Editing Connaught Square

{{Short description|Square in London, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox street
| name                    = Connaught Square
| image                   = ConnaughtSquareStreetSign.jpg
| caption                 = '''Connaught Square''', London — predominantly four-storey [[terraced house]]s surrounding a private [[communal garden]] planted with mature trees, shrubs and flower beds.
| namesake                = [[Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh|Earl of Connaught]]
| addresses               = 1-22A; 23-30; 32; 34-45; 47 (44 buildings, built as large homes, some subdivided)
| length_m                = 
| length_ft               = 400
| length_ref              = (internally)
| width                   = 186 feet
| location                = [[City of Westminster]], [[London]]
| postal_code             = {{postcode|W|2}}
| metro_system=Tube
| metro                   ={{rail-interchange|london|underground}} {{lus|Marble Arch}}
| client                  =
| maint                   = (1) [[Westminster City Council]]<br>(2) building owners as to the garden
| coordinates             = {{coord|51|30|52|N|0|9|50|W|region:GB_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| direction_a             = 
| terminus_a              =
| direction_b             =
| terminus_b              =
| junction                =
| inauguration_date       = {{Start date|1828}}
| known_for               = Former London home of [[Prime Minister|leading politician]] [[Tony Blair]] and his wife [[Cherie Blair|Cherie]].
| status                  = Existing
}}
[[File:Connaught Square Garden - geograph.org.uk - 1630814.jpg|thumb|right|255px|Looking eastwards across the private garden]]
[[File:Connaught Square - geograph.org.uk - 499393.jpg|thumb|right|255px|An example of Connaught Square's [[Georgian architecture]]]]
'''Connaught Square''' in [[London]], England, was the first [[garden square|square]] of [[terraced house|city houses]] to be built in [[Bayswater]]. It is named after a royal, the [[Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh|Earl of Connaught]] who was from 1805 until death in 1834 the second and last Duke of Gloucester ''and'' Edinburgh, and who maintained his fringe-of-London house and grounds on the land of this square and Gloucester Square. Its appearance is essentially the same as in the 1820s. Its south-east is 115&nbsp;metres north of [[Hyde Park, London|Hyde Park]] and the same west of [[Edgware Road (London)|Edgware Road]]. This point is {{convert|302|m|ft|0|abbr=on}} [[boxing the compass|WNW]] of [[Marble Arch]], which sits on a very large green roundabout (including sculptures and public fountains) marking the western end of [[Oxford Street]]. [[Connaught Street]] runs along is northern end.

==Architecture==
Connaught Square's architecture is primarily [[Georgian architecture|Georgian]]. Redevelopment was initially planned in the early 18th century and the first of its 45 brick houses was built in 1828 as part of the [[Hyde Park Estate]] by [[Thomas Allason]].  Having built the Square, Thomas Allason (1790-1852) and family remained living at no 1 Connaught until well past he death in 1852.

==Community==
Residents of Connaught Square hold an exclusive summer party in the central [[communal garden]] every year. The [[garden square]] is maintained by the owners of the adjoining properties who contribute to its upkeep, and in return are issued keys to the garden. Such gated gardens are a particular feature of this area of London. The horses of the [[Royal Artillery]] regularly do their early morning rides down [[Connaught Street]].

==Notable residents==
In October 2004, serving [[Prime Minister]] [[Tony Blair]] and his wife [[Cherie Blair|Cherie]] bought as their home a house on this square for £3.5 million;<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3707520.stm The house that Tony bought], [[BBC News]], 1 October 2004.</ref> as at 2007 the policing of which was an all-hours rota giving at least four on-duty [[Metropolitan Police Service]] [[Diplomatic Protection Group]] officers.<ref name="indy">[https://web.archive.org/web/20091124075933/http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/columnists/claudia-winkleman/claudia-winkleman-take-it-from-me-449062.html Claudia Winkleman: Take It From Me - Blair's moving in] ''[[The Independent]]'' (London). Published 16 May 2007. Retrieved 30 May 2009. </ref>

