Hanover Square from Stow's
London Squares
(1750), looking north across
Marylebone
, which was then not built up on the horizon.
Hanover Square
is a
green square
in
Mayfair
,
Westminster
, south west of
Oxford Circus
where
Oxford Street
meets
Regent Street
. Six streets converge on the square which include Harewood Place with links to
Oxford Street
, Princes Street, Hanover Street, Saint George Street,
Brook Street
and Tenderden Street, linking to
Bond Street
and Oxford Street.
History
[
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]
Development of the land that would become Hanover Square began shortly after the accession of the
Elector of Hanover
as
King George I
in 1714. The land was owned by
Richard Lumley, 1st Earl of Scarbrough
, who was a soldier and statesman best known for his role in the
Glorious Revolution
. He sold off numerous plots for the building of upmarket town houses and villas.
In honour of the coronation of the new English king, the area was named Hanover Square.
This reflected the century-long Whig Ascendancy because its name echoed the staunch and predominant support among the British Establishment towards the
Hanoverian succession
of 1714, and the
Act of Settlement 1701
that permanently codified the exclusion of Catholics from the English throne. "Early Hanover Square was decidedly
Whig
and most decidedly military", commented architectural historian
Sir John Summerson
.
Some early residents of Hanover Square included Generals
Earl Cadogan
,
Sir Charles Wills
, Stewart, Evans,
Lord Carpenter
,
Hamish Smith
and John Pepper, "names conspicuously associated with episodes in
Marlborough’s war
and the '
Fifteen
'."
[2]
[3]
The
parish church
of
St George's, Hanover Square
, is 100 metres south of the square (co-fronting Saint George and Maddox Streets), built on land given by
William Steuart
. In 1759
James Abercrombie
, commander-in-chief of British forces in North America during the
French and Indian War
, resided in St George Street.
[4]
Merged or subdivided buildings in many cases, their numbering scheme remains since the early 19th century and is No.s1 to 25, consecutively.
While a few of the 18th-century houses remain largely intact, most houses have been replacements of later periods. It is now predominantly occupied by offices, including the London office of
Vogue
.
In the 2010s, the north west corner of the square was removed and rebuilt as part of the
Crossrail
project. A new
Bond Street
entrance for the
Elizabeth line
was built, with commercial office space in a new building above.
[5]
Notable residents
[
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]
Booth's Poverty Map, 1889, identifies gold (top) income for Hanover Square and wealthy incomes surrounding; it finds nearest true poverty, then, in Soho a few blocks east; and the height of ground is given in feet.
This was among the prestigious streets of the socialite elite of the capital in the 19th century, and increasingly national institutions and corporate headquarters. These included:
Gallery
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Summerson, pp. 98?100.
- ^
Walford, quoting
Weekly Medley
, 1717.
- ^
Maryland Gazette, 7 June 1759
- ^
Hellen, Nicholas (23 October 2022).
"Bond Street station is finally open ? just £500m over budget"
.
The Times
.
ISSN
0140-0460
. Retrieved
24 October
2022
.
- ^
The Times
London, England: Wednesday, Feb. 19, 1823: Issue 11799 p. 3
- ^
Morning Post
London, England: Thursday, Dec. 13, 1883: Issue 34780
- ^
"Personal, &c"
.
The Times
. 29 October 1908. p. 1 – via Gale.
- ^
"Gale - Enter Product Login"
.
go.gale.com
.
- Bibliography
- Sir John Summerson
,
Georgian London
, London: Penguin, 1969 (revised edition)
- Edward Walford,
Hanover Square and neighbourhood
,
Old and New London: Volume 4
(1878), pp. 314?326.
- Weinreb, Ben
;
Hibbert, Christopher
;
Keay, John
; Keay, Julia (2008).
The London Encyclopaedia
(3rd ed.). Pan Macmillan.
ISBN
978-1-405-04924-5
.
External links
[
edit
]
51°30′50″N
0°8′39″W
/
51.51389°N 0.14417°W
/
51.51389; -0.14417