Gardenvisit.com The Garden Guide

Book: London and Its Environs, 1927
Chapter: 18 Bloomsbury and Districts to the North

Queen Square

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A little to the north, beyond Theobalds Road and opening off Great Ormond St., is the quiet little QUEEN SQUARE, the north side (no-thoroughfare) of which was left unbuilt to preserve the view of Hampstead. A statue of Queen Charlotte (wife of George III.) was erected here, but there is some doubt whether the present leaden statue in the garden represents that queen, or Queen Anne (in whose reign the square was built), or even Mary II. On September 8th, 1915, a bomb (the crater of which has been preserved) fell in the square garden. F. D. Maurice (1805-72) lived at No. 21. In 1865-81 William Morris had his residence and workshops at No. 26, which has been demolished, like the house occupied by Dr. Burney in 1770-74. Richard Carstone, in 'Bleak House,' had lodgings here. In Queen Square House, at the north end of the square (entrance in Guilford St.), is the Jews' College, an orthodox theological training college. In Great Ormond Street are several attractive houses of the Queen Anne period. At its west end are the London Hom£opathic Hospital and the Hospital for Sick Children. The latter (234 cots; open to visitors daily, 2-4) has its Private Nurses' House at No. 44 (open at the same hours), a house with some good 17th century work in the interior, which was occupied by Lord Chancellor Thurlow, when the Great Seal was stolen from him in 1784. No. 23 was the home of John Howard (1726-90), the philanthropist.