Welcome to Gordon Square, Bloomsbury

Timetable for Saturday and Sunday

For further information please visit our website or contacts us at: University of London Senate House Malet Street London WC1E 7HU UK

Time

Information tent

10:30

Garden tour Dr Philip Carter From gloom to bloom: Virginia Woolf in Gordon Square

11:30

Telephone: +44 (0)20 7862 8000

12:00

Welcome to Gordon Square, Bloomsbury

Follow us on:

Garden tour Dr Elizabeth Dearnley Code-breakers, secret agents and gardens: Mavis Batey and Noor Inayat Khan

12:30 13:30

Garden tour Dr Philip Carter From gloom to bloom: Virginia Woolf in Gordon Square

14:00 15:00 15:30

Leading Women tent

Garden tour Dr Elizabeth Dearnley Code-breakers, secret agents and gardens: Mavis Batey and Noor Inayat Khan

Open Garden Squares Weekend 9th and 10th June 2018

This guide is available in alternative formats upon request.

Please contact branding@london.ac.uk

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‘Goldcrest (Regulus regulus) in Gordon Square’ © Carl Sayer 2 Open Garden Squares Weekend 2018

Map of Gordon Square Garden No. 46 John Maynard Keynes Plaque

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No. 50 Bloomsbury Group Plaque

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Information tent

Leading Women tent

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No. 51 Lytton Strachey Plaque

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Ginger Jules Café

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No. 14 Dr Williams’s Library

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Robert Travers Herford Plaque

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From fields to flourish – a brief history of Gordon Square Garden

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Church of Christ the King

Key to the trees 1 Bird Cherry 2 Black Cherry 3 Common Beech 4 Common Hawthorn 5 Common Holly 6 Common Hornbeam 7 Common Laburnum 8 Common Lime 9 Common Quince 10 Crab Apple 11 Elm 12 Highclere Holly 13 London Plane 14 Pissard Plum 15 Prunus Species 16 Silver Birch 17 Sweetgum 18 Tree of Heaven 19 Weeping Wych Elm 20 Wild Cherry 21 Willow-leaved Pear Memorials A Noor Inayat Khan 1914–1944 B Rabindranath Tagore 1861–1941 Other interests C Sarsen Stone from Avebury

Early infrastructure On John Rocque’s famous map of London, printed in 1746 (pictured on page 5), the Russell family’s Bloomsbury estate, to which Gordon Square Garden belongs, was still fields.

The 5th Duke of Bedford, Francis Russell, began a major building programme in 1776.

A basic grid of streets was established through the estate, which was recorded in the estate plan of 1800. Some of the streets were later altered, as development continued under the 6th Duke, who succeeded in 1802.

Thomas Cubitt Thomas Cubitt was a large scale property developer, with extensive interests in the Bloomsbury estate. From 1820 to 1835, his firm built many of the houses and enclosed and planted the gardens of Euston, Tavistock, Torrington and Gordon Squares. The latter was named after Lady Georgina Gordon, second wife of the 6th Duke of Bedford.

19th-century formal layout The 6th Duke was interested in architecture and landscape gardening, studying and often modifying the building plans for his estate. He personally designed and supervised the planting of Gordon Square Garden, including the original layout of shrubs and trees.

A Bloomsbury estate plan from 1833 shows a proposed plan for the garden, with a wide border and perimeter path and a circular central path around a shrubbery, linked to the perimeter by six curving paths, with shrubberies around the edge and in groups in the enclosures made by paths.

Despite the ideas proposed in 1833, the St Pancras Parish plan of 1834 shows a very different, formal layout of Gordon Square Garden, with a perimeter path and cruciform paths dividing the central space into four equal sized areas, with a circular path at the centre. Four entrances are positioned at the midpoint of each side. In a detailed Bedford estate plan of 1866, information about the planting is apparent. Trees, possibly pollarded limes, are set at close spacings around the inner edge of the perimeter path and double rows border the cruciform path. The square’s border is densely planted, as is the central circular bed. Four beds are positioned in each of the lawns. The south-east bed is oval in shape and distinguished by a path to the centre and a built feature. Seats are informally positioned on the lawn or beside the paths.

