Queen Victoria by Catherine Laugel, Victoria Square Gardens

Victoria Square is a small, rectangular

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. ...

50 metres south of the remaining stables of

The Royal Mews The Royal Mews is a mews, or collection of equestrian stables, of the British Royal Family. In London these stables and stable-hands' quarters have occupied two main sites in turn, being located at first on the north side of Charing Cross, and ...

(on the large green block taken up by

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

) and 150 metres north of

Victoria bus station Victoria bus station is a bus station outside London Victoria station. It is managed only by Transport for London. In 1970, work commenced on a substantial roof canopy. This was demolished in April 2003 as part of the station's refurbishment. ...

(which stands in front of

Victoria Station (London) Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Victoria, in the City of Westminster, managed by Network Rail. Named after the nearby Victoria Street (not the Qu ...

). It has a statue of the young

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

. It separated by the main wing of the

Goring Hotel The Goring Hotel is a 5-star hotel in Belgravia, London. It is located near Buckingham Palace. Its restaurant, The Dining Room, holds one Michelin Star. History The Goring Hotel was opened by Otto Richard Goring on 2 March 1910 and professed to ...

from an almost identical-size space between buildings, as private gardens for the hotel, backed by one road, instead of its four private close-style roads with parking and sets of pavements. Most of the Victoria and Belgravia area is the

Duke of Westminster Duke of Westminster is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created by Queen Victoria in 1874 and bestowed upon Hugh Grosvenor, 3rd Marquess of Westminster. It is the most recent dukedom conferred on someone not related to the ...

Grosvenor Estate Grosvenor Group Limited is an internationally diversified property group, which traces its origins to 1677 and has its headquarters in London, England. It has a global reach, now in 62 international cities, with offices in 14 of them, operated on ...

as to minor, overarching legal interests, the more valuable freehold of let shops and as to open spaces; this square is such an instance, which has a lasting influence on local planning policy and which has had some loss of interest by outright sales, some of which facilitated by leasehold reform under the

Leasehold Reform Act 1967 The Leasehold Reform Act 1967c 88 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom, which concerns English land law and compulsory purchase. A government bill, the law remains largely intact. It was passed by both Houses and had been tabled by minis ...

Architecture and history

Fronting the square are 26 houses, which are all

Grade II* 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 Irel ...

listed which is the second tier (and so second-rarest) of the pyramidal-hierarchy protection and recognition system. These are five-storey

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

-fronted properties designed by architect Sir Matthew Wyatt (1805–1886), a member of the

Wyatt family The Wyatt family included several of the major English architects during the 18th and 19th centuries, and a significant 18th century inventor, John Wyatt (1700–1766), the eldest son of John Wyatt (1675–1742). The family This is a summary t ...

— son of sculptor

Matthew Cotes Wyatt Matthew Cotes Wyatt (1777 – 3 January 1862) was a painter and sculptor and a member of the Wyatt family, who were well known in the Victorian era as architects and sculptors. Early life Wyatt was born in London, the son of the architect James ...

and the grandson of

James Wyatt James Wyatt (3 August 1746 – 4 September 1813) was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the neoclassical and neo-Gothic styles. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1785 and was its president from 1805 to 1806. Early life W ...

; seeing them built in 1838–40 to celebrate the beginning of

's reign. Most of the houses fronting are now held as freeholds, the residual interest in their leases (reversions) having been bought from the Grosvenor Estate. Protection of planning law of character in this zone has been strengthened to preserve the appearance of Belgravia.

Renovation

The private gardens were in the 2000s decade renovated; for which residents gave between £100,000 and £1M in total. A statue of the young Queen Victoria by the artist Catherine Anne Laugel was specially commissioned then installed, in 2007.

Former residents

* Author

Ian Fleming Ian Lancaster Fleming (28 May 1908 – 12 August 1964) was a British writer who is best known for his postwar ''James Bond'' series of spy novels. Fleming came from a wealthy family connected to the merchant bank Robert Fleming & Co., a ...

(1908–1964) from 1953 until his death in 1964. The first of his

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors have ...

novels, '' Casino Royale'', was published shortly after he took his house, where he threw a post-premiere of '' From Russia with Love'' party on 10 October 1963 - at No. 16. *

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

Government Minister, then journalist, author and travel journalist,

Michael Portillo Michael Denzil Xavier Portillo (; born 26 May 1953) is a British journalist, broadcaster and former politician. His broadcast series include railway documentaries such as ''Great British Railway Journeys'' and '' Great Continental Railway Journ ...

(born 1953). *Poet

Thomas Campbell Thomas Campbell may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Thomas Campbell (poet) (1777–1844), Scottish poet * Thomas Campbell (sculptor) (1790–1858), Scottish sculptor * Thomas Campbell (visual artist) (born 1969), California-based visual artist ...

(1777–1844) from 1840 to 1844 - at No. 16. *Musician

John Ella John Ella (1802–1888) was an English violinist and director of concerts. Early life Ella was born Leicester 19 December 1802, baptism at St. Martins, now Leicester Cathedral, his parents buried there. He was intended by his father, Richard E ...

(1802–1888) from 1868 to 1888 - at No. 16. *Army officer, artist and author Henry Hope Crealock (1831–1891) from the 1860s until 1891- at No. 20 *Musician and composer

Mike Oldfield Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documen ...

for some time - at No. 1.

Appearance in film

In 1991, the square was used for the filming of the

Merchant Ivory Productions Merchant Ivory Productions is a film company founded in 1961 by producer Ismail Merchant (1936–2005) and director James Ivory (b. 1928). Merchant and Ivory were life and business partners from 1961 until Merchant's death in 2005. During their ...

adaptation ''

Howards End ''Howards End'' is a novel by E. M. Forster, first published in 1910, about social conventions, codes of conduct and relationships in turn-of-the-century England. ''Howards End'' is considered by many to be Forster's masterpiece. The book was ...

''.

Notes and references

;Footnotes ;References {{coord , 51, 29, 52, N, 0, 08, 42, W, display=title 1830s establishments in England Squares in the City of Westminster Grade II* listed buildings in the City of Westminster Monuments and memorials to Queen Victoria Grade II* listed houses in London