The Bedford Estate is an estate in

central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning the City of London and several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local gove ...

owned by the Russell family, which holds the peerage title of

Duke 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 creation came in 1414 for Henry IV's third son, John, who later served as regent of Fran ...

. The estate was originally based in

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

, then stretched to include

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...

in 1669.History
, The Bedford Estates, Bloomsbury, London, UK. The Covent Garden property was sold for £2 million in 1913 by

Herbrand Russell, 11th Duke of Bedford Herbrand Arthur Russell, 11th Duke of Bedford (19 February 1858 – 27 August 1940) was an English politician and peer. He was the son of Francis Russell, 9th Duke of Bedford, and his wife Lady Elizabeth Sackville-West, daughter of George Sack ...

, to the MP and land speculator Harry Mallaby-Deeley, who sold his option to the Beecham family for £250,000; the sale was finalised in 1918.

History

In 1669, the Bloomsbury Estate came into ownership of the Russell family when William, son of William Russell, 1st Duke and 5th Earl of Bedford (1616–1700), married Lady Rachel Vaughan, one of the daughters of

Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton, KG ( ; 10 March 1607 – 16 May 1667), styled Lord Wriothesley before 1624, was an English statesman, a staunch supporter of King Charles II who after the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660 ...

(1607–1667). She had recently inherited the agricultural fields now known as Bloomsbury from her father.

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 ...

(1765–1802) came of age in 1786. He was a spendthrift gambler, with an interest in farming on the Woburn estate. However, he was not interested in Bedford House in Bloomsbury, instead living in the West End. In 1800, the contents of Bedford House were put up for auction and the house was demolished. It was replaced by a wide avenue, Bedford Place, leading north to the large

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 (property developer), James Burton. It is near the University of London's main buildings and the British Mus ...

, with Montague Street running parallel to the west. Francis Russell commissioned

James Burton James Edward Burton (born August 21, 1939, in Dubberly, Louisiana, United States) 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 ...

, the pre-eminent property developer of Georgian London, to develop the land into a residential area in which Russell Square would be the focal point, and which would be landscaped by Humphrey Repton, who had impressed Francis Russell with his work on the Woburn estate. The development of Bloomsbury was continued by Francis Russell's brother,

John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford (6 July 1766 – 20 October 1839), known as Lord John Russell until 1802, was a British Whig politician who notably served as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland in the Ministry of All the Talents. He was the father ...

(1766–1839). The firm of

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. Background The s ...

(1788–1855) were involved towards the end of the development. Eventually, the entire estate north of Russell Square was filled with squares and houses. John Russell was also responsible for the building of the Covent Garden Market to the south of the main estate.The Bedford Estate: Covent Garden and the seven acres in Long Acre
In F. H. W. Sheppard (editor), ''Survey of London: volume 36: Covent Garden'', pages 19–21
British History

English heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

, 1970.

(1858–1940) succeeded to the title in 1893. By then, there was a move against the owners of large estates. Herbrand Russell began to sell off the estates under his control. The sale contract for

was signed in 1914 and finalised with Sir Thomas Beecham (1879–1961) in 1918.

The Bedford Estates

The

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

and the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

replaced large parts of the estate and the remnants are owned by The Bedford Estates,What we do
, The Bedford Estates, Bloomsbury, London, UK. mainly residential property that has been converted for office and hotel use, together with private residential property. The company is the largest private landowner in Bloomsbury and is managed from the Bedford Office in Montague Street, within the estate.

Geography

The main Bedford Estate originally extended between

Tottenham Court Road Tottenham Court Road (occasionally abbreviated as TCR) is a major road in Central London, almost entirely within the London Borough of Camden. The road runs from Euston Road in the north to St Giles Circus in the south; Tottenham Court Road tu ...

Euston Road Euston Road is a road in Central London that runs from Marylebone Road to Kings Cross, London, King's Cross. The route is part of the London Inner Ring Road and forms part of the London congestion charge zone boundary. It is named after Euston ...

Southampton Row The A4200 is a major thoroughfare in central London. It runs between the A4 at Aldwych, to the A400 Hampstead Road/Camden High Street, at Mornington Crescent tube station, via Holborn, Bloomsbury, Euston and Somers Town. Kingsway ...

, and

New 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 the ...

. There were also two separate parts on the other side of Tottenham Court Road and Euston Road. To the south, the Covent Garden Estate north of the

Strand Strand or The Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * ...

was also part of the Bedford Estate.

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. ...

s in the main Bedford Estate include: *

Bedford Square Bedford Square is a garden square in the Bloomsbury district of the London Borough of Camden, Borough of Camden in London, England. History Built between 1775 and 1783 as an upper middle class residential area, the square has had many disti ...

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, Be ...

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 sq ...

Tavistock Square Tavistock Square is a public square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden near Euston Station. History Tavistock Square was built shortly after 1806 by the property developer James Burton and the master builder Thomas Cubitt for Fr ...

Torrington Square __NOTOC__ Torrington Square is a square in Bloomsbury, owned by the University of London, located in central London, England. Today, the square is largely non-residential since most of the houses have been demolished by the university. The sout ...

* Woburn Square In the northern separate part of the Bedford Estate is Harrington Square. The neighbouring Ampthill Square Estate is built on what was previously another garden square, Ampthill Square.

References

External links

The Bedford Estates website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bedford Estate, The Districts of the London Borough of Camden History of the London Borough of Camden Covent Garden Privately owned estates in London

History

The Bedford Estates

Geography

See also

References

External links