Editing Berkeley Square

{{Short description|Town square in the West End of London, England}}
{{About|the town square in London}}
{{more footnotes needed|date=August 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2015}}
[[File:Berkeley Square, Mayfair - geograph.org.uk - 419933.jpg|thumb|Berkeley Square, 2007]]
[[File:Lansdowne House Greenwood's Map London 1830 edited.jpg|thumb|225px|Berkeley Square in 1830.]]
[[File:Berkeley Square evening December 2005.jpg|thumb|Berkeley Square, 2005]]
[[File:Sophie Snyder Berkeley Square.jpg|thumb|''Hares'' by [[Sophie Ryder]], Berkeley Square]]
'''Berkeley Square''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|ɑr|k|l|i}} is a [[garden square]] in the [[West End of London]]. It is one of the best known of the many [[squares in London]], located in [[Mayfair]] in the [[City of Westminster]]. It was laid out in the mid 18th century by the architect [[William Kent]], and originally extended further south. The garden's very large [[Platanus × hispanica|London Plane]] trees are among the oldest in [[central London]], planted in 1789.

== Description ==
===Buildings===
Like most squares in British cities, it is surrounded largely by [[Terraced houses in the United Kingdom|terraced houses]], in this case [[Townhouse (Great Britain)|grand townhouses]].  Originally these were the London residences of very wealthy families who would spend most of the year at [[English country house|their country house]]. Only one building, number 48, remains wholly residential.{{efn|Numbering is from 1 to 57 but many are missed; one building is named with no numbering, Berkeley Square House}} Most have been converted into offices for businesses typical of Mayfair, such as [[Blue chip (stock market)|bluechips]]' meeting spaces, [[hedge fund]]s, niche headhunters and [[wealth management]] businesses.

The buildings' architects included [[Robert Adam]] but [[9 Fitzmaurice Place]] (since 1935 home of the [[Lansdowne Club]], earlier known as Shelb(o)urne then Lansdowne House &mdash; all three names referring to the same branch of one family) is now on the south corner's approach ("Fitzmaurice Place"). The daring staircase-hall of No.44 is sometimes considered [[William Kent]]'s masterpiece.<ref>Sykes, 104–111</ref> [[Gunter's Tea Shop]], founded under a different name in 1757, used to trade here.

Approach ways include Berkeley Street, [[Curzon Street]], and [[Hill Street, London|Hill Street]].

===Gardens===
The gardens of Berkeley Square are Grade II listed (are in the initial category) on the [[Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England|Register of Historic Parks and Gardens]].<ref name=NHLEgarden>{{NHLE|num=1000516|desc=Berkeley Square|access-date=22 March 2018|mode=cs2}}</ref>  They are plain from the horticultural point of view, with grass and paths, but dominated by a group of [[London Plane]] trees around the gardens, planted in 1789,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Berkeley Square {{!}} Westminster City Council |url=https://www.westminster.gov.uk/parks-and-open-spaces/berkeley-square |access-date=2022-11-01 |website=www.westminster.gov.uk |language=en}}</ref> the year of the [[French Revolution]].

In 2008, one of the trees was said to be the "most valuable [[Urban forestry|street tree]] in Britain" by the London [[Arboriculture|Tree Officers]] Association, in terms of its size, health, historical significance and the number of people who live near to it.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.standard.co.uk/news/plane-lovely-the-most-valuable-tree-is-identified-in-berkeley-square-6678976.html|title=Plane lovely: The most valuable tree is identified in Berkeley Square|date=21 April 2008|website=Evening Standard}}</ref>  One in the south-west corner is a [[Great Trees of London|Great Tree of London]].<ref>{{cite book |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=The Great Trees of London |publisher=[[Time Out (magazine)|Time Out]] Guides Ltd |year=2010 |isbn=978-1-84670-154-2 |pages=12}}</ref>

The square features a sculptural fountain by [[Alexander Munro (sculptor)|Alexander Munro]], a [[Pre-Raphaelite]] [[sculpture|sculptor]], made in 1865. The fountain was donated by the third [[Marquess of Lansdowne]], and replaced a statue of [[George III|George II]] which was removed in 1827.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gardens (en) |first=Parks and |title=Berkeley Square, Mayfair - London |url=https://www.parksandgardens.org/places/berkeley-square-mayfair |access-date=2022-11-01 |website=Parks & Gardens |date=31 December 1744 |language=en}}</ref> On the eastern side is a bronze [[:es:La reina Mariana de Austria|sculpture of Velasquez' Reina Mariana]] by [[Manolo Valdes]].

