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Tavistock Square is a public
square In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90- degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length a ...
in Bloomsbury, in the
London Borough of Camden The London Borough of Camden () is a London borough in Inner London. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the area of the former boroughs of Hampstead, Holborn, and ...
.


History

Tavistock Square was built shortly after 1806 by the property developer
James Burton James Edward Burton (born August 21, 1939, in Dubberly, Louisiana) is an American guitarist. A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 2001 (his induction speech was given by longtime fan Keith Richards), Burton has also been recognized ...
and the
master builder A master builder or master mason is a central figure leading construction projects in pre-modern times (a precursor to the modern architect and engineer). Historically, the term has generally referred to "the head of a construction project in the ...
Thomas Cubitt Thomas Cubitt (25 February 1788 – 20 December 1855) was a British master builder, notable for his employment in developing many of the historic streets and squares of London, especially in Belgravia, Pimlico and Bloomsbury. His great-great-g ...
for
Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford (23 July 1765 – 2 March 1802) was an English aristocrat and Whig politician, responsible for much of the development of central Bloomsbury. Life Francis Russell, eldest son of Francis Russell, Marquess of ...
, and formed part of the
Bedford Estate The Bedford Estate is an estate in central London owned by the Russell family, which holds the peerage title of Duke of Bedford. The estate was originally based in Covent Garden, then stretched to include Bloomsbury in 1669.Dukes of Bedford Duke of Bedford (named after Bedford, England) is a title that has been created six times (for five distinct people) in the Peerage of England. The first and second creations came in 1414 and 1433 respectively, in favour of Henry IV of England, ...
. The square takes its name from ''
Marquess of Tavistock A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman w ...
'', a courtesy title given to the eldest sons of the Dukes of Bedford. In 1920 the
Tavistock Clinic The Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist mental health trust based in north London. The Trust specialises in talking therapies. The education and training department caters for 2,000 students a year from the United Ki ...
was founded in the square, a pioneering psychiatric clinic whose patients included
shell-shock Shell shock is a term coined in World War I by the British psychologist Charles Samuel Myers to describe the type of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) many soldiers were afflicted with during the war (before PTSD was termed). It is a reac ...
victims of the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. In 1946 the
Tavistock Institute of Human Relations The Tavistock Institute of Human Relations is a British not-for-profit organisation that applies social science to contemporary issues and problems. It was initiated in 1946, when it developed from the Tavistock Clinic, and was formally establ ...
separated from the Tavistock Clinic. The Tavistock Clinic has since moved to
Swiss Cottage Swiss Cottage is an area of Hampstead in the London Borough of Camden, England. It is centred on the junction of Avenue Road and Finchley Road and includes Swiss Cottage tube station. Swiss Cottage lies north-northwest of Charing Cross. Th ...
.
Richard Lydekker Richard Lydekker (; 25 July 1849 – 16 April 1915) was an English naturalist, geologist and writer of numerous books on natural history. Biography Richard Lydekker was born at Tavistock Square in London. His father was Gerard Wolfe Lydekker, ...
, naturalist, geologist and writer of numerous books on natural history, was born at Tavistock Square in 1849. Tavistock Square was the scene of one of the four suicide bombings on 7 July 2005. The bomb was detonated by 18-year-old
Hasib Hussain Hasib Mir Hussain ( ur, حسیب میر حسین; 16 September 1986 – 7 July 2005) was one of four Islamist suicide bombers who detonated bombs on three trains on the London Underground and one bus in central London during the 7 July 2 ...
on a
double-decker bus A double-decker bus or double-deck bus is a bus that has two storeys or decks. They are used for mass transport in the United Kingdom, the United States, New Zealand, Europe, Asia and also in cities such as Sydney; the best-known example is the ...
bearing route number 30; it had been diverted from its normal route along Euston Road because of traffic disruption by the other three bombings at
tube stations The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and Hertfordshire in England. The Und ...
. The bomb exploded immediately outside the British Medical Association building, many of whose staff came out to give what help they could. The explosion killed 13 passengers, plus Hussain himself. Many others were injured. In September 2018, a memorial honouring the victims and the efforts of those who gave assistance was unveiled in Tavistock Square Gardens, replacing a plaque that had been fixed to the railings outside BMA House, opposite to the new site.


