Mecklenburgh Square
Encyclopedia
Mecklenburgh Square is a Grade II listed public square located in the King's Cross area of central London
. It is notable for the number of historic terraced houses that face directly onto the square.
Facilities in the square include 2 acres (8,093.7 m²) of garden, a children's playground, and a tennis court
. The garden includes formal lawns, gravel paths, mature plane trees and other ornamental trees. Two sides of the square have borders with plants from New Zealand
.
To the west is Coram's Fields
, a private park, and to the east is Gray's Inn Road
, a major thoroughfare for the area. Goodenough College
is a postgraduate residence and educational trust on the north and south sides of the square, and operates an academic-oriented hotel on the east side.
Russell Square tube station
is located to the south-west of the square, and the major railway terminus of King's Cross-St Pancras
is a short walk north.
(1880 - 1962), historian. In the same doorway is a blue plaque for Sir Syed Ahmed Khan (1817-1898).
No. 34 was shared by the Women's Trade Union League
, the National Anti-Sweating League
and the People's Suffrage Federation.
Virginia Woolf
lived at number 37 from October 1939 to August 1940. Damaged by bombing, the original house was rebuilt as part of the Goodenough College building.
Dorothy Glover (1901 - 1971), a theatre designer, lived somewhere is Mecklenburgh Square. From 1938 to 1940 she had an affair with Graham Greene
and together they produced four children's books. Dorothy Glover (using the name Dorothy Craigie) drew the pictures and Greene wrote the text.
At no. 44 there is a plaque (though not an English Heritage one) for H.D.
(Hilda Doolittle 1886 - 1961), the American poet. She was married to Richard Aldington
, who in turn was a friend of D. H. Lawrence
. Lawrence lived here also, from October to 30 November 1917.
The author Emanuel Litvinoff
has lived in the Square for many decades.
Central London
Central London is the innermost part of London, England. There is no official or commonly accepted definition of its area, but its characteristics are understood to include a high density built environment, high land values, an elevated daytime population and a concentration of regionally,...
. It is notable for the number of historic terraced houses that face directly onto the square.
Facilities in the square include 2 acres (8,093.7 m²) of garden, a children's playground, and a tennis court
Tennis court
A tennis court is where the game of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the center. The same surface can be used to play both doubles and singles.-Dimensions:...
. The garden includes formal lawns, gravel paths, mature plane trees and other ornamental trees. Two sides of the square have borders with plants from New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
To the west is Coram's Fields
Coram's Fields
Coram's Fields is a large urban open space in the London borough of Camden in central London, England. It occupies seven acres in Bloomsbury and includes a children's playground, sand pits, a duck pond, a pets corner, café and nursery...
, a private park, and to the east is Gray's Inn Road
Gray's Inn Road
Gray's Inn Road, formerly Gray's Inn Lane, is a major road in central London, in the London Borough of Camden. It is named after Gray's Inn, one of the main Inns of Court. The road starts in Holborn, near Chancery Lane tube station and the boundaries of the City of London and the London Borough...
, a major thoroughfare for the area. Goodenough College
Goodenough College
Goodenough College is a postgraduate residence and educational trust on Mecklenburgh Square in Bloomsbury, central London, England. Other names under which the College has been known are London House, William Goodenough House, and the London Goodenough Trust.-Profile:The College is an international...
is a postgraduate residence and educational trust on the north and south sides of the square, and operates an academic-oriented hotel on the east side.
Russell Square tube station
Russell Square tube station
Russell Square is a London Underground station on Bernard Street, Bloomsbury in the London Borough of Camden. It is a small but busy station, often used by office workers and by tourists who are staying in Bloomsbury's numerous hotels. The station is a Grade II listed building.-History:The station...
is located to the south-west of the square, and the major railway terminus of King's Cross-St Pancras
St Pancras railway station
St Pancras railway station, also known as London St Pancras and since 2007 as St Pancras International, is a central London railway terminus celebrated for its Victorian architecture. The Grade I listed building stands on Euston Road in St Pancras, London Borough of Camden, between the...
is a short walk north.
Literary links
At number 21 there is a blue plaque for R. H. TawneyR. H. Tawney
Richard Henry Tawney was an English economic historian, social critic, Christian socialist, and an important proponent of adult education....
(1880 - 1962), historian. In the same doorway is a blue plaque for Sir Syed Ahmed Khan (1817-1898).
No. 34 was shared by the Women's Trade Union League
Women's Trade Union League
The Women's Trade Union League was a U.S. organization of both working class and more well-off women formed in 1903 to support the efforts of women to organize labor unions and to eliminate sweatshop conditions...
, the National Anti-Sweating League
National Anti-Sweating League
The National Anti-Sweating League is the name adopted by two groups of social reformers in Australia and Britain at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Both campaigned against the poor conditions endured by many workers in so-called Sweatshops and called for a Minimum wage.-Australia:The...
and the People's Suffrage Federation.
Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf
Adeline Virginia Woolf was an English author, essayist, publisher, and writer of short stories, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth century....
lived at number 37 from October 1939 to August 1940. Damaged by bombing, the original house was rebuilt as part of the Goodenough College building.
Dorothy Glover (1901 - 1971), a theatre designer, lived somewhere is Mecklenburgh Square. From 1938 to 1940 she had an affair with Graham Greene
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
and together they produced four children's books. Dorothy Glover (using the name Dorothy Craigie) drew the pictures and Greene wrote the text.
At no. 44 there is a plaque (though not an English Heritage one) for H.D.
H.D.
H.D. was an American poet, novelist and memoirist known for her association with the early 20th century avant-garde Imagist group of poets such as Ezra Pound and Richard Aldington...
(Hilda Doolittle 1886 - 1961), the American poet. She was married to Richard Aldington
Richard Aldington
Richard Aldington , born Edward Godfree Aldington, was an English writer and poet.Aldington was best known for his World War I poetry, the 1929 novel, Death of a Hero, and the controversy arising from his 1955 Lawrence of Arabia: A Biographical Inquiry...
, who in turn was a friend of D. H. Lawrence
D. H. Lawrence
David Herbert Richards Lawrence was an English novelist, poet, playwright, essayist, literary critic and painter who published as D. H. Lawrence. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanising effects of modernity and industrialisation...
. Lawrence lived here also, from October to 30 November 1917.
The author Emanuel Litvinoff
Emanuel Litvinoff
Emanuel Litvinoff was a British writer and human rights campaigner, and a well known figure in Anglo-Jewish literature.-Background:...
has lived in the Square for many decades.