Victoria Square, London facts for kids
Victoria Square is a small, rectangular garden square 50 metres south of the remaining stables of The Royal Mews (on the large green block taken up by Buckingham Palace) and 150 metres north of Victoria bus station (which stands in front of Victoria Station (London)). It has a statue of the young Queen Victoria.
It separated by the main wing of the Goring Hotel from an almost identical-size space between buildings, as private gardens for the hotel, backed by one road, instead of its four private close-style roads with parking and sets of pavements.
Most of the Victoria and Belgravia area is the Duke of Westminster's Grosvenor Estate as to minor, overarching legal interests, the more valuable freehold of let shops and as to open spaces; this square is such an instance, which has a lasting influence on local planning policy and which has had some loss of interest by outright sales, some of which facilitated by leasehold reform under the Leasehold Reform Act 1967.
Architecture and history
The square comprises about 25 residential houses, which are all Grade 2* listed as particularly important buildings of more than special interest. These are five-storey stucco-fronted properties designed by the architect Sir Matthew Wyatt (1805-1886), a member of the Wyatt family who was the son of sculptor Matthew Cotes Wyatt and the grandson of James Wyatt. The houses were constructed in 1838-40 to celebrate the beginning of Queen Victoria's reign.
Most of the houses comprising Victoria Square are now held as freeholds, having been purchased from the Grosvenor Estate. The square lies within the Grosvenor Belgravia Estate Management Scheme, approved by the High Court in 1973 under section 19 of the Leasehold Reform Act 1967, the purpose of which is to preserve the appearance of the Belgravia area.
Renovation
The central square was recently renovated after residents contributed to a six figure sum towards the project. A statue of the young Queen Victoria by the artist Catherine Anne Laugel was specially commissioned and was installed in the square in 2007.
Former residents
Former residents include:
- Author Ian Fleming (1908-1964), who lived at number 16 Victoria Square from 1953 until his death in 1964. The first of Fleming's James Bond novels, Casino Royale (novel), was published shortly after he took his house on the square. Fleming threw a post-premiere party at 16 Victoria Square following the first showing of From Russia With Love (film) on 10 October 1963.
- Former Conservative MP Michael Portillo (born 1953).
- Poet Thomas Campbell (1777-1844), who lived at number 8 Victoria Square from 1840 to 1844.
- Musician John Ella (1802-1888), who lived at number 9 Victoria Square from 1868 to 1888.
- Army officer, artist and author Henry Hope Crealock (1831-1891), who lived at number 20 Victoria Square from the 1860s until 1891.
- Musician and composer Mike Oldfield, lived for a period at 1 Victoria Square.
Appearance in film
In 1991, the square was used for the filming of the Merchant Ivory Productions adaptation Howards End (film).
