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Squares have long been a feature of
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...
and come in numerous identifiable forms. The landscaping spectrum of squares stretches from those with more
hardscape Hardscape refers to hard landscape materials in the built environment structures that are incorporated into a landscape. This can include paved areas, driveways, retaining walls, sleeper walls, stairs, walkways, and any other landscaping mad ...
, constituting
town square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...
s (also known as city squares)—to those with
communal gardens A communal garden (often used in the plural as communal gardens) is a (normally formal) garden for shared use by a number of local residents, typically in an urban setting. The term is especially used in the United Kingdom. The centre of many cit ...
, for which London is a major international exponent, known as
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 ...
s. A few in the capital of the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, such as
Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson comm ...
, began as ''public'' open spaces in the same way as other city squares worldwide, typically a ''plaza'', ''piazza'' and a ''platz'' in Spain, Italy and Germany. Most, however, began as garden squares i.e. private communal gardens for the inhabitants of surrounding houses. All types of the space are more prevalent in parts of London with high (urban) density. Some of these gardens are now open to the public, while others, for example around
Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road Ma ...
, are railed (a form of fencing) and private. The terminology has been loosely applied for over a century. Some "squares" are irregularly shaped—including five triangles, a pentagon, hexagon, octagon, and two ovals among those officially named ''Square''. Approbative and technical studies of garden squares commonly cover equivalent landscaped communal gardens not named as a ''Square'' many of which have become small public parks. A diversity of descriptive names features in the list of London's "garden squares".


Name and shape

"Square" is a generic term for neat, planned or set aside urban open spaces larger than a verge or pavement overlooked by buildings. In London, elements of fields were set aside, a fact reflected in the name of the square
London Fields London Fields is a park in Hackney, London, although the name also refers to the immediate area in Hackney surrounding it and London Fields station. It is common land adjoining the Hackney Central area of the London Borough of Hackney. The p ...
and two later examples:
Coram's Fields Coram's Fields is a seven acre urban open space in the Kings Cross area of the London Borough of Camden. Adults are only permitted to enter if accompanied by children. History The park is situated on the former site of the Foundling Hospi ...
and
Lincoln's Inn Fields Lincoln's Inn Fields is the largest public square in London. It was laid out in the 1630s under the initiative of the speculative builder and contractor William Newton, "the first in a long series of entrepreneurs who took a hand in develo ...
. Some are not actually square, or even rectangular. One reason for this is the use of a local nickname for the street, park or garden in question. Another is that some older squares were irregularly shaped to begin with, or lost their original layout due to the city's many transformations, not least following the Great Fire of London and
The 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 ...
. The street naming (or streetnaming) authority of each
London Borough The London boroughs are the 32 local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London; each is governed by a London borough council. The present London boroughs were all created at ...
and the
City of London Corporation The City of London Corporation, officially and legally the Mayor and Commonalty and Citizens of the City of London, is the municipal governing body of the City of London, the historic centre of London and the location of much of the United King ...
by authority of an Act of 1939 imposes rules to authorise appropriate street names for new developments and for owners wishing to rename features. Commercial building and retained historic names apart, new residential squares must in many boroughs be "for a square only" — considered not well elongated but rectangular and to some extent open. Billiter Square, EC3 and Millennium Square, SE1 in districts dominated by retail, commerce and offices are among many modern buildings (not beside a visible rectangular open space) that include alternative, higher built density, square features to their design—such as a courtyard or a square footprint. Some squares such as
Granary Square Granary Square is a large open space in the London Borough of Camden. Comparable in size to Trafalgar Square, it is part of the larger King's Cross Central development. It has been cited as an example of a privately owned public space in London. ...
are paved; others like
Russell Square Russell Square is a large garden square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden, built predominantly by the firm of James Burton. It is near the University of London's main buildings and the British Museum. Almost exactly square, to the ...
have grass and trees; many others have diverse communal gardens. Most of those that are actually square have the word in their name, and these are listed below. Others more flexibly identified do not. Such notable lists are commonly identified as list of garden squares or ''estate gardens'', ''communal gardens'', ''formal gardens'', about which many books have been written. Increasingly, spaces are being constructed that are legally private, though in practice open to the public (
Paternoster Square Paternoster Square is an urban development, owned by the Mitsubishi Estate, next to St Paul's Cathedral in the City of London. The area, which takes its name from Paternoster Row, once centre of the London publishing trade, was devastated by ...
). The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea contains over a hundred garden squares whose use is restricted to residents, almost all share a name with their directly adjoining road. Residents may contract with private contractors or with the council, in which case the council charges those residents, typically at the same time as
council tax Council Tax is a local taxation system used in England, Scotland and Wales. It is a tax on domestic property, which was introduced in 1993 by the Local Government Finance Act 1992, replacing the short-lived Community Charge, which in turn re ...
. One instance is a
lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements ...
(pointed oval),
The Boltons The Boltons is a street and garden square of lens shape in the Brompton district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England (postcode SW10). The opposing sides of the street face the communal gardens (as two non-semicircul ...
. Toward the public end of the public/private continuum, London's growth has taken in
village green A village green is a common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for gathering cattle t ...
s. A minority of these partly or wholly survive such as
Newington Green Newington Green is an open space in North London that straddles the border between Islington and Hackney. It gives its name to the surrounding area, roughly bounded by Ball's Pond Road to the south, Petherton Road to the west, Green Lanes and ...
to form council-run open spaces breaking up housing, road networks and/or retail streets. The categories of greens and garden squares become more well-visited where larger than an informal scale. These are mainly government-run, characteristic
parks and open spaces in London There are many parks and open spaces in Greater London, England. Green space in central London consists of five of the capital's eight Royal Parks, supplemented by a number of small garden squares scattered throughout the city centre. Open space ...
. By subtle distinction their less urban equivalent amounts to London's 26
commons The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons c ...
most of which were diminished in the period of legal
inclosure Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...
and/or the city/county's 16 country parks.


History


Development of squares

The making of residential squares fell into decline in the early 20th century, one of the last notable such squares having been designed by Edwin Lutyens for
Hampstead Garden Suburb Hampstead Garden Suburb is an elevated suburb of London, north of Hampstead, west of Highgate and east of Golders Green. It is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations. It is an example of early twentie ...
. Numerous squares were in danger of filling in for further building. This was banned by the London Squares Act of 1931.Camilla Phelps, "London opens its gates". ''The English Garden'', June 2013, 97. In the last quarter of the 20th century a fashion for making office squares developed, a trend led by the Broadgate development. Developers such as London Square,
Berkeley Homes The Berkeley Group Holdings plc is a British property developer and house-builder based in Cobham, England. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. History The company was founded by Tony Pidg ...
and
Taylor Wimpey Taylor Wimpey plc (formerly Taylor Woodrow plc) is one of the largest home construction companies in the United Kingdom. The company was created from the merger of rivals Taylor Woodrow and George Wimpey on 3 July 2007. It is listed on the Lo ...
(in the first two instances through their London subsidiaries) have built and set aside land in more than one of their 21st century London developments to create those of the residential type. More broadly,
mixed-use Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to som ...
squares to give a focal area have become a resurgent planning design, reflected for instance in Times Square,
Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a location * Sutton-in-the-Isle, Ely, Cambridgeshire * ...
and
Canada Square Canada Square is a square at Canary Wharf, on the Isle of Dogs in London's Docklands. It is in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of Central London along the River Thames. Canada Square is surrounded by three of the tall ...
,
Canary Wharf Canary Wharf is an area of London, England, located near the Isle of Dogs in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Canary Wharf is defined by the Greater London Authority as being part of London's central business district, alongside Central Lon ...
.


Viewings and events in private communal gardens

Since 1998 many private squares (which term in that context takes in many other shapes of gardens between houses) temporarily open to the paying public: London's "Open Garden Squares Weekend", founded by Caroline Aldiss, takes place on the second weekend in June. The event is organised by the London Parks and Garden Trust. In 2013 over 200 gardens took part, including the garden of the
prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
at 10 Downing Street and the Gardens of
HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs (nicknamed "The Scrubs") is a Category B men's local prison, located opposite Hammersmith Hospital and W12 Conferences on Du Cane Road in the White City in West London, England. The prison is operated by His Majesty' ...
. Other events in keynote squares coincide such as a World Archaeology Festival,
Gordon Square Gordon Square is a public park square in Bloomsbury, London, England. It is part of the Bedford Estate and was designed as one of a pair with the nearby Tavistock Square. It is owned by the University of London. History and buildings The ...
, Bloomsbury run by
UCL Institute of Archaeology UCL's Institute of Archaeology is an academic department of the Social & Historical Sciences Faculty of University College London (UCL) which it joined in 1986 having previously been a school of the University of London. It is currently one o ...
. The parks can be categorised as public garden squares, private
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 ...
s or other squares.


Social importance

The local proliferation relative to other UK cities coupled with, since the early 20th century, their widespread opening up has similarly made squares broadly cited in portrayals of London. Initially cultural use was mainly confined to novels and, to a lesser degree, fine art. "
It's a Long Way to Tipperary "It's a Long Way to Tipperary" (or "It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary") is an English music hall song first performed in 1912 by Jack Judge, and written by Judge and Harry Williams, though authorship of the song has long been disputed. It ...
" is a 1910s song featuring the line "Farewell Leicester Square". "
A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" is a British romantic popular song written in 1939 and published in 1940, with lyrics by Eric Maschwitz and music by Manning Sherwin. Setting Berkeley Square is a large leafy square in Mayfair, a part o ...
" is a romantic
hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...
of 1940 with lyrics by Eric Maschwitz and music by
Manning Sherwin Manning Sherwin (January 4, 1902 – July 26, 1974) was an American composer. Born in Philadelphia, Sherwin attended Columbia University before embarking upon a long career in musical theatre and films. His most enduring composition is the music ...
, sang that year separately by
Ray Noble Raymond Stanley Noble (17 December 1903 – 2 April 1978) was an English jazz and big band musician, who was a bandleader, composer and arranger, as well as a radio host, television and film comedian and actor; he also performed in the United ...
and
Vera Lynn Dame Vera Margaret Lynn (; 20 March 191718 June 2020) was an English singer and entertainer whose musical recordings and performances were very popular during World War II. She is honorifically known as the " Forces' Sweetheart", having giv ...
and a theme of a film the next year, by
Fritz Lang Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), known as Fritz Lang, was an Austrian film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety'', August 4, 1976, p. 6 ...
., '' Man Hunt''. In the 1956 song "Why Can't The English?" from the musical ''
My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play '' Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons ...
'', Professor Henry Higgins laments, "Hear them down in Soho Square/Dropping H's everywhere." Drama most notably includes the high-audience
soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
broadcast by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
running since 1985, '' EastEnders'' based on a semi-permanent set north of London's border,
Albert Square Walford is a fictional borough of east London in the BBC soap opera '' EastEnders''. It is the primary setting for the soap. ''EastEnders'' is filmed at Borehamwood in Hertfordshire, towards the north-west of London. Much of the location ...
. It had pre-release titles ''Square Dance, Round the Square, Round the Houses, London Pride'' and ''East 8''.
Soho Square Soho Square is a garden square in Soho, London, hosting since 1954 a ''de facto'' public park let by the Soho Square Garden Committee to Westminster City Council. It was originally called King Square after Charles II, and a much weathered ...
garden contains a bench that commemorates the singer
Kirsty MacColl Kirsty Anna MacColl (10 October 1959 – 18 December 2000) was a British singer and songwriter, daughter of folk singer Ewan MacColl. She recorded several pop hits in the 1980s and 1990s, including " There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears ...
, who wrote the song "Soho Square" for her album ''
Titanic Days ''Titanic Days'' is the fourth studio album by Kirsty MacColl, released in 1993. Containing eleven tracks, ''Titanic Days'' was sometimes hard to get in years after its release, but it was remastered and re-released in 2005 by ZTT with a secon ...
''. After her death in 2000, fans bought a memorial bench in her honour, inscribing the lyrics: "One day I'll be waiting there / No empty bench in Soho Square". The Lindisfarne album ''Elvis Lives On the Moon'' also includes a song named after that square.


