Russell Square

Russell Square is a large garden square in Bloomsbury, part of the London Borough of Camden. It sits almost exactly square in shape, bordered to the north by Woburn Place and to the south-east by Southampton Row. Russell Square tube station lies to the north-east, while the University of London’s main buildings and the British Museum are nearby. The square was laid out in 1804 after the demolition of Bedford House, following earlier development by the Earls and Dukes of Bedford in the 17th and 18th centuries. Its freehold remains with the Bedford Estate’s conservation trusts, managed in partnership with Camden Council. The square has long been a place of cultural and historical significance. Between 1805 and 1830, artist Thomas Lawrence had a studio at number 65. The 19th-century architects Philip and Philip Charles Hardwick lived at number 60 in the 1850s. The Hotel Russell, built in 1898, and the Imperial Hotel, completed in 1911, overlook the square, both designed by Charles Fitzroy Doll. A blue plaque marks the house where T. S. Eliot worked as poetry editor for Faber & Faber in the late 1920s. Visitors find a well-kept garden re-landscaped in 2002 to Humphry Repton’s early 19th-century design. A memorial plaque and young oak tree mark the spot where flowers were laid after the 2005 London bombings. The square has appeared in novels by Thackeray, Virginia Woolf, and Georgette Heyer, and in television shows like *Black Books* and *Sherlock*. It remains a notable site for public demonstrations and a quiet green space in central London.