Ovington 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 central London's

Knightsbridge Knightsbridge is a residential and retail district in central London, south of Hyde Park. It is identified in the London Plan as one of two international retail centres in London, alongside the West End. Toponymy Knightsbridge is an ancient ...

district. It lies between

Brompton Road Brompton Road is a street located in the southern part from Knightsbridge and in the eastern part from Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and partly the City of Westminster in London. It starts from Knightsbridge Und ...

to the north-west (reached via Ovington Gardens) and

Walton Street Walton Street may refer to: * Walton Street, Oxford * Walton Street, London Walton Street is a street within central London's Chelsea district, bordering Knightsbridge. It runs south-west to north-east from Draycott Avenue to Walton Place, paral ...

to the south-east.

History

The freehold property on which the square is built was owned by Frederick, Baron von Zandt of

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the '' Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzbur ...

, Germany, and after his death was developed in 1844 by his widow, Elizabeth Standerwick, of Ovington House in Hampshire. The houses surrounding the green were built from 1844 to 1850 by W.W. Pocock. The south side of the square, 1–35, and number 34 on the north side are

grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

, as are 37–43 and 36–42 on the road into the square. The green itself was secured soon after development, protected under the 1851 Garden Square Act and maintained under the Kensington Improvement Act 1851. Responsibility for the garden passed to Trustees following a settlement made by Sir John Swinnerton Dyer in 1912.

Notable buildings and residents

* #10 was home to the London Buddhist Vihara from 1955 to 1964, when it moved to Heathfield Gardens,

Chiswick Chiswick ( ) is a district of west London, England. It contains Hogarth's House, the former residence of the 18th-century English artist William Hogarth; Chiswick House, a neo-Palladian villa regarded as one of the finest in England; and ...

. * The six-storey apartment building #22–26 was built in 1957, and the architect was Walter Segal. Pevsner called it "a Morris Traveller parked among grander saloons". In the 1990s, the

Twentieth Century Society The Twentieth Century Society (C20) is a British charity which campaigns for the preservation of architectural heritage from 1914 onwards. The society's interests embrace buildings and artefacts that characterise 20th-century Britain. It is for ...

recommended it for

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

status, but this was rejected. * #10 Frederic Chapman (1823–1895), publisher, died at his home there * #17 Birthplace of

Vera Bate Lombardi Vera Bate Lombardi (born Vera Nina Arkwright, 11 August 1883 – 22 May 1948) was a socialite and close associate of Coco Chanel and the mother of Bridget Bate Tichenor. A British citizen at birth, she became a citizen of the United States afte ...

(1883–1948), socialite * #18 Sir Wilfrid Lawson, 2nd Baronet, of Brayton (1829–1906), temperance campaigner and radical politician died at his home there * #27 Headquarters of the Beatles'

Apple Corps Apple Corps Limited (informally known as Apple) is a multi-armed multimedia corporation founded in London in January 1968 by the members of the Beatles to replace their earlier company (Beatles Ltd.) and to form a conglomerate. Its name (p ...

and

Harrisongs Harrisongs Ltd is a music publishing company, founded in 1964 by English musician and songwriter George Harrison, then a member of the Beatles. On 11 September 1964, Harrison created Mornyork Ltd, which, by 7 December that year, had changed its ...

companies * Arthur Grote (1814–1886), colonial administrator, died at his home there *

Jane Wilde Jane Francesca Agnes, Lady Wilde (née Elgee; 27 December 1821 – 3 February 1896) was an Irish poet under the pen name Speranza and supporter of the nationalist movement. Lady Wilde had a special interest in Irish folktales, which she hel ...

lived there from 1879, as did briefly her son,

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

References

External links

{{Coord, 51, 29, 49, N, 0, 9, 54, W, scale:1563_region:GB, display=title Ovington Square Knightsbridge Garden squares in London Communal gardens Houses completed in 1850 Grade II listed houses in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea