Gardens in St George's Square, Pimlico - geograph

St George's Square is a prestigious and very long garden square in affluent

Pimlico Pimlico () is an area of Central London in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by Victor ...

, Central London. It benefits from gardens and a church in its central area. Near the northern acute angle, the square is intersected by Lupus Street.

Pimlico tube station Pimlico is a London Underground station in Pimlico, City of Westminster, on the Victoria line between Victoria and Vauxhall in Zone 1. Pimlico was the last station on the Victoria line to open in 1972, and is the only station on the line withou ...

is a short distance east. Its north-east side is in effect Belgrave Road and southern side is arterial Grosvenor Road which is lined by a small public garden in front of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...

History

Pimlico's development was started in 1835 by the landowner, the Marquess of Westminster, and the building was supervised by

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- ...

who also designed the gardens. St George's Square was originally laid out in 1839 as two parallel streets running north–south but by 1843 had been developed into a formal square lined on two long sides and two sides of an angle in the north. It was London's first residential "square" open to the

. In 1854 the first residents moved in. From the 1840s until 1874 the square had a

pier Seaside pleasure pier in England.html" ;"title="Brighton, England">Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century. A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of water and usually juts out ...

, St George's Wharf, in latter decades its service expanded from watermen whose numbers were already low to steamers. Its land was since 1722 in the parish of St George Hanover Square. It and the parish were named after the patron saint of England,

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldie ...

. In the small riverside garden, Pimlico Gardens, stands a stone statue by John Gibson of William Huskisson MP — the first person run over and killed by a railway engine. Huskisson wears a stone Roman senatorial

toga The toga (, ), a distinctive garment of ancient Rome, was a roughly semicircular cloth, between in length, draped over the shoulders and around the body. It was usually woven from white wool, and was worn over a tunic. In Roman historical tr ...

. It was designed for the Royal Exchange and moved sites in 1915. The statue was described by Sir Osbert Sitwell as "boredom rising from the bath". The Church of St Saviour (1864) stands at the north end of the square; it was designed by

Thomas Cundy the Younger Thomas Cundy the younger (1790 – 15 July 1867) was an English architect, son of another architect of the same name. He joined his father's practice and ultimately succeeded his father as surveyor of the Grosvenor Estate, and held the positi ...

, surveyor for the Grosvenor estate.

Residents

The square has had many notable residents. The author

Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busin ...

died at number 26 in April 1912, Dorothy L. Sayers lived in an unfurnished room for three months in 1920, the author and gamesman Stephen Potter lived at number 56 in 1924 while teaching at a crammer at number 68, and

William Makepeace Thackeray William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his Satire, satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel ''Vanity Fair (novel), Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portra ...

's eldest daughter Anne Ritchie made her home at number 109 from 1901 to 1912 and father of lawn tennis Walter Clopton Wingfield.

Today

The overall shape and Cubitt's buildings remain: four and five storey white

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

townhouse A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...

s whose number has been reduced. More buildings are today on the east than west side, where a school ground occupies part. The townhouses are almost completely divided into apartments. Demographic replies to a survey of residents in 2007 have been published by the local authority: 34% of residents aged between 30 and 45 years and that the dominant ethnic group self-identifies as

White British White British is an ethnicity classification used for the native white population identifying as English, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, Northern Irish, or British in the United Kingdom Census. In the 2011 census, the White British population w ...

(75%).

References

External links

St George´s Sq Pimlico Facebook page

5 Fields Pimlico Community Network
* {{coord, 51.488, -0.135, type:landmark_scale:3000_region:GB, display=title, name=St Saviour, Pimlico 1839 establishments in England Squares in the City of Westminster Odonyms referring to religion Parks and open spaces on the River Thames Pimlico