==History==
The square was originally the bottom of the large garden of Berkeley House on [[Piccadilly]], subsequently [[Devonshire House]]. In 1696, [[John Berkeley, 3rd Baron Berkeley of Stratton]], sold the house and much of the garden to [[William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire]], but retained a significant area at the bottom, including the site of Berkeley Square.

The square is among those{{efn|Analogous to [[locus classicus]] case concerning Leicester Square, a pillar of this English law, [[Tulk v Moxhay]]}} that demonstrate non-waiver of (no later agreement to forego) [[restrictive covenants]].  In 1696, with express intent to bind later owners, Berkeley undertook not to build on land retained very directly behind the house, so preserving the view from the rear of the ducal residence.  The southernmost portion saw either a breach and passage of 20 years without claim ([[limitation periods in the United Kingdom|the limitation period of deeds]]) or a release of covenant agreement struck up – it was until about 1930 legally required green space, namely gardens of [[9 Fitzmaurice Place]].<ref>'Berkeley Square, North Side,' in Survey of London: Volume 40, the Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair, Part 2 (The Buildings), ed. F H W Sheppard (London: London County Council, 1980), 64–67, accessed 21 November 2015, [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol40/pt2/pp64-67 online]</ref> They became the new south side of the square.

== Famous residents ==
Residents have included:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Berkeley Square and its neighbourhood {{!}} British History Online |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/old-new-london/vol4/pp326-338 |access-date=2022-11-01 |website=www.british-history.ac.uk}}</ref>

* [[John Byng]] (1741), executed Vice-Admiral, Royal Navy. His home was decorated by architect [[Isaac Ware]]
* [[Horace Walpole]] 1779 until 1797 death—at No.11
* [[George Canning]], Prime Minister (1827)—at No.50
* [[Winston Churchill]]—at No.48 as a child
* Lady [[Isabella Finch]]-at No.44 until 1771, a [[Lady of the Bedchamber]] to [[Princess Amelia of Great Britain|Princess Amelia]]<ref>{{Cite ODNB |title=Finch, Lady (Cecilia) Isabella [Bell] (1700–1771), courtier |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-68377 |access-date=2023-06-10 | date=2004 |language=en |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/68377 | last1=Chalus | first1=E. H. }}</ref>
* [[Robert Clive]] of India—bought No.45 in 1761, where he died in 1774
* [[Sarah Villiers, Countess of Jersey|Sarah Child Villiers, Countess of Jersey]] (Lady Jersey), one of the famous patronesses of [[Almack's]] and leaders of the ''[[Ton (le bon ton)|ton]]'' during the [[Regency era]]; heiress to the [[Child & Co.]] banking fortune—at No.38
* [[Charles Rolls]], co-founder of Rolls-Royce, born here 1877
* [[50 Berkeley Square]] used to be occupied by [[Maggs Brothers Antiquarian Booksellers]].<ref name=nn>[http://www.walksoflondon.co.uk/37/50-berkeley-square-the-mo.shtml walksoflondon.co.uk] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140122120101/http://www.walksoflondon.co.uk/37/50-berkeley-square-the-mo.shtml |date=22 January 2014 }}—50 Berkeley Square, The Most Haunted House In London, accessed 2008-02-08.</ref>

At [[Lansdowne House]], formerly on the square:

* [[John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute]], [[Prime Minister]] (1762–63)
* [[William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne]] (later 1st [[Marquess of Lansdowne]]), prime minister (1782–83)
* [[William Pitt the Younger]], prime minister (1783–1801, 1804–1806)
* [[William Waldorf Astor, 1st Viscount Astor]], richest man in America at the time (1891–1893)
* [[Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery]], Liberal statesman and Prime Minister (1894–1895)
* [[Harry Gordon Selfridge]], founder of the [[Selfridges]] [[department store]]

