788 – 20 December 1855) was a British master builder, notable for his employment in developing many of the historic streets and squares of London, especially in Belgravia, Pimlico and Bloomsbury. His great-great-g ...

in the 1820s, as one of a pair with

Tavistock Square Tavistock Square is a public square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden. History Tavistock Square was built shortly after 1806 by the property developer James Burton and the master builder Thomas Cubitt for Francis Russell, 5th Duke ...

, which is a block away and has the same dimensions. As with most London squares the central garden was originally for the private use of the residents of the surrounding houses, but it now belongs to the

and is open to the public. The square is named after the second wife of the

6th Duke of Bedford John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford, (6 July 1766 – 20 October 1839), known as Lord John Russell until 1802, was a British Whig politician who notably served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the Ministry of All the Talents. He was the fath ...

, Lady Georgiana Gordon, daughter of Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon. The university owns many of the buildings in the square and in early 2005 it submitted an application for a refurbishment of the square, including the reinstatement of railings similar to the originals. The work was completed in 2007. The west side of the square is dominated by the listed church of ''

Christ the King Christ the King is a title of Jesus in Christianity referring to the idea of the Kingdom of God where the Christ is described as seated at the right hand of God. Many Christian denominations consider the kingly office of Christ to be one of ...

'' and next to it the home of

Dr Williams's Library Dr Williams's Library is a small English research library in Gordon Square, Bloomsbury, London. Historically, it has had a strong Unitarian focus. The library has also been known as University Hall. History The library was founded using the e ...

. The Institute of Archaeology, a department of

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, is on the north side of the square. The

Campaign for Science and Engineering The Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE) is a non-profit organisation that is the UK's leading independent advocate for science and engineering. It focuses on arguing for more research funding, promoting a high-tech and knowledge-based e ...

and

UCL Urban Laboratory UCL Urban Laboratory is a cross-disciplinary centre for the study of cities and urbanism, based at University College London. It carries out research, education and outreach activities both in London and internationally. The Urban Laboratory was e ...

resides in Gordon House, at the square's north-west corner. Gordon Street leads from the north-west corner with the

Bloomsbury Theatre The Bloomsbury Theatre is a theatre on Gordon Street, Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden, owned by University College London. The Theatre has a seating capacity of 547 and offers a professional programme of innovative music, drama, come ...

close by. The

Warburg Institute The Warburg Institute is a research institution associated with the University of London in central London, England. A member of the School of Advanced Study, its focus is the study of cultural history and the role of images in culture – cros ...

(part of the

School of Advanced Study The School of Advanced Study (SAS), a postgraduate institution of the University of London, is the UK's national centre for the promotion and facilitation of research in the humanities and social sciences. It was established in 1994 and is ba ...

) is located on the south-west corner of the square, across Tavistock Place. Nos. 16–26, on the western side of the square, were not completed until 1855, and they represent some of the last buildings created by

. They now mostly house UCL academic departments. For example, No. 22 houses the

Department of Science and Technology Studies The UCL Department of Science and Technology Studies (STS) is an academic department in University College London, London, England. It is part of UCL's Faculty of Mathematics and Physical Sciences. The department offers academic training at both ...

. Passfield Hall, a halls of residence for undergraduates at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

, is on the north side of the square.

Notable residents

The economist

John Maynard Keynes John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, ( ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originally trained in ...

(1883–1946) lived at 46 Gordon Square, marked by a

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...

. Before Keynes moved in, the same house was occupied by a young

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...

(1882–1941) and her siblings (including the noted painter and interior designer

Vanessa Bell Vanessa Bell (née Stephen; 30 May 1879 – 7 April 1961) was an English painter and interior designer, a member of the Bloomsbury Group and the sister of Virginia Woolf (née Stephen). Early life and education Vanessa Stephen was the eld ...

) and frequented by other members of the

Bloomsbury Group The Bloomsbury Group—or Bloomsbury Set—was a group of associated English writers, intellectuals, philosophers and artists in the first half of the 20th century, including Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, E. M. Forster and Lytton Strac ...

. The writer and biographer

Lytton Strachey Giles Lytton Strachey (; 1 March 1880 – 21 January 1932) was an English writer and critic. A founding member of the Bloomsbury Group and author of ''Eminent Victorians'', he established a new form of biography in which psychological insight ...

lived at No. 51.https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/blue-plaques/lytton-strachey/ Houses 43 to 46 are now occupied by the School of Arts,

Birkbeck, University of London , mottoeng = Advice comes over nightTranslation used by Birkbeck. , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £4.3 m (2014) , budget = £10 ...

References

External links

Virtual Tour
from UCL
LondonTown.com information

Christ the King church, Gordon Square
{{authority control 1820s establishments in England Squares in the London Borough of Camden UCL Institute of Archaeology University of London Bloomsbury Group locations Bloomsbury Garden squares in London

History and buildings

Notable residents

See also

References

External links