Lorrimore Square is a

garden square A garden square is a type of communal garden in an urban area wholly or substantially surrounded by buildings; commonly, it continues to be applied to public and private parks formed after such a garden becomes accessible to the public at large. ...

in the far south-west of

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, centred 500 metres south-east of

Kennington tube station Kennington is a London Underground station on Kennington Park Road in Kennington within the London Borough of Southwark. The station is at the junction of the Charing Cross and Bank branches of the Northern line to the north and the Morden an ...

. It is divided into four sections, a church with integrated drop-in centre; a small enclosed garden without paths; a public playground/gardens; and a basketball/netball pitch. One side of the square is

classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the works of the Roman architect V ...

of four storeys, the other two sides — the fourth side marks the end of units on another road — are late 20th century rows of apartments of slightly lower height.

Etymology

A 1681 map of

Walworth Walworth () is a district of south London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. It adjoins Camberwell to the south and Elephant and Castle to the north, and is south-east of Charing Cross. Major streets in Walworth include the Old ...

made for Dean and Chapter of

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the ...

shows a wider common called "Lattam-more" (or Lower Moor); Lorrimore is a corruption of Lower Moor.

London Blitz

Lorrimore Square was hit by

incendiary bomb Incendiary weapons, incendiary devices, incendiary munitions, or incendiary bombs are weapons designed to start fires or destroy sensitive equipment using fire (and sometimes used as anti-personnel weaponry), that use materials such as napalm, t ...

s during the

London Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

(in 1940) causing the first form of the church to burn down except for the steeple.

Post war

The current church was built in 1959–60. About half of the square is a public garden. The rest, from near its centre to the north-east, centre edge of the square — the square is laid out obliquely to the cardinal points of the compass — is St Paul's Church, flanked by a basketball/netball pitch accessible by local clubs and a small enclosed tree-studded garden with flowering shrubs. Together these internal contents, net of surrounding roads and buildings, occupy ; the gross area (square development's estate), including facing rows of flats and a Victorian terrace with their yards behind is . One side of the square is

of four storeys set behind black railings in the same way as most of the square, with basement gardens. The other two sides — the fourth side marks the end of units and forms another road which is unlike the rest of the square a motor vehicles thoroughfare, Chapter Road — are late 20th century rows of apartments of similar height.

Location

The square is within the SE17 postcode district. The nearest

tube station The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Und ...

Kennington Kennington is a district in south London, England. It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark, a boundary which can be discerned from the early medieval period between the ...

, 500 m northwest, much closer than any other stations. Pasley Park has a brief border with the north-west corner of the roads forming the square (not with the square itself) along that side which is named differently, as a continuous road, Chapter Road.

Conservation and amenity improvements

The eastern side of Lorrimore Square, Chapter Road is in the Sutherland Square

Conservation Area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

Southwark Council Southwark London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Southwark in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. History There have previously been a numbe ...

, the local council, regulates any planning and development that can take place in this area. Along with smaller communal grounds in Lorrimore Road, Carter Street, Fleming Cottages, Churchwarden House, Greig Terrace and Forsyth Gardens, the square is the subject of the Surrey Gardens Tenants' and Residents' Association who, as leaseholders, hold most of the legal responsibilities for the park in Lorrimore Square.

References

External links

LondonTown.com information
{{coord , 51, 29, 5, N, 0, 6, 4, W, type:landmark_region:GB-SWK, display=title Squares in the London Borough of Southwark