Berkeley Square

This article is about the town square in London. For other uses, seeBerkeley Square (disambiguation).

Berkeley Square/ˈbɑːrkli/is agarden squarein theWest End of London.It is one of the best known of the manysquares in London,located inMayfairin theCity of Westminster.It was laid out in the mid 18th century by the architectWilliam Kent,and originally extended further south. The garden's very largeLondon Planetrees are among the oldest incentral London,planted in 1789.

Berkeley Square, 2007

Berkeley Square in 1830.

Berkeley Square, 2005

HaresbySophie Ryder,Berkeley Square

Description

Buildings

Like most squares in British cities, it is surrounded largely byterraced houses,in this casegrand townhouses.Originally these were the London residences of very wealthy families who would spend most of the year attheir country house.Only one building, number 48, remains wholly residential.Most have been converted into offices for businesses typical of Mayfair, such asbluechips' meeting spaces,hedge funds,niche headhunters andwealth managementbusinesses.

The buildings' architects includedRobert Adambut9 Fitzmaurice Place(since 1935 home of theLansdowne Club,earlier known as Shelb(o)urne then Lansdowne House — all three names referring to the same branch of one family) is now on the south corner's approach ( "Fitzmaurice Place" ). The daring staircase-hall of No.44 is sometimes consideredWilliam Kent's masterpiece.Gunter's Tea Shop,founded under a different name in 1757, used to trade here.

Approach ways include Berkeley Street,Curzon Street,andHill Street.

Gardens

The gardens of Berkeley Square are Grade II listed (are in the initial category) on theRegister of Historic Parks and Gardens.They are plain from the horticultural point of view, with grass and paths, but dominated by a group ofLondon Planetrees around the gardens, planted in 1789,the year of theFrench Revolution.

In 2008, one of the trees was said to be the "most valuablestreet treein Britain "by the LondonTree OfficersAssociation, in terms of its size, health, historical significance and the number of people who live near to it.One in the south-west corner is aGreat Tree of London.

The square features a sculptural fountain byAlexander Munro,aPre-Raphaelitesculptor,made in 1865. The fountain was donated by the thirdMarquess of Lansdowne,and replaced a statue ofGeorge IIwhich was removed in 1827.On the eastern side is a bronzesculpture of Velasquez' Reina MarianabyManolo Valdes.

History

The square was originally the bottom of the large garden of Berkeley House onPiccadilly,subsequentlyDevonshire House.In 1696,John Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley of Stratton,sold the house and much of the garden toWilliam Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire,but retained a significant area at the bottom, including the site of Berkeley Square.

The square is among thosethat demonstrate non-waiver of (no later agreement to forego)restrictive covenants.In 1696, with express intent to bind later owners, Berkeley undertook not to build on land retained very directly behind the house, so preserving the view from the rear of the ducal residence. The southernmost portion saw either a breach and passage of 20 years without claim (the limitation period of deeds) or a release of covenant agreement struck up – it was until about 1930 legally required green space, namely gardens of9 Fitzmaurice Place.They became the new south side of the square.

Famous residents

Residents have included:

• John Byng(1741), executed Vice-Admiral, Royal Navy. His home was decorated by architectIsaac Ware
• Horace Walpole1779 until 1797 death—at No.11
• George Canning,Prime Minister (1827)—at No.50
• Winston Churchill—at No.48 as a child
• LadyIsabella Finch-at No.44 until 1771, aLady of the BedchambertoPrincess Amelia
• Robert Cliveof India—bought No.45 in 1761, where he died in 1774
• Sarah Child Villiers, Countess of Jersey(Lady Jersey), one of the famous patronesses ofAlmack'sand leaders of thetonduring theRegency era;heiress to theChild & Co.banking fortune—at No.38
• Charles Rolls,co-founder of Rolls-Royce, born here 1877
• 50 Berkeley Squareused to be occupied byMaggs Brothers Antiquarian Booksellers.

AtLansdowne House,formerly on the square:

• John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute,Prime Minister(1762–63)
• William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne(later 1stMarquess of Lansdowne), prime minister (1782–83)
• William Pitt the Younger,prime minister (1783–1801, 1804–1806)
• William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor,richest man in America at the time (1891–1893)
• Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery,Liberal statesman and Prime Minister (1894–1895)
• Harry Gordon Selfridge,founder of theSelfridgesdepartment store

Fictional residents

• P.G. Wodehouse's characterBertie Woosterlives near Berkeley Square in a Berkeley St. flat along with hisvaletJeeves,not far from theDrones Club.
• Harry Flashman,the vicious bully ofTom Brown's School Daysand anti-hero of theFlashman Papers,had a marital home here with his wife Elspeth.
• Cathy Lane, Patty Lane's "identical cousin", is said to have lived here in the theme song toThe Patty Duke Show.
• 50 Berkeley Squareis allegedly haunted.
• "Tomlinson", the title character ofRudyard Kipling's 1891 satirical poem, "gave up the ghost at his house in Berkeley Square".
• Peter Standish, a character from the playBerkeley Squarewritten byJohn Balderston,about a Yankee who lives in a house on the square and is transported back to the 18th century. The play was produced as amoviein 1933, withLeslie Howard,and in1951,and on television in 1959.
• In the 1949 comedy filmKind Hearts and Coronets,Lady Agatha D'Ascogne is made to fall to her death in Berkeley Square to accommodate a clever poetic parody.
• Lady Emily Ashton, created by authorTasha Alexander,lives primarily in her Berkeley Square residence during the Victorian period.
• The Marquis of Alverstoke, the main male character from the novelFredericabyGeorgette Heyer.
• The 1998 television miniseriesBerkeley Squarefocussed on three wealthyEdwardianfamilies and their staff living in the square.
• One ofPeter Cheyney'smain characters,private detectiveSlim Callaghan,had his office on Berkeley Square.

Transport

Berkeley Square is a typical prime Central London distance from:-

• Green Park Underground station(on thePiccadilly,JubileeandVictorialines)
• Bond Street Underground station(on theCentraland Jubilee lines).

London Buses route 22passes through the square.

Berkeley Square hosts vehicle charging points supplied byElektromotive.

See also

• 50 Berkeley Square,a building described asThe Most Haunted House in London.
• Berkeley Square,the 1933 film starringLeslie Howard
• Berkeley Square,a 1998 TV mini-series produced by, and shown on, theBBC.
• The Ghosts of Berkeley Square,1947 film starringRobert MorleyandFelix Aylmer
• 9 Fitzmaurice Place (formerly Lansdowne House when on the Square)
• "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square"—a 1940 song written byManning SherwinandEric Maschwitz,associated in England with singerVera Lynnor in America with theGlenn MillerBand, and a 1979filmdirected byRalph Thomas.
• The Fleming Collection,a large private collection of Scottish art held in the square.
• List of eponymous roads in London

Sources

• "Berkeley Square, North Side",Survey of London: volume 40: The Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair, Part 2 (The Buildings)(1980) atBritish History Online(date accessed 5 July 2009)
• "Berkeley Square and its neighbourhood",Old and New London: Volume 4(1878) atBritish History Online(date accessed 5 July 2009)
• Sykes, Christopher Simon.Private Palaces: Life in the Great London Houses,Chatto & Windus, 1985

External links

• Berkeley Square @ LondonTown.com