Sir Francis Russell demolished Bedford House in 1800 and commissioned James Burton to develop part of the land as a residential square and Humphry Repton to design the garden square. Little information concerning Repton's design exists. In the 1950s H F Clark was commissioned to redesign the square and placed a cafe in the north-east corner.
Land Use Consultants were commissioned to undertake a historical study and 1994 and the landscape design was implemented in 2002. The iron railings, removed during the Second World War, were replaced and a hornbeam hedge was planted. This changed the character from 'public park' to 'public garden' and herbaceous planting was introduced. A water fountain with concealed, and computer controlled, jets was placed in the centre of the square.
The square suffers from far too much traffic round its perimeter. See Bedford Square.