Public art

The centre-piece of the gardens is a statue of
Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
, sculpted by
Fredda Brilliant Fredda Brilliant (7 April 1903 – 25 May 1999) was a Polish sculptor and actress, born in Łódź, Poland. She worked in a variety of media and is recognized as an accomplished sculptor, writer, actor, singer and script writer. Throughout her ...
and installed in 1968. The hollow pedestal was intended, and is used, for people to leave floral tributes to the peace campaigner and nonviolent resister to oppression in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
and
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
rule in
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. A cherry tree was planted in 1967 in memory of the victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A generation later, in 1994, the
Conscientious Objectors Commemorative Stone The Conscientious Objectors' Commemorative Stone is on the north side of Tavistock Square, Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden. In 1994 a stone commemorating "men and women conscientious objectors all over the world and in every age" ...
commemorating "men and women conscientious objectors all over the world and in every age" by Hugh Court was unveiled. These three features have led to the square unofficially being regarded by some as a peace park or garden, and annual ceremonies are held at each of these memorials. A bust of the writer
Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born i ...
, cast from a 1931 sculpture by
Stephen Tomlin Stephen Tomlin (2 March 1901 – 5 January 1937) was a British artist associated with the Bloomsbury Set. He was the youngest son of the judge and law lord Thomas, Lord Tomlin of Ash. Life Tomlin studied classics at New College, Oxford fr ...
(1901–1937), was unveiled in 2004 at the southwest corner of the square. Woolf lived at 52 Tavistock Square between 1924 and 1939. From there she and her husband
Leonard Woolf Leonard Sidney Woolf (; – ) was a British political theorist, author, publisher, and civil servant. He was married to author Virginia Woolf. As a member of the Labour Party and the Fabian Society, Woolf was an avid publisher of his own wo ...
ran the
Hogarth Press The Hogarth Press is a book publishing imprint of Penguin Random House that was founded as an independent company in 1917 by British authors Leonard Woolf and Virginia Woolf. It was named after their house in Richmond (then in Surrey and n ...
, which became a prominent and influential publisher at the forefront of modernist fiction and poetry (publishing
T.S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National B ...
,
E.M. Forster Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author, best known for his novels, particularly '' A Room with a View'' (1908), ''Howards End'' (1910), and ''A Passage to India'' (1924). He also wrote numerous short stor ...
and
Katherine Mansfield Kathleen Mansfield Murry (née Beauchamp; 14 October 1888 – 9 January 1923) was a New Zealand writer, essayist and journalist, widely considered one of the most influential and important authors of the modernist movement. Her works are celebra ...
among others) and translating the works of
Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts ...
into English. The square contains a memorial to the surgeon Dame
Louisa Aldrich-Blake Dame Louisa Brandreth Aldrich-Blake (15 August 1865 – 28 December 1925) was a pioneering surgeon and one of the first British women to enter the world of modern medicine. Born in Chingford, Essex, she was the eldest daughter of a curate. ...
(1865 –1925), with a bust of Aldrich-Blake by Arthur George Walker on a plinth designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.


Buildings

The following buildings are on Tavistock Square: *
Tavistock House Tavistock House was the London home of the noted British author Charles Dickens and his family from 1851 to 1860. At Tavistock House Dickens wrote ''Bleak House'', '' Hard Times'', ''Little Dorrit'' and ''A Tale of Two Cities''. He also put on a ...
, home of
James Burton James Edward Burton (born August 21, 1939, in Dubberly, Louisiana) is an American guitarist. A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame since 2001 (his induction speech was given by longtime fan Keith Richards), Burton has also been recognized ...
while he developed the area and then of
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
, was on the east side of the square. A blue plaque on BMA House commemorates him. It was demolished in 1901. * "BMA House", the headquarters of the British Medical Association, designed by
Sir Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memoria ...
in 1911 is on the east side (on the site previously occupied by Tavistock House) and is a grade II
listed building 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 ...
. * Connaught Hall, a
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
hall of residence, which was built in the early 19th century, is on the west side of the square and is a grade II
listed building 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 ...
. * Woburn House, on the north side of the square contains the headquarters of
Universities UK Universities UK (UUK) is an advocacy organisation for universities in the United Kingdom. It began life in the early 20th century through informal meetings of vice-chancellors of a number of universities and principals of university colleges and ...
, the conference of
university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States ...
rectors, and the headquarters of the Medical Schools Council, an organisation which represents the interests and ambitions of UK medical schools. * The Tavistock Hotel, a branch of Imperial London Hotels, completed in 1951 is on the south side of the square. *Lynton House and Tavis House, both substantial red-brick office blocks on the east side, were built in the mid-20th century. *Passfield Hall, a hall of residence for undergraduates of the
London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...
.


Gallery

File:Gandhi Tavistock wide.jpg,
Statue of Mahatma Gandhi, Tavistock Square A bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi by Fredda Brilliant was unveiled in 1968 at the centre of Tavistock Square in London, to mark the impending centenary of Gandhi's birth in 1869. Mahatma Gandhi had studied law at University College London nearb ...
from the east File:Hiroshima Tree base with blossums, Tavistock Sq Gardens.jpg, Plaque at the base of the Hiroshima cherry tree amid fallen blossoms File:DSCN1999TavistockSqConcObj.jpg, Conscientious Objectors Commemorative Stone, on the north side of the square File:Conscientious Objector memorial, Tavistock Sq Gardens.jpg, Conscientious Objectors Stone inscription File:DSCN1994LouisaBrandrethAldrich-Blake.jpg, Memorial to Louisa Aldrich-Blake File:Dickens-plaque-tavistock.jpg, Blue plaque on
BMA House BMA may stand for: Arts and entertainment * Baltimore Museum of Art * Billboard Music Awards * Black Market Activities, a record label * Black Movie Award, annual ceremony * ''BMA Magazine'', a music magazine published in Canberra, Australia * B ...
commemorating
Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...
and
Tavistock House Tavistock House was the London home of the noted British author Charles Dickens and his family from 1851 to 1860. At Tavistock House Dickens wrote ''Bleak House'', '' Hard Times'', ''Little Dorrit'' and ''A Tale of Two Cities''. He also put on a ...


See also

*
List of eponymous roads in London The following is a partial list of eponymous roads in London – that is, roads named after people – with notes on the link between the road and the person. Examples of reigning monarchs, Prime Ministers etc. with no inherent geographic link a ...
*
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 ...
*
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 ...
*
Bloomsbury Square Bloomsbury Square is a garden square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden, London. Developed in the late 17th century, it was initially known as Southampton Square and was one of the earliest London squares. By the early 19th century, B ...
*
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 ...
*
Torrington Square __NOTOC__ Torrington Square is a square in Bloomsbury, owned by the University of London, located in central London, England. Today it is a square in name only, most of the houses having been demolished by the university. The southern end of th ...
*
Woburn Square Woburn Square is the smallest of the Bloomsbury squares and owned by the University of London. Designed by Thomas Cubitt and built between 1829 and 1847, it is named after Woburn Abbey, the main country seat of the Dukes of Bedford, who develope ...


References


External links

*. {{coord, 51.5250, -0.1291, type:landmark_region:GB-CMD, display=title Squares in the London Borough of Camden July 2005 London bombings Bloomsbury James Burton (property developer) buildings Garden squares in London