Street sign in the squareView of West Square from the gardensThe gardens at West Square
Immediately to the west is the Imperial War Museum (formerly the Bethlem Royal Hospital). To the south is the Imperial War Museum Annex (which used to be an orphans' home) in Austral Street.
The terraced houses in the square surround a communal garden that is open to the public during the day but locked at night. The square forms part of a larger conservation area.
History
The Telegraph Tower, in 1810
West Square has the following entry in Volume XXV of the Survey of London, published in 1955 by the then London County Council:[1]
"The largest of the several plots of ground in St George's Fields which belonged in the mid-18th century to Henry Bartelote and then to the West family was the close lying south of St George's Road, between Moulton's Close (the Imperial War Museum) and the ground belonging to Hayle's estate.— Colonel Temple West died in 1784, leaving his freehold estate in St George's Fields to his wife Jane during her life, and after her death, to his eldest son, Temple, in tail male. They were empowered to make leases of up to 99 years, and in 1791 they granted building leases of the side of West Square to Thomas Kendall and James Hedger [see below]. Most of the houses on the north, east and west sides of the square were completed and occupied by 1794, and the majority still remain; they are nearly all three-storied. Nos, 25–28 on the south side, built a few years later, are a storey higher. These have rectangular patterned door fanlights. The houses on the west side of the square are grouped formally; the two centre houses, which are surmounted by a pediment, and those adjoining them on either side, are set forward slightly as are the two houses at each end of the terrace. The open space in the centre of the square is now maintained by Southwark Borough Council.
In 1812, the Admiralty erected a tower on No. 36, on the east side of the square, for the shutter telegraph apparatus used to convey messages between Whitehall and New Cross, and thence to and from Chatham and Sheerness. [The accompanying print suggests that this was a wooden, four-storey structure and — incidentally — that Nos. 36 and 37 were originally surmounted by a pediment matching that on the west side of the square.] Robert Barker (1739–1806), who painted panoramas and exhibited them in Leicester Square, erected a round wooden building for his work in West Square. He lived at No. 14 from 1799 to 1806, and his widow continued to occupy the house after his death. His son Henry, who assisted him in painting the panoramas, lived at No. 13 from 1802, when he married the daughter of William Bligh, commander of the Bounty, until 1824 [Bligh himself lived for a period along Lambeth Road]. No. 15 was occupied in 1804–09 by Henry Perkins (1778–1855), book collector and a partner in the firm of Barclay, Perkins, brewers.
James Hedger (see above) occupied a house in South (now Austral) Street. He had a garden on the west side extending along the back of West Square, and mews and stables on the opposite side of the street. His son James lived in the square at No. 45 from 1808 until his death in 1812, when he was succeeded by his brother Robert. Another brother, William, occupied No. 31 from 1807 until 1819."
In the 1800s, the square was used to house some staff at the Bethlehem Royal Hospital (now the Imperial War Museum). In addition, there were Steward's Quarters in the northeast corner of the Hospital grounds. King Edward's Schools (closed and demolished in the 1930s) occupied the eastern side, together with an area of drying posts. The whole eastern side of the old Hospital grounds is now given over to sports facilities.
Charlotte Sharman (1832–1929), a Christian Congregational church philanthropist, founded a girls' orphanage, on 6 May 1867, on West Square, in a rented house next door to her parents' house.[2] By 1871, Sharman had expanded her operations to include a nursery branch at 32 West Square, one for 5–8 year olds at 23 West Square, an infirmary at 44 West Square and a large house known as The Mansion at 14 South Street (now Austral Street), which housed 93 residents.[3] Through donations from her communities, Sharman was able to purchase the site of 14 South Street (now Austral Street) and between 1875 and 1884, a new orphanage was built, known as the Orphans' Nest.[3] Sharman opened several orphanages around the country, including Gravesend, Newton Abbott, Tunbridge Wells and Hastings.[3] The Orphans' Nest in Southwark was used as a girls' orphanage until 1929/30, when the orphanage moved to Newlands Park, Sydenham. Charlotte Sharman died on 5 December 1929, aged 97.[3] The orphanage building on Austral Street (formerly South Street) was purchased and became All Saints' Hospital and then, in the late 1980s, was purchased by the Imperial War Museums as the All Saints Annexe, to house staff offices, archive stores and a public reading room. In 2020, the former All Saints Annexe was being redeveloped as a studio for EPR Architects, with a scheduled completion date of February 2022.[4]
In 1884–5, the Charlotte Sharman School was built on the northwest side, named after its founder, a Christian philanthropist. Construction of the school — which is still located there — required the demolition of some thirty houses.[5] Part of the site is now occupied by the Siobhan Davies Dance Centre.
As a young child, Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977) lived at 39 West Square for a short period. He later recalled:[6]
West Square! At the back of the Bedlam Lunatic Asylum. This is as far back as I can remember as a child. It was there, somewhere around the age of three, we lived in a large house.
The terrace of five houses in the northwest corner of the square were demolished in c.1970, and replaced by modern townhouses designed to blend in with the original Georgian architecture (the corner house had at one point been converted into a pub, The City Arms). The west side of the square was also much-altered, with pairs of houses being run together to create four lateral flats in each property. In 1997–8, and except for numbers 10 and 11, the terrace was reconverted to single houses. Overall, the square remains largely intact and of historic interest, a fact reflected in the 1972 Grade II listing of the east, south and wide sides.
