Mecklenburgh Square

Mecklenburgh Square is a Grade II listed square in the King’s Cross area of Camden. It was begun in 1804 as part of the Foundling Estate, a residential development on land owned by the Foundling Hospital. The square was named for Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, queen of George III. Construction finished in 1825, and the garden was laid out between 1809 and 1810. The square is surrounded by historic terraced houses and stands beside Coram’s Fields to the west and Gray’s Inn Road to the east. The square is one of the last perfect examples of Georgian architecture in London. In 1938 the Georgian Group campaigned successfully to preserve it, holding a fundraising ball and fair. Virginia Woolf lived at number 37 from 1939 to 1940, and the house was bombed in 1940. Other notable residents include Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle, Karl Pearson, R. H. Tawney, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan, H. D., and Dorothy L. Sayers. The garden contains formal lawns, gravel paths, mature plane trees, a children’s playground, and a tennis court. The 2-acre garden is planted with ornamental trees and native New Zealand species on the east side. Goodenough College occupies the north and south sides, running an academic-oriented hotel on the east. Russell Square tube station lies to the south-west, and King’s Cross and St Pancras stations are a short walk north. The square, Brunswick Square and Coram’s Fields are jointly listed Grade II on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.