Paultons Square is a Georgian terraced

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. T ...

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, London, SW3. It was built in 1836–40 on the site of a former

market garden A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically from under to ...

, land previously owned by Sir Thomas More and Sir John Danvers.Paultons Square.
/ref> The square features a central lawn enclosed by metal railings; the houses surrounding it are listed Grade II on the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, a ...

. The author

Gavin Maxwell Gavin Maxwell FRSL FZS FRGS (15 July 19147 September 1969) was a British naturalist and author, best known for his non-fiction writing and his work with otters. He wrote the book ''Ring of Bright Water'' (1960) about how he brought an otter ...

is a notable former resident of the square – he lived at No. 9 from 1961 to 1965 – and it is often visited by admirers of his work. The novelist and short-story writer

Jean Rhys Jean Rhys, ( ; born Ella Gwendolyn Rees Williams; 24 August 1890 – 14 May 1979) was a British novelist who was born and grew up in the Caribbean island of Dominica. From the age of 16, she mainly resided in England, where she was sent for he ...

lived in Flat 22 in Paulton House in the square from 1936 to 1938, and the writer Samuel Beckett lived at No. 48 from 1933 to 1934. The physicist

Patrick Blackett Patrick Maynard Stuart Blackett, Baron Blackett (18 November 1897 – 13 July 1974) was a British experimental physicist known for his work on cloud chambers, cosmic rays, and paleomagnetism, winning the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1948. ...

also lived at No. 48. Other residents include the painters

Augustus John Augustus Edwin John (4 January 1878 – 31 October 1961) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a time he was considered the most important artist at work in Britain: Virginia Woolf remarked that by 1908 the era of John Singer Sarge ...

, at No. 45, and Paul Nash, at No. 19, the poet

Kathleen Raine Kathleen Jessie Raine CBE (14 June 1908 – 6 July 2003) was a British poet, critic, and scholar, writing in particular on William Blake, W. B. Yeats and Thomas Taylor. Known for her interest in various forms of spirituality, most prominently ...

, at No. 47, and lexicographer

Henry Watson Fowler Henry Watson Fowler (10 March 1858 – 26 December 1933) was an English schoolmaster, lexicographer and commentator on the usage of the English language. He is notable for both ''A Dictionary of Modern English Usage'' and his work on the ''Con ...

, at No. 14. Beckett, Blackett, Rhys, Fowler and Maxwell all have blue plaques. The garden is in size and was redesigned in 2000. It is accessible only to local residents.

References

{{coord, 51.4845, -0.1738, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title 1840 establishments in England Chelsea, London Garden squares in London Grade II listed houses in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Squares in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Streets in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Communal gardens