Walcot Square facts for kids
Walcot Square is an 18th century garden triangle about one street south of Central London. The "square" is in the London Borough of Lambeth and has very rare triangular shape. Since 1968 in planning policy it is a Conservation Area. Three rows of houses front its communal green, granted Grade II listed status under the statutory protective and recognition scheme in 1981 (the mainstream and initial category).
Location and layout
North of a double row of homes with gardens, Brook Street, is Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park in which stand Imperial War Museum and two cafes (on the site of a mental-health hospital). To the south is St. Mary's Gardens, to the west an avenue, Kennington Road, and east is West Square.
The communal-green-centred street is in the SE11 postcode district. The nearest tube station is Lambeth North, 500 m north.
The late Georgian three-storey terraced houses, forming its stock (some of which due to slightly raised-above subterranean-only level basements), surround a private 0.2-acre (0.081 ha) communal garden, owned and maintained by the Walcot Foundation. No №1 nor 64 exist; the highest of sets being the sole addition number, 68A, (on the evens sides of the estate) or 95 (odds side of the estate).
History
The street is named after Edmund Walcott, a haberdasher, who bequeathed the 30 acres (12 ha) on his death, in 1667, in trust for the poor of St. Mary, Lambeth, and St Olave's Church, Southwark.
Each of the three terraced sides differ slightly in design but are all constructed from stock brick and stucco which contributes to the modestly formal domestic scene. Notable features include stucco door surrounds, black painted doors, and long casement windows with ornamental anthemion cast iron balconette and railings. № s9–81 (odds) were built by John Woodward; 16–24 (evens) by Charles Newnham; and 26–50 (evens) by John Chapman.
London Blitz
As with the rest of London, incendiary bombs hit some of the street in the London Blitz in World War II. Where buildings were destroyed comparatively new ones were put up to match the originals.
Film and literature
- In Bleak House, by Charles Dickens and published in 1853, Mr Guppy, the law clerk, proposes to Esther and states he has taken a residence on Walcot Square
- Walcot Stores, on the corner of the street, features in scenes from the 1990 film The Krays
- Scenes from the 2014 film The Woman in Black: Angel of Death were filmed on the street.
- Scenes for the 2016 film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (film), and the 2018 sequel Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald were filmed on the street. The neighbouring St Mary’s Gardens is the home of Newt Scamander.