Other famous residents have included:

* №5 - [[Nigel Balchin]] - author
* №14 - [[Marie Taglioni]] - ballerina (resident from 1875 until 1876)
* №15 - [[Fanny Kemble]] - actress, author, playwright and poet  (resident from 1877 to 1879)<ref>{{cite book|last1=Chancellor|first1=Edwin Beresford|title=The History of the Squares of London|date=1907|publisher=Kegan, Paul, Trench, and Trubner & Co.|page=317}}</ref>

==Other buildings==
Aside from predominant residential use, the buildings host a very small primary school and doctor’s surgery. A garage specialises in classic cars on northern approach way Connaught Street. To the west are the shops of [[Connaught Village]] and a long-standing Chinese restaurant, which was among the many meeting places of high-level corrupt talks regarding [[Bruce Grobbelaar]], footballer.

==In film, fiction and the media==
In fiction, Lionel Holland lives at №242 in the film ''[[Kind Hearts and Coronets]]''.

==Proximity to the Tyburn Tree==
{{main|Marble Arch|Ossulstone|Tyburn Tree|Edgware Road}}
The single-most frequented gallows, the [[Tyburn Tree]], for public [[judicial execution]] in London, was nearby.  Most sufficient-scale 18th century maps mark out an area by the edge of the top a very broad rise which is a block or so north along [[Edgware Road]] as having, in rough drawing to symbolise obsolescence, such a landmark tree. Relatedly, Oswald's Stone or [[Ossulstone]] stood for centuries on the corner of Edgware Road and Oxford Street/Road (formerly also called Uxbridge Road), and was an equally prominent landmark of [[Middlesex]] and of the most populous hundred (see [[Hundred Court]]), providing a cultural focus and marking out the place of early meetings of the justices of the peace and lords of the many Ossulstone manors more generally.  

{{blockquote|The real site of this spot [the gallows] is a matter of public dispute. An iron slab opposite the end of Edgware-rd, and about 50 yards W. of the Marble Arch, professes to designate the precise location; but №&nbsp;49 Connaught Square, some two or three hundred yards N.W. of that spot, disputes with it the doubtful honour, as does also the portion of the Edgware-rd at the corner of Bryanston-st.|''Dickens Dictionary of London'', 1889<ref>''Dickens Dictionary of London''; [[Charles Dickens, Jr.]]; Macmillan, London; 1889 edition</ref>}}

[[Peter Ackroyd]] recites a list of anecdotes and archaeological finds supportive of pre-18th century mass burials where much of Connaught Place stands.  No greater evidence is given for second theory above.<ref>''London: The Biography''; Peter Ackroyd (Vintage 2001) {{ISBN|0-09-942258-1}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Connaught Square (Thunder Bay)]]
* [[List of eponymous roads in London]]
* [[Squares in London]]

==Nearby places==
* [[Knightsbridge, London, England|Knightsbridge]]
* [[Notting Hill, London, England|Notting Hill]]
* [[Paddington, London, England|Paddington]]
* [[St John's Wood, London, England|St John's Wood]]
* [[Westminster]]

==Nearest tube stations==
* [[Marble Arch tube station|Marble Arch]]
* [[Edgware Road tube station (Bakerloo Line)|Edgware Road (Bakerloo Line)]]
* [[Edgware Road tube station (Circle, District and Hammersmith & City Lines)|Edgware Road (Circle, District and Hammersmith & City Lines)]]

==References==
<references />

==External links==
* [http://www.londontown.com/LondonStreets/connaught_square_e83.html Page at LondonTown.com]
* [http://www.hydeparkestate.com Connaught Square is a part of The Hyde Park Estate]

[[Category:Squares in the City of Westminster]]
[[Category:Garden squares in London]]
[[Category:Communal gardens]]
[[Category:Tyburnia]]