Windrush Square (often referred to by its original name, Brixton Oval) is an open public space in the centre of Brixton, South London, occupying an area in front of the Brixton Tate Library. After changing its name to Tate Gardens, it was again retitled and given its current moniker in 1998. The square was renamed to recognise the important contribution of the African Caribbean community to the area, marking the 50th anniversary of the arrival of the HMT ''Empire Windrush''. It was the ''Windrush'' that in 1948 brought to the United Kingdom from

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

the first large group of post-war West Indian migrants (almost 500), who on arrival were temporarily housed less than a mile away from

Coldharbour Lane Coldharbour Lane is a road in south London, England, that leads south-westwards from Camberwell to Brixton. The road is over long with a mixture of residential, business and retail buildings - the stretch of Coldharbour Lane near Brixton Ma ...

in Brixton. The organization Black Cultural Archives is now housed at 1 Windrush Square in a

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 Irel ...

Georgian building, the former Raleigh Hall. On 22 June 2017, the

African and Caribbean War Memorial The African and Caribbean War Memorial in Brixton, London, is the United Kingdom's national memorial to African people, African and Caribbean people, Caribbean service personnel who fought in the World War I, First and World War II, Second World ...

– devised by the

Nubian Jak Community Trust Nubian Jak Community Trust (NJCT) is a commemorative plaque and sculpture scheme founded by Jak Beula that highlights the historic contributions of Black and minority ethnic people in Britain. The first NJCT heritage plaque, honouring Bob Marley, ...

as the United Kingdom's first national memorial to African and Caribbean service personnel who fought in the First and Second World Wars – was unveiled in Windrush Square. Windrush Square is a

pedestrianised Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town reserved for pedestrian-only use and in whi ...

open space. The land is protected from development as it was formerly part of Rush Common.

References

{{coord, 51.4606, -0.1152, display=title Squares in the London Borough of Lambeth Brixton