Earl's Court 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. ...

Earl's Court Earl's Court is a district of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London, bordering the rail tracks of the West London line and District line that separate it from the ancient borough of Fulham to the west, the ...

, London, England. It was developed from 1872 or 1873 on agricultural land belonging to the

Edwardes family The Edwardes family is an English noble family that held the title of Baron Kensington in the Peerage of Ireland and holds the title of Baron Kensington in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Historically, the family owned extensive lands in Pem ...

. It is primarily made up of

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 ...

ed terraced houses with

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

dressings but also contains properties in the Jacobean and Second Empire styles as well as a number of purpose built apartment blocks. Notable former inhabitants include the choreographer Sir

Frederick Ashton Sir Frederick William Mallandaine Ashton (17 September 190418 August 1988) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer. He also worked as a director and choreographer in opera, film and revue. Determined to be a dancer despite the oppositio ...

Syd Barrett Roger Keith "Syd" Barrett (6 January 1946 – 7 July 2006) was an English singer, guitarist and songwriter who co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd in 1965. Until his departure in 1968, he was Pink Floyd's frontman and primary songwriter, ...

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

, and the ordnance inventor Sir

William Palliser Sir William Palliser CB MP (18 June 1830 – 4 February 1882) was an Irish-born politician and inventor, Member of Parliament for Taunton from 1880 until his death. Early life Born in Dublin on 18 June 1830, Palliser was the fourth of the eig ...

. At the Poetry Bookshop in the Square, conventional and modernist factions engaged in the "Battle of Earl's Court" in the 1970s.

Location

The Square lies between Warwick Road in the west and Earl's Court Road in the east, with the northern and southern sides extending to those roads beyond the square itself. Farnell Mews runs from the east side of the garden square.

History and architecture

The Square was developed from 1872 or 1873 on agricultural land originally belonging to the

Rich family The Rich family was a noble family of England that held the peerage titles of Baron Rich, Earl of Warwick, Baron Kensington, Earl of Holland and Baronet Rich during a period spanning the 16th–18th centuries. Family tree References Extern ...

and then to the Edwardes family with the south side being developed last. The terrace numbered 30 to 52 (even) on the south side was built in the

Jacobean Revival The Jacobethan ( ) architectural style, also known as Jacobean Revival, is the mixed national Renaissance revival style that was made popular in England from the late 1820s, which derived most of its inspiration and its repertory from the Englis ...

style in 1888–1890. The general style of architecture is

stuccoed 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 ...

terraced houses with

dressings and upper floor balconies supported by columns, but there are several styles in the square including buildings that have Jacobean and Second Empire influences. There are several purpose built apartment blocks, including Wetherby Mansions, Herbert Court Mansions, Langham Mansions, and more recently, Northgate House, built in 1965. By the 1970s, the Square was "extremely run down", and "there were two squalid brothels, they were at no. 9 and in the A-L block of Wetherby Mansions that were eventually evicted by the borough's Health Inspector and a sordid murder occurred at no. 4." The Poetry Society Bookshop was located at number 21 and in the 1970s was the scene of the "Battle of Earl's Court" when traditionalist and modernist poets fought for the future of British poetry during the

British Poetry Revival The British Poetry Revival is the general name now given to a loose list of poetry groups and movements, movement in the United Kingdom that took place in the late 1960s and 1970s. The term was a neologism first used in 1964, postulating a New Br ...

after the modernists took over the conservative Poetry Society. There are no listed buildings in the Square but it was given

conservation area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural or cultural values. Protected areas are those areas in which human presence or the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewoo ...

status in 1975.

Notable residents

* Sir

, choreographer *

of Pink Floyd, musician, lived at 29 Wetherby Mansions from January 1969 with the artist Duggie Fields. * Joan Buck, American writer and actress * Sir John Egan, businessman, in 1960 * Frank Gielgud, father of the actor Sir

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud ( ; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Britis ...

* Sir

, ordnance inventor, lived at no 21 (originally Earl's Court Lodge), and it was later home to the

Poetry Society The Poetry Society is a membership organisation, open to all, whose stated aim is "to promote the study, use and enjoyment of poetry". The society was founded in London in February 1909 as the Poetry Recital Society, becoming the Poetry Society ...

Ninette de Valois Dame Ninette de Valois (born Edris Stannus; 6 June 1898 – 8 March 2001) was an Irish-born British dancer, teacher, choreographer, and director of classical ballet. Most notably, she danced professionally with Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russ ...

, founder of The Sadler's Wells, later

The Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded ...

, lived at no 23 at the start of her career, as it was her parents' home.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Earl's Court Square Streets in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Garden squares in London