Tavistock Square
Namesake | Marquess of Tavistock |
---|---|
Location | Bloomsbury, London Borough of Camden, Inner London |
Tavistock Square is a public
History
Tavistock Square was built shortly after 1806 by the property developer
In 1920 the
Richard Lydekker, naturalist, geologist and writer of numerous books on natural history, was born at Tavistock Square in 1849.[4]
Tavistock Square was the scene of one of the four suicide bombings on
Public art
The centre-piece of the gardens is a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, sculpted by Fredda Brilliant 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 and British rule in India.[7]
A cherry tree was planted in 1967 in memory of the victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.[8]
A generation later, in 1994, the Conscientious Objectors Commemorative Stone commemorating "men and women conscientious objectors all over the world and in every age" by Hugh Court was unveiled.[9]
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.[8]
A bust of the writer
The square contains a memorial to the surgeon Dame Louisa Aldrich-Blake (1865 –1925), with a bust of Aldrich-Blake by Arthur George Walker on a plinth designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.[11]
Buildings
The following buildings are on Tavistock Square:
- Tavistock House, home of James Burton while he developed the area and then of Charles Dickens, was on the east side of the square. A blue plaque on BMA House commemorates him. It was demolished in 1901.[12]
- "BMA House", the headquarters of the Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1911[13] is on the east side (on the site previously occupied by Tavistock House) and is a grade II listed building.[14]
- Connaught Hall, a University of London 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.[15]
- Woburn House, on the north side of the square contains the headquarters of Universities UK, the conference of university rectors, and the headquarters of the Medical Schools Council, an organisation which represents the interests and ambitions of UK medical schools.[16]
- The Tavistock Hotel, a branch of Imperial London Hotels, completed in 1951 is on the south side of the square.[17]
- Lynton House[18] and Tavis House,[19] both substantial red-brick office blocks on the east side, were built in the mid-20th century.[20]
- Passfield Hall, a hall of residence for undergraduates of the London School of Economics. [21]
Gallery
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Statue of Mahatma Gandhi, Tavistock Square from the east
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Plaque at the base of the Hiroshima cherry tree amid fallen blossoms
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Conscientious Objectors Commemorative Stone, on the north side of the square
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Conscientious Objectors Stone inscription
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Memorial to Louisa Aldrich-Blake
See also
- List of eponymous roads in London
- Bedford Square
- Russell Square
- Bloomsbury Square
- Gordon Square
- Torrington Square
- Woburn Square
References
- ^ "'Tavistock Square', in Survey of London; Volume 21, the Parish of St Pancras Part 3: Tottenham Court Road and Neighbourhood, ed. J R Howard Roberts and Walter H Godfrey". London. 1949. p. 97-98. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
- ^ "Tavistock Square". Bedford Estates. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
- ^ a b "Tavistock Centre". Lost Hospitals of London. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
- ISBN 9781108036146. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
- ^ "7/7 Anniversary: UK's Risk of Terror Attack Higher Now than Days of London Bombings'". Yorkshire Post. 4 July 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
- ^ "7/7 London bombings: Memorial for bus explosion victims unveiled". BBC News. 12 September 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
- ^ "Cheltenham Town Hall 2". Antiques Roadshow. Series 35. Episode 19. 14 April 2013. BBC Television. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
- ^ a b "Peace Garden at Tavistock Square". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
- ^ "Conscientious objectors' stone". Ppu.org.uk. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
- ^ "Virginia Woolf bust". London Remembers. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
- ^ "Memorial to Dame Louisa Aldrich Blake in Tavistock Square Gardens". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
- ^ "'Tavistock House', Survey of London: volume 21: The parish of St Pancras part 3: Tottenham Court Road & neighbourhood". 1949. p. 99-100. Retrieved 9 January 2010.
- ^ "About". BMA. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
- ^ "Where to Find Us". BMA House. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
- ^ "Connaught Hall". University of London. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
- ^ "Our address". Medical Schools Council. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
- ^ "Tavistock Hotel". Travel Weekly. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
- ^ "Lynton House". Global Holdings. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
- ^ "Age UK Camden | Contact us". www.ageuk.org.uk. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
- ^ "Bloomsbury Conservation Area Appraisal and Management Strategy". Camden Council. 18 April 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
- ^ "Passfield Hall". London School of Economics. 2 April 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2020.