Notable communal gardens surrounded by buildings

* Arundel Gardens *
Bedford Square Bedford Square is a garden square in the Bloomsbury district of the Borough of Camden in London, England. History Built between 1775 and 1783 as an upper middle class residential area, the square has had many distinguished residents, inclu ...
*
Belgrave Square Belgrave Square is a large 19th-century garden square in London. It is the centrepiece of Belgravia, and its architecture resembles the original scheme of property contractor Thomas Cubitt who engaged George Basevi for all of the terraces fo ...
*
Berkeley Square Berkeley Square is a garden square in the West End of London. It is one of the best known of the many squares in London, located in Mayfair in the City of Westminster. It was laid out in the mid 18th century by the architect William Ke ...
* Clapton Square *
Egerton Gardens Egerton Gardens is a street and communal garden, regionally termed a garden square, in South Kensington, London SW3. Location The street runs roughly south-west to north-east, off Brompton Road. Egerton Crescent, runs roughly off it, and Ege ...
*
Finsbury Circus Finsbury Circus is a park in the Coleman Street Ward of the City of London, England. The 2 acre park is the largest public open space within the City's boundaries. It is not to be confused with Finsbury Square, just north of the City, or Fi ...
*
Golden Square Golden Square, in Soho, the City of Westminster, London, is a mainly hardscaped garden square planted with a few mature trees and raised borders in Central London flanked by classical office buildings. Its four approach ways are north and sou ...
* Grosvenor Square *
Hans Place Hans Place (usually pronounced ) is a garden square in the Knightsbridge district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, immediately south of Harrods in SW1. It is named after Sir Hans Sloane, 1st Baronet, PRS (16 April 1660 ...
* Harrington Gardens *
Kensington Square Kensington Square is a garden square in Kensington, London, W8. It was built from 1692 on land acquired for the purpose in 1685 and is the oldest such square in Kensington. The houses facing, Nos. 1–45, are listed Grade II for their architec ...
* Kensington Park Gardens *
Lennox Gardens, London Lennox Gardens is a garden square in the Knightsbridge district of London SW1X. It is one of the most exclusive garden squares in Knightsbridge, and houses on the square are valued at up to £40 million. The houses surrounding the gardens were ...
* Park Crescent * Royal Crescent *
Russell Square Russell Square is a large garden square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden, built predominantly by the firm of James Burton. It is near the University of London's main buildings and the British Museum. Almost exactly square, to the ...
* St George's Square * St. James's Square *
Sloane Square Sloane Square is a small hard-landscaped square on the boundaries of the central London districts of Belgravia and Chelsea, located southwest of Charing Cross, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The area forms a boundary betw ...
*
Soho Square Soho Square is a garden square in Soho, London, hosting since 1954 a ''de facto'' public park let by the Soho Square Garden Committee to Westminster City Council. It was originally called King Square after Charles II, and a much weathered ...
*
The Boltons The Boltons is a street and garden square of lens shape in the Brompton district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, England (postcode SW10). The opposing sides of the street face the communal gardens (as two non-semicircul ...
*
Wilton Crescent Wilton Crescent is a street in central London, comprising a sweeping elegant terrace of Georgian houses and the private communal gardens that the semi-circle looks out upon. The houses were built in the early 19th century and are now Grade ...


Most notable town squares

*
Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson comm ...
* Leicester Square *
Parliament Square Parliament Square is a square at the northwest end of the Palace of Westminster in the City of Westminster in central London. Laid out in the 19th century, it features a large open green area in the centre with trees to its west, and it contai ...


List of Greater London squares

This list comprises places bearing the word ''Square''. The tables state if each has an open-air space exceeding a double-size pavement or the provision of parking spaces. Those marked ''mainly'' (due to a building, typically a church, school or community hall in the space) or ''yes'' have a clear, open space. Those marked ''No'' include streets of any shape including those with vestigial names (throwbacks) to open spaces that lay there (or adjacent) before. Demolished squares are listed in a table at the end of this section. Approximate area, in square metres, includes hardscapes and roads. London's squares are arranged by postcode, see the map below of postcodes.


Centremost postcodes


Inner


North and northwest


West and southwest


South


East

Renamed squares note: *Albert Gardens *Trafalgar Gardens These two 19th century built Squares are officially renamed as shown. This avoids confusion with other squares in London.


Outer


East


West

(the London Boroughs of Hillingdon, Hounslow and Ealing, exc. Harefield, Isleworth and Feltham)


South West

Royal/London Boroughs of Kingston-upon-Thames, Richmond upon Thames and Wandsworth, excluding Battersea, Norwood, Clapham and Balham.


South East

Royal/London Boroughs of Greenwich, Lewisham, Bexley and Bromley (plus Norwood and Dulwich)


North


South


North west


Demolished

*Angel Square, EC1 *Billiter Square, EC3 *Holford Square *Harewood Square *Pancras Square


See also

*
List of garden squares in London This is a list of garden squares, broadly defined, in London, England. Unlike the list at Squares in London, which partially overlaps, these places all have a clear communal garden element and may be named other than ''Square''; commonly in orde ...
*
Parks and open spaces in London There are many parks and open spaces in Greater London, England. Green space in central London consists of five of the capital's eight Royal Parks, supplemented by a number of small garden squares scattered throughout the city centre. Open space ...


Notes and references

;Notes ;References


External links


London squares

London Parks and Gardens Trust

London Squares by 1799
{{London landmarks Squares, London