Red Lion Square

Red Lion Square is a small garden square in Holborn, London. It was laid out in 1684 by Nicholas Barbon, taking its name from the Red Lion Inn. The bodies of three regicides—Oliver Cromwell, John Bradshaw and Henry Ireton—were said to have been placed in a pit on the site. By the 18th century it had become a fashionable address, home to judges like Sir Bernard Hale. A 1737 Act of Parliament led to further improvements. By the 1860s it had lost its prestige, as Anthony Trollope noted in his novel Orley Farm. In 1885 Fanny Wilkinson redesigned it as a public garden. The square has been home to many notable figures. John Harrison, inventor of the marine chronometer, lived and died at number 12. Charles Lamb was painted at number 3 in 1826. Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Morris shared number 17 between 1851 and 1859. Morris also ran a decorators shop at number 8 from 1860 to 1865. Suffragettes Irene and Hilda Dallas lived at 35 St George’s Mansions and evaded the 1911 census. Today the garden contains a statue of Fenner Brockway by Ian Walters and a bust of Bertrand Russell. Conway Hall opens onto the square. The Royal College of Anaesthetists and the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management are based here. Nearby Lamb’s Conduit Street leads to Holborn underground station. A group of writers including Dylan Thomas once gathered at a bookshop in Parton Street.