Squares In London
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Squares have long been a feature of
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 ...
and come in numerous identifiable forms. The landscaping spectrum of squares stretches from those with more hardscape, constituting town squares (also known as city squares)—to those with communal gardens, for which London is a major international exponent, known as garden squares. London's largest privately-owned square is Vincent Square, in
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, which comprises 13 acres. A few in the capital of the
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, such as
Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster in Central London. It was established in the early-19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. Its name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, the Royal Navy, ...
, began as ''public'' open spaces in the same way as other city squares worldwide, typically a ''plaza'', ''piazza'' and a ''platz'' in Spain, Italy and Germany. Most, however, began as garden squares i.e. private communal gardens for the inhabitants of surrounding houses. All types of the space are more prevalent in parts of London with high (urban) density. Some of these gardens are now open to the public, while others, for example around
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, are railed (a form of fencing) and private. The terminology has been loosely applied for over a century. Some "squares" are irregularly shaped—including five triangles, a pentagon, hexagon, octagon, and two ovals among those officially named ''Square''. Approbative and technical studies of garden squares commonly cover equivalent landscaped communal gardens not named as a ''Square'' many of which have become small public parks. A diversity of descriptive names features in the list of London's "garden squares".


Name and shape

"Square" is a generic term for neat, planned or set aside urban open spaces larger than a verge or pavement overlooked by buildings. In London, elements of fields were set aside, a fact reflected in the name of the square London Fields and two later examples: Coram's Fields and Lincoln's Inn Fields. Some are not actually square, or even rectangular. One reason for this is the use of a local nickname for the street, park or garden in question. Another is that some older squares were irregularly shaped to begin with, or lost their original layout due to the city's many transformations, not least following the
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and
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. The street naming (or streetnaming) authority of each London Borough and the City of London Corporation, by authority of an act of Parliament, the London Building Acts (Amendment) Act 1939 ( 2 & 3 Geo. 6. c. xcvii), imposes rules to authorise appropriate street names for new developments and for owners wishing to rename features. Commercial building and retained historic names apart, new residential squares must in many boroughs be "for a square only" — considered not well elongated but rectangular and to some extent open. Billiter Square, EC3 and Millennium Square, SE1 in districts dominated by retail, commerce and offices are among many modern buildings (not beside a visible rectangular open space) that include alternative, higher built density, square features to their design—such as a courtyard or a square footprint. Some squares such as Granary Square are paved; others like
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 ...
have grass and trees; many others have diverse communal gardens. Most of those that are actually square have the word in their name, and these are listed below. Others more flexibly identified do not. Such notable lists are commonly identified as list of garden squares or ''estate gardens'', ''communal gardens'', ''formal gardens'', about which many books have been written. Increasingly, spaces are being constructed that are legally private, though in practice open to the public ( Paternoster Square). The
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (often known by its initialism as RBKC) is an Inner London, Inner London borough with Royal borough, royal status. It is the List of English districts by area, smallest borough in London and the secon ...
contains over a hundred garden squares whose use is restricted to residents, almost all share a name with their directly adjoining road. Residents may contract with private contractors or with the council, in which case the council charges those residents, typically at the same time as council tax. One instance is a
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(pointed oval), The Boltons. Toward the public end of the public/private continuum, London's growth has taken in
village green A village green is a commons, common open area within a village or other settlement. Historically, a village green was common pasture, grassland with a pond for watering cattle and other stock, often at the edge of a rural settlement, used for ...
s. A minority of these partly or wholly survive such as Newington Green to form council-run open spaces breaking up housing, road networks and/or retail streets. The categories of greens and garden squares become more well-visited where larger than an informal scale. These are mainly government-run, characteristic parks and open spaces in London. By subtle distinction their less urban equivalent amounts to London's 26
commons The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons ...
most of which were diminished in the period of legal inclosure and/or the city/county's 16 country parks.


History


Development of squares

The making of residential squares fell into decline in the early 20th century, one of the last notable such squares having been designed by
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 memorials ...
for Hampstead Garden Suburb. Numerous squares were in danger of filling in for further building. This was banned by the London Squares Preservation Act 1931 ( 21 & 22 Geo. 5. c. xciii).Camilla Phelps, "London opens its gates". ''The English Garden'', June 2013, 97. In the last quarter of the 20th century a fashion for making office squares developed, a trend led by the Broadgate development. Developers such as London Square, Berkeley Homes and Taylor Wimpey (in the first two instances through their London subsidiaries) have built and set aside land in more than one of their 21st century London developments to create those of the residential type. More broadly, mixed-use squares to give a focal area have become a resurgent planning design, reflected for instance in Times Square,
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and Canada Square, Canary Wharf.


Viewings and events in private communal gardens

Since 1998 many private squares (which term in that context takes in many other shapes of gardens between houses) temporarily open to the paying public: London's "Open Garden Squares Weekend", founded by Caroline Aldiss, takes place on the second weekend in June. The event is organised by the London Parks and Garden Trust. In 2013 over 200 gardens took part, including the garden of the
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at
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and the Gardens of HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs. Other events in keynote squares coincide such as a World Archaeology Festival,
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 ...
, Bloomsbury run by UCL Institute of Archaeology. The parks can be categorised as public garden squares, private garden squares or other squares.


Social importance

The local proliferation relative to other UK cities coupled with, since the early 20th century, their widespread opening up has similarly made squares broadly cited in portrayals of London. Initially cultural use was mainly confined to novels and, to a lesser degree, fine art. " It's a Long Way to Tipperary" is a 1910s song featuring the line "Farewell
Leicester Square Leicester Square ( ) is a pedestrianised town square, square in the West End of London, England, and is the centre of London's entertainment district. It was laid out in 1670 as Leicester Fields, which was named after the recently built Leice ...
". " A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" is a romantic hit of 1940 with lyrics by
Eric Maschwitz Albert Eric Maschwitz Order of the British Empire, OBE (10 June 1901 – 27 October 1969), sometimes credited as Holt Marvell, was an English entertainer, writer, editor, broadcaster and broadcasting executive. Life and work Born in Edgbaston, ...
and music by Manning Sherwin, sang that year separately by Ray Noble and Vera Lynn and a theme of a film the next year, by
Fritz Lang Friedrich Christian Anton Lang (; December 5, 1890 – August 2, 1976), better known as Fritz Lang (), was an Austrian-born film director, screenwriter, and producer who worked in Germany and later the United States.Obituary ''Variety Obituari ...
., '' Man Hunt''. In the 1956 song "Why Can't The English?" from the musical ''
My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical theatre, musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story, based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion (play), Pygmalion'' and on the Pygmalion (1938 film), 1938 film ...
'', Professor Henry Higgins laments, "Hear them down in Soho Square/Dropping H's everywhere." Drama most notably includes the high-audience
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broadcast by the
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running since 1985, ''
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'' based on a semi-permanent set north of London's border, Albert Square. It had pre-release titles ''Square Dance, Round the Square, Round the Houses, London Pride'' and ''East 8''. Soho Square garden contains a bench that commemorates the singer Kirsty MacColl, who wrote the song "Soho Square" for her album '' Titanic Days''. After her death in 2000, fans bought a memorial bench in her honour, inscribing the lyrics: "One day I'll be waiting there / No empty bench in Soho Square". The
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album ''Elvis Lives On the Moon'' also includes a song named after that square.


Notable communal gardens surrounded by buildings


Most notable town squares


List of Greater London squares

This list comprises places bearing the word ''Square''. The tables state if each has an open-air space exceeding a double-size pavement or the provision of parking spaces. Those marked ''mainly'' (due to a building, typically a church, school or community hall in the space) or ''yes'' have a clear, open space. Those marked ''No'' include streets of any shape including those with vestigial names (throwbacks) to open spaces that lay there (or adjacent) before. Demolished squares are listed in a table at the end of this section. Approximate area, in square metres, includes hardscapes and roads. London's squares are arranged by postcode, see the map below of postcodes.


Centremost postcodes


Inner


North and northwest


West and southwest


South


East

Renamed squares note: *Albert Gardens *Trafalgar Gardens These two 19th century built Squares are officially renamed as shown. This avoids confusion with other squares in London.


Outer


East


West

(the London Boroughs of Hillingdon, Hounslow and Ealing, exc. Harefield, Isleworth and Feltham)


South West

Royal/London Boroughs of Kingston upon Thames, Richmond upon Thames and Wandsworth, excluding Battersea, Norwood, Clapham and Balham.


South East

Royal/London Boroughs of Greenwich, Lewisham, Bexley and Bromley (plus Norwood and Dulwich)


North


South


North West


Demolished

*Angel Square, EC1 *Billiter Square, EC3 *Holford Square *Harewood Square *Pancras Square


See also

* List of garden squares in London * Parks and open spaces in London


Notes and references

;Notes ;References


External links


London squares

London Parks and Gardens Trust

London Squares by 1799
{{London landmarks Squares, London