Hanover Square is a green square in

Mayfair Mayfair is an area of Westminster, London, England, in the City of Westminster. It is in Central London and part of the West End. It is between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane and one of the most expensive districts ...

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

, south west of

Oxford Circus Oxford Circus is a road junction connecting Oxford Street and Regent Street in the West End of London. It is also the entrance to Oxford Circus tube station. The junction opened in 1819 as part of the Regent Street development under John Nash ( ...

where

Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running between Marble Arch and Tottenham Court Road via Oxford Circus. It marks the notional boundary between the areas of Fitzrovia and Marylebone to t ...

meets

Regent Street Regent Street is a major shopping street in the West End of London. It is named after George IV of the United Kingdom, George, the Prince Regent (later George IV) and was laid out under the direction of the architect John Nash (architect), J ...

. Six streets converge on the square which include Harewood Place with links to

, Princes Street, Hanover Street, Saint George Street, Brook Street and Tenderden Street, linking to

Bond Street Bond Street in the West End of London links Piccadilly in the south to Oxford Street in the north. Since the 18th century the street has housed many prestigious and upmarket fashion retailers. The southern section is Old Bond Street and the l ...

and Oxford Street.

History

Development of the land that would become Hanover Square began shortly after the accession of the Elector of Hanover as King George I in 1714. The land was owned by Richard Lumley, 1st Earl of Scarbrough, who was a soldier and statesman best known for his role in the

Glorious Revolution The Glorious Revolution, also known as the Revolution of 1688, was the deposition of James II and VII, James II and VII in November 1688. He was replaced by his daughter Mary II, Mary II and her Dutch husband, William III of Orange ...

. He sold off numerous plots for the building of upmarket town houses and villas. In honour of the coronation of the new English king, the area was named Hanover Square. This reflected the century-long Whig Ascendancy because its name echoed the staunch and predominant support among the British Establishment towards the

Hanoverian succession The Act of Settlement ( 12 & 13 Will. 3. c. 2) is an act of the Parliament of England that settled the succession to the English and Irish crowns to only Protestants, which passed in 1701. More specifically, anyone who became a Roman Catho ...

of 1714, and the

Act of Settlement 1701 The Act of Settlement ( 12 & 13 Will. 3. c. 2) is an act of the Parliament of England that settled the succession to the English and Irish crowns to only Protestants, which passed in 1701. More specifically, anyone who became a Roman Catho ...

that permanently codified the exclusion of Catholics from the English throne. "Early Hanover Square was decidedly Whig and most decidedly military", commented architectural historian Sir

John Summerson Sir John Newenham Summerson (25 November 1904 – 10 November 1992) was one of the leading British architectural historians of the 20th century. Early life John Summerson was born at Barnstead, Coniscliffe Road, Darlington. His grandfather wo ...

. Some early residents of Hanover Square included Generals

Earl Cadogan Earl Cadogan is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of Great Britain for the Cadogan family. The second creation, in 1800, was for Charles Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan, Charles Cadogan, 3rd Baron Cadogan. History Of Welsh origin ...

, Sir Charles Wills, Stewart, Evans, Lord Carpenter, Hamish Smith and John Pepper, "names conspicuously associated with episodes in Marlborough’s war and the ' Fifteen'." The

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

St George's, Hanover Square St George's, Hanover Square, is an Church of England, Anglican church, the parish church of Mayfair in the City of Westminster, central London, built in the early eighteenth century as part of a project to build fifty new churches around London ...

, is 100 metres south of the square (co-fronting Saint George and Maddox Streets), built on land given by William Steuart. In 1759 James Abercrombie, commander-in-chief of British forces in North America during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

, resided in St George Street. Merged or subdivided buildings in many cases, their numbering scheme remains since the early 19th century and is Nos. 1 to 25, consecutively. While a few of the 18th-century houses remain largely intact, most houses have been replacements of later periods. It is now predominantly occupied by offices, including the London office of '' Vogue''. In the 2010s, the north west corner of the square was removed and rebuilt as part of the

Crossrail Crossrail is a completed railway project centred on London. It provides a high-frequency hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system, akin to the Réseau Express Régional, RER in Paris and the S-Bahn systems of German-speaking countries, kn ...

project. A new

entrance for the

Elizabeth line The Elizabeth line is a railway line that runs across Greater London and nearby towns, operating similarly to the Réseau Express Régional, RER in Paris and the S-Bahn systems of German-speaking countries. It runs services on dedicated infras ...

was built, with commercial office space in a new building above.

Notable residents

This was among the prestigious streets of the socialite elite of the capital in the 19th century, and increasingly national institutions and corporate headquarters. These included: *The Hall Woodhouse family, prominent surgeons from the 1870s to 1910s – as to No. 1 * John Wallop, 3rd Earl of Portsmouth, and family in 1823 – as to No. 2 *Royal Agricultural Society in the 1880s – as to No. 12 * Ibbs and Tillett event promotion – as to No. 19 * John Egerton, d. 1787,

Bishop of Durham The bishop of Durham is head of the diocese of Durham in the province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler (bishop), Paul Butler was the most recent bishop of Durham u ...

and his wife, daughter of local magnate the

Earl of Portland Earl of Portland is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of England, firstly in 1633 and secondly in 1689. What proved to be a long co-held title, Duke of Portland, was created in 1716 and became extinct in 1990 upon the death of t ...

– as to No. 23

Gallery

File:Statue of Pitt the Younger, Hanover Square W1.JPG, Statue of

William Pitt the Younger William Pitt (28 May 1759 – 23 January 1806) was a British statesman who served as the last prime minister of Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain from 1783 until the Acts of Union 1800, and then first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, p ...

at the south side of Hanover Square File:Hanover Square 2.jpg, View to the northeast in Hanover Square File:Hanover Square 3.jpg, View to the northwest

References

;Bibliography * Sir John Summerson, ''Georgian London'', London: Penguin, 1969 (revised edition) *

External links

* {{coord, 51, 30, 50, N, 0, 8, 39, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Mayfair Squares in the City of Westminster Garden squares in London