Southwark is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed due to its position at the southern end of the early versions of London Bridge, for centuries the only dry crossing on the river. Around 43 AD, engineers of the Roman Empire found the geographic features of the south bank here suitable for the placement and construction of the first bridge.
The London Borough of Southwark in South London forms part of Inner London and is connected by bridges across the River Thames to the City of London and London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas amalgamated under the London Government Act 1963. All districts of the area are within the London postal district. It is governed by Southwark London Borough Council.
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Newington is a district of South London, just south of the River Thames, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It was an ancient parish and the site of the early administration of the county of Surrey. It was the location of the County of London Sessions House from 1917, in a building now occupied by the Inner London Crown Court.
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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 Victoria Station, by the River Thames to the south, Vauxhall Bridge Road to the east and the former Grosvenor Canal to the west. At its heart is a grid of residential streets laid down by the planner Thomas Cubitt, beginning in 1825 and now protected as the Pimlico Conservation Area. The most prestigious are those on garden squares, with buildings decreasing in grandeur away from St George's Square, Warwick Square, Eccleston Square and the main thoroughfares of Belgrave Road and St. George's Drive. Additions have included the pre–World War II Dolphin Square and the Churchill Gardens and Lillington and Longmoore Gardens estates, now conservation areas in their own right. The area has over 350 Grade II listed buildings and several Grade II* listed churches. At the western edge of Pimlico, on the borders of Chelsea, Pimlico Road has become known in recent years for its interiors and design stores.
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Lambeth is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area experienced some slight growth in the medieval period as part of the manor of Lambeth Palace. By the Victorian era the area had seen significant development as London expanded, with dense industrial, commercial and residential buildings located adjacent to one another. The changes brought by World War II altered much of the fabric of Lambeth. Subsequent development in the late 20th and early 21st centuries has seen an increase in the number of high-rise buildings. The area is home to the International Maritime Organization. Lambeth is home to one of the largest Portuguese-speaking communities in the UK, and Portuguese is the second most commonly spoken language in Lambeth after English.
Bankside is an area of London, England, within the London Borough of Southwark. Bankside is located on the southern bank of the River Thames, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) east of Charing Cross, running from a little west of Blackfriars Bridge to just a short distance before London Bridge at St Mary Overie Dock. It is part of a business improvement district known as 'Better Bankside'.
The New Town is a central area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It was built in stages between 1767 and around 1850, and retains much of its original neo-classical and Georgian period architecture. Its best known street is Princes Street, facing Edinburgh Castle and the Old Town across the geological depression of the former Nor Loch. Together with the West End, the New Town was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site alongside the Old Town in 1995. The area is also famed for the New Town Gardens, a heritage designation since March 2001.
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St George's Circus is a road junction in Southwark, London, England. At its centre, which is now a traffic roundabout, is an historic obelisk, designed by Robert Mylne (1733–1811), in his role as surveyor and architect of Blackfriars Bridge.
Stamford Street is a street in Lambeth and Southwark, London, England, just south of the River Thames. It runs between Waterloo Road to the west and Blackfriars Road to the east. It forms part of the A3200.
St George's Road is a one-way road in Southwark, London running between Westminster Bridge Road to the northwest and Elephant and Castle to the southeast. The direction of the vehicular traffic is from Elephant and Castle to Westminster Bridge Road. Its name derives from its crossing of St George's Fields, being an open rural area of the parish of St George the Martyr, Southwark. The road was laid out as part of the communications improvements for Westminster Bridge, from the 1740s, connecting the Bridge to the Elephant and Castle junctions with New Kent Road, Walworth Road and Kennington Park Road.
Charlotte Sharman (1832–1929) was a Christian woman who ran orphanages for girls in West Square Southwark, Gravesend, Hampton, and Tunbridge Wells. She, in the course of her lifetime, cared for and educated over 1,200 destitute children. The lady was an apostle of practical religion.
This is a list of the etymology of street names in the London districts of Kennington and Lambeth. The areas have no formally defined boundaries – those utilised here are Westminster Bridge Road/St George's Circus/London Road to the north, Newington Butts/Kennington Park Road to the east, Kennington Road and Black Prince Road to the south and the river Thames to the west.
Walcot Square is an 18th century garden triangle in Central London. The "square" is in the London Borough of Lambeth and has a very rare triangular shape. Since 1968 in planning policy it is a Conservation Area. Three rows of houses front its communal green, granted Grade II listed status under the statutory protective and recognition scheme in 1981.
St Mary's Gardens is an 18th-century garden triangle in Central London. The "square" is in the London Borough of Lambeth and has an unusual triangular shape. Since 1968 in planning policy it is a Conservation Area. Three rows of houses front its communal green, granted Grade II listed status under the statutory protective and recognition scheme in 1981.
References
↑ "St George's Fields: Enclosure and development". Survey of London. Vol.25. London: London County Council. 1955. pp.49–64. St George's Fields (The Parishes of St. George the Martyr Southwark and St. Mary Newington.
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