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Bedford Square - London Hotels .com

Bedford Square is located in the Borough of Camden’s Bloomsbury district of London, England. It was named after the Russell Family, who were the Dukes of Bedford and mail landlords of Bloomsbury. The square was built between 1775 and 1783 as an upper middle class residential area. Bedford Square is one of the most beautiful and best preserved Georgian squares in London. Bedford Square is one of London’s most prestigious addresses, and has been home to influential politicians, doctors, writers, artists, and industrialists.

While there are no official boundaries for the area of Bloomsbury, it is considered to be bounded by Theobalds Road and Bloomsbury Way to the south, Ruston Road to the north, Tottenham Court Road to the west, and Gray’s Inn Road to the east. The other squares on Bloomsbury’s Bedford Estate are: Bloomsbury Square, Gordon Square, Russell Square, Tavistock Square, Torrington Square, and Woburn Square. Many of the squares have beautiful public and private gardens. There are many fine hotel accommodations in the Bloomsbury area. The central garden of Bedford Square is privately owned, and not accessible to the public. Many houses in the area have blue plaques on them, distinguishing them as notable historical residences.

Some of the famous historical residents were: Lord Eldon, one of Britain’s most celebrated and longest serving Lord Chancellors; Charles Gilpin, Member of Parliament; Henry Cavendish, scientist; Harry Ricard, engine designer; Johnston Forbes-Robertson, actor; Jonathan Cape, renowned 20th century publisher; Thomas Hodgkin, physician, reformer and philanthropist; Thomas Wakley, reformed and founder of The Lancet; William Butterfield, architect; Sir Anthony Hope Hawkins, novelist; Margot Asquith, wife of the Prime Minister H. H. Asquith; Elizabeth Jesser Reid, anti-slavery activist and founder of Bedford College for Women, which was the first institution for higher education in Britain; and Ram Mohan, Indian scholar and reformer.

Most of the houses of Bedford Square have been converted to offices. Some of the current tenants are: Cameron Mackintosh (Overseas) Limited; Winston House, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's European Study Center; New York University's London Academic Facility; Redhouse Lane; Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art; Morse Plc; InferMed Ltd; London office of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus; Architectural Association School of Architecture; Yale University Press, London; and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

Bloomsbury has historically been associated with the arts, medicine, and education. The British Museum, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, the Foundling Museum, British Medical Association, and the University of London's Senate House Library, the Grant Museum of Zoology at University College London, the Petrie Museum, and the Dickens Museum are located in Bloomsbury. The museums are easily accessible from Bloomsbury hotels. The area is also referred to as Museum Mile. Bloomsbury has a children's playground and sports field next to Foundlings Hospital called Coram's Fields. Adults are only admitted with children. There are a few sheep in Coram's Fields. Lamb's Conduit Street is adjacent to the park and has restaurants, cafes, and independent stores along the street.