Gordon Square

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Gordon Square

Gordon Square is in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden, London, England (postal district WC1). It was developed by Thomas Cubitt in the 1820s, as one of a pair with Tavistock Square, which is a block away and has the same dimensions. As with most London squares the central garden was originally for the private use of the residents of the surrounding houses, but it now belongs to the University of London and is open to the public. The university owns many of the buildings in the square and in early 2005 it submitted an application for a refurbishment of the square, including the reinstatement of railings similar to the originals. The west side of the square is dominated by the listed church of Christ the King.

The economist John Maynard Keynes (1883–1946) lived at 46 Gordon Square ^[1], marked by a Blue Plaque. The same house was used by the Bloomsbury Group before Keynes moved in when Vanessa Bell lived here ^[2]. The writer and biographer Lytton Strachey lived at No. 51.

The Institute of Archaeology, a department of University College London, is on the north side of the square. Gordon Street leads from the north-west corner with the UCL Bloomsbury Theatre close by.

Nos. 16–26, on the western side of the Square, were not completed until 1855 and they represent some of the last buildings created by Thomas Cubitt. They now mostly house UCL academic departments. For example, No. 22 houses the Department of Science and Technology Studies.

Other squares on the Bedford Estate in Bloomsbury included: