‘Torrington and Woburn Squares are also great ornaments to the neighbourhood..’,
Torrington Square was developed in 1821-28 by James Sim and his family for the Bedford Estate and named after Lord Torrington, the 6th Duke of Bedford’s father-in-law. During the 1800s it seemed to attract academically-minded residents. It is now owned by the University of London and only one Georgian terrace remains. The fields behind Montague House were variously known as ‘Montague Fields’ and ‘Southampton Fields’ and it was in this area that ‘The Field of the Forty Footsteps’ was located – a romantic story which has not left its trace!
The only remaining Georgian houses are on the east side of the square. No.30 Torrington Square was Christina Rosetti’s home.
This post describes the square as a ‘green space’; on my visit it was covered in grey concrete, with a busy road separating the church from the remainder of the square – the main impression is of a busy thoroughfare, certainly not an ornament to the neighbourhood.
Woburn Square, which backs on to Torrington Square, is the smallest of the squares, with housing begun by James Sim and completed by his sons between 1821-28. It is of course named after Woburn Abbey, the main country seat of the Dukes of Bedford. Only the east side of the original buildings remain.
The housing on the other three sides of the square, and a church, have been demolished during the late 1900s to accommodate the University of London, and the square has shrunk – it extended to Russell Square until the 1970s when the southern end was demolished to create University of London buildings.
Christ Church (demolished 1974) stood at the right of the above row of houses, on the site now occupied by the Institute of Education. The church was built as a Chapel of Ease for St George’s, Bloomsbury. It apparently included a reredos by Burne-Jones in memory of Christina Rossetti.
The garden has been ‘renovated’, with a playground for children and sculptures, but again it felt gloomy and ‘lonely’ – perhaps it was just the time of day, and season, or me – look at this lovely picture of the garden.
You may be interested in
Bloomsbury Squares & Gardens
Bloomsbury Project
A description of Christ Church
The development of Bloomsbury
Ruth
Thank-you so much for looking at this church and especially for the postcard image of it in its complete beauty. Whatever happened to the Burne Jones reredos? I remember the site in the early 1970s, long before the ugly Institute of Education was built, but my memory is not of such a fine church, but of a ruin. Was it bombed or just left deliberately derelict, I wonder? It was an utterly neglected corner of London at that time, and seemed such an anomaly, so close to Russell Square and the rest of the University buildings.
Leafshade
In your comment that the square was grey concrete, you are probably describing Byng Place which separates the church from Torrington Square. This is the end of the square where the weekly Farmers’ Market is held. The green area of Torrington Square, with its slightly formal layout of grass plots, lies further away from the road, nearer the Senate House.
Candy Blackham
OK, thank you for this, and for reading. I will take another look and amend appropriately.