=== Fictional residents ===
* [[P.G. Wodehouse]]'s character [[Bertie Wooster]] lives near Berkeley Square in a Berkeley St. flat along with his [[valet]] [[Jeeves]], not far from the [[Drones Club]].
* [[Harry Flashman]], the vicious bully of [[Tom Brown's School Days]] and anti-hero of the ''[[Flashman Papers]]'', had a marital home here with his wife Elspeth.
* Cathy Lane, Patty Lane's "identical cousin", is said to have lived here in the theme song to ''[[The Patty Duke Show]]''.
* [[50 Berkeley Square]] is allegedly haunted.<ref name=nn/>
* "Tomlinson", the title character of [[Rudyard Kipling]]'s 1891 satirical poem, "gave up the ghost at his house in Berkeley Square".
* Peter Standish, a character from the play ''[[Berkeley Square (play)|Berkeley Square]]'' written by [[John L. Balderston|John Balderston]],  about a Yankee who lives in a house on the square and is transported back to the 18th century. The play was produced as a [[Berkeley Square (1933 film)|movie]] in 1933, with [[Leslie Howard (actor)|Leslie Howard]], and in [[I'll Never Forget You (film)|1951]], and on television in 1959.
* In the 1949 comedy film ''[[Kind Hearts and Coronets]]'', Lady Agatha D'Ascogne is made to fall to her death in Berkeley Square to accommodate a clever poetic parody.
* Lady Emily Ashton, created by author [[Tasha Alexander]], lives primarily in her Berkeley Square residence during the Victorian period.
* The Marquis of Alverstoke, the main male character from the novel ''[[Frederica (novel)|Frederica]]'' by [[Georgette Heyer]].
*The 1998 television miniseries ''[[Berkeley Square (TV series)|Berkeley Square]]'' focussed on three wealthy [[Edwardian]] families and their staff living in the square.
*One of [[Peter Cheyney|Peter Cheyney's]] main characters, [[private detective]] [[Slim Callaghan]], had his office on Berkeley Square.

==Transport==
Berkeley Square is a typical prime Central London distance from:-
*[[Green Park tube station|Green Park Underground station]] (on the [[Piccadilly line|Piccadilly]], [[Jubilee line|Jubilee]] and [[Victoria line|Victoria]] lines)
*[[Bond Street tube station|Bond Street Underground station]] (on the [[Central line (London Underground)|Central]] and Jubilee lines).

[[London Buses route 22]] passes through the square.

Berkeley Square hosts vehicle charging points supplied by [[Elektromotive]].

==See also==
* [[50 Berkeley Square]], a building described as ''The Most Haunted House in London''.
* ''[[Berkeley Square (1933 film)|Berkeley Square]]'', the 1933 film starring [[Leslie Howard (actor)|Leslie Howard]]
* ''[[Berkeley Square (TV series)|Berkeley Square]]'', a 1998 TV mini-series produced by, and shown on, the [[BBC]].
* ''[[The Ghosts of Berkeley Square]]'', 1947 film starring [[Robert Morley]] and [[Felix Aylmer]]
* [[Lansdowne House|9 Fitzmaurice Place (formerly Lansdowne House when on the Square)]]
* "[[A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square (song)|A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square]]"—a 1940 song written by [[Manning Sherwin]] and [[Eric Maschwitz]], associated in England with singer [[Vera Lynn]] or in America with the [[Glenn Miller]] Band, and a 1979 [[A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square (film)|film]] directed by [[Ralph Thomas]].
* [[The Fleming Collection]], a large private collection of Scottish art held in the square.
* [[List of eponymous roads in London]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* "Berkeley Square, North Side", ''Survey of London: volume 40: The Grosvenor Estate in Mayfair, Part 2 (The Buildings)'' (1980) at [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42106 British History Online] (date accessed 5 July 2009)
* "Berkeley Square and its neighbourhood", ''Old and New London: Volume 4'' (1878) at [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45201 British History Online] (date accessed 5 July 2009)
* Sykes, Christopher Simon. ''Private Palaces: Life in the Great London Houses'', Chatto & Windus, 1985

==External links==
{{Commons category|Berkeley Square}}
* [http://www.londontown.com/LondonStreets/berkeley_square_658.html Berkeley Square @ LondonTown.com]

{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:1696 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1696]]
[[Category:Mayfair]]
[[Category:Squares in the City of Westminster]]
[[Category:Garden squares in London]]
[[Category:Grade II listed parks and gardens in London]]
[[Category:George Canning]]
[[Category:Winston Churchill]]
[[Category:William Pitt the Younger]]
[[Category:Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery]]