Claremont Square is a

square In geometry, a square is a regular polygon, regular quadrilateral. It has four straight sides of equal length and four equal angles. Squares are special cases of rectangles, which have four equal angles, and of rhombuses, which have four equal si ...

in the Angel (Pentonville) part of

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Its central green mound, hiding a reservoir, is dotted with mature trees on all four sides (embankments). On its north side is

Pentonville Road Pentonville Road is a road in Central London that runs west to east from Kings Cross to City Road at The Angel, Islington. The road is part of the London Inner Ring Road and part of the boundary of the London congestion charge zone. The road ...

. It is lined on the south, east and west sides by early-nineteenth-century houses, and on the north side, across the arterial road, by heavily recessed apartment/office buildings. Many of the houses have been internally subdivided.

Landscaped small reservoir

The

New River Company The New River Company, formally The Governor and Company of the New River brought from Chadwell and Amwell to London, was a privately-owned water supply company in London, England, originally formed around 1609 and incorporated in 1619 by roy ...

constructed a forerunner to today's covered reservoir, Upper Pond, in 1709. Water was pumped up to the Upper Pond from

New River Head New River Head is a historic site located adjacent to Sadler's Wells Theatre on Rosebery Avenue and Amwell Street in the Clerkenwell area of London, England. Originally it was the London terminus of the New River, an artificial watercourse open ...

. In 1855, the Upper Pond was drained, deepened and lined with tall walls, all buffered by tree-lined embankments. The natural views and much-buried walls of the structure mean it was

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

in 2000. It is in use as part of London's inner Ring Main. Thames Water have exclusive access and take charge of repairs, cutting and planting, assisted by volunteer projects and residents' information. The street-side railings have a mixed set of pointed finials and form a neat, paradigmal archetype so are listed. South of the main road the opening (between sides) in total measures , of which is the green area with its directly adjoining thin pavements. Well off the south-east corner lay the former stables and stablemen's families homes (mews) which, demolished to become a close, on land taken from gardens, have been turned into a green circus (garden square) with 48 purpose-built flats.

Architecture

The buildings that line all but the north side were built from 1815 to 1828. Much repaired, they have ornate brick dressings to windows and dividing storeys, with some use of white stucco and cornices, with original street-side railings. They form No.s 2 to 44 – listed grade II.

Residents

* 4 Claremont Square. ** 1792-1834:

Edward Irving Edward Irving (4 August 17927 December 1834) was a Scottish clergyman, generally regarded as the main figure behind the foundation of the Catholic Apostolic Church. Early life Edward Irving was born at Annan, Annandale, the second son of G ...

, preacher. * 21 Claremont Square ** 18?-1882: Robert Kemp Philp, Chartist and editor * 34 Claremont Square ** 193? -196?: Margery Moore, musician, composer and teacher. ** 1960s:

B. S. Johnson Bryan Stanley William Johnson (5 February 1933 – 13 November 1973) was an English experimental novelist, poet and literary critic. He also produced television programmes and made films. Early life Johnson was born into a working-class family, ...

, writer.

TV and Film

The ''Harry Potter'' film series uses the square as 12 Grimmauld Place. The Square is also the filming location for 35 Portland Row in the Netflix adaption of ''

Lockwood & Co Lockwood may refer to: Places Australia *Lockwood, Victoria * Lockwood South, Victoria Canada * Lockwood, Saskatchewan United Kingdom * Lockwood, North Yorkshire, England * Lockwood, West Yorkshire, England United States * Lockwood, Amador County, ...

''.

External links

British Listed Buildings Entry for Claremont Square

Detailed description of the square with old photographs and drawings
* http://www.londongardenstrust.org/guides/site.php?tour=Islington&stage=15.00 * https://lightscameraislington.com/2013/12/12/claremont-square-harry-potter-caught-outside-number-12-grimmauld-place/

Notes and references

;Notes ;Citations {{coord, 51, 31, 52, N, 0, 6, 37, W, type:landmark_region:GB-ISL, display=title Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Islington Squares in the London Borough of Islington