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Informal layout during the Edwardian era By 1894 the layout of the garden had dramatically changed to a more informal style.

A curving path layout had been superimposed on the square, with removal of the cruciform paths and lime tree avenue. The eastern and north-east sections of the perimeter path were retained, as were the four entrances. Planting of trees and shrub beds became more irregular, particularly along the western side, with many small beds set within the lawn areas. A park keeper’s hut was erected in the south-east corner, constructed of brick with a pitched tiled roof.

The Bloomsbury Set During the Edwardian era, Bloomsbury was considered a ‘slightly Bohemian’ residential neighbourhood. This was the period that the Bloomsbury Set (or Bloomsbury Group) formed and many of its best known members lived at 46 Gordon Square, or in adjacent houses. They included the novelist Virginia Woolf (who lived here from 1904–07), her sister, the artist Vanessa Bell, their brothers Thoby and Adrian Stephen, the economic theorist John Maynard Keynes, critic and biographer Lytton Strachey and others.

The World Wars While the First World War did not appear to affect the square, the Second World War had more direct consequences. The railings which had enclosed the square were removed, so that the iron could be reused. This allowed direct public access from all sides. Some years later, a chain link fence was erected and presumably the public were again excluded, as it was not until 1974 that a formal agreement for access was organised between the London Borough of Camden and the Gordon Square Garden Committee.

During the Second World War several houses surrounding the square were bombed.

Many of these sites were acquired by the University of London, allowing expansion of teaching facilities and residential accommodation. Gordon Square Garden was purchased by the University on 8th May 1951 from the Bedford estate.

Gordon Square

Royal reopening Following an extensive restoration project, which included renewing all railings, re-establishing the original path layout, and incorporating a kiosk in the former keeper’s hut, the garden was formally reopened by the Chancellor of the University of London, HRH The Princess Royal, in 2007. Today, Gordon Square Garden has a distinctly rural feel in contrast to more formal gardens in the Bloomsbury area.

Encouraging biodiversity The largest of the University gardens, Gordon Square Garden has in recent years been developed to encourage wildlife and a recent survey identified more than100 species of plants in the wild areas. The UCL Conservation Group has been undertaking fortnightly surveys of the birds present in the garden. Thus far over 40 species have been recorded using and visiting the park, including colourful goldcrests, redwings, long-tailed tits, and even kestrels, which have been known to nest close by.

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Leading Women

Summaries of the talks Dr Philip Carter From gloom to bloom: Virginia Woolf in Gordon Square In 1904 the young Virginia Woolf (then Virginia Stephen) moved to No. 46 Gordon Square, Bloomsbury. The move alarmed many of Virginia’s stuffier relatives. Bloomsbury was then an unfashionable part of London, and much seedier than Kensington where Virginia had grown up.

But Gordon Square freed Virginia from the gloom of her Victorian childhood. At No. 46 she helped create the ‘Bloomsbury Circle’ – famous for its creativity, daring and unconventionality. This talk locates Virginia Woolf in Gordon Square – the first of her Bloomsbury homes – as she entered adulthood and began life as a writer.

Dr Philip Carter teaches history at the Institute of Historical Research, School of Advanced Study, University of London.

Dr Elizabeth Dearnley Celebrating the 150th anniversary of women being first admitted to higher education in Britain In 1868, nine women were admitted to the University of London to enrol for a 'special examination' course. This was the first time in Britain that women had gained access to university education and, though it was to be over 10 years before they were admitted on equal terms with men to read for the same degree programmes, this modest event was an immensely significant moment for the University, for women and for society as a whole.

Leading Women tent: During the Open Garden Squares Weekend, University of London academics will honour some of the Leading Women featured in the campaign with specially created talks.

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Code-breakers, secret agents and gardens: Mavis Batey and Noor Inayat Khan A brilliant UCL student recruited by Bletchley Park during the Second World War, Mavis Batey played a pivotal role in breaking the Italian and German Enigma machines. In the 1960s, her code-breaking skills were used for a different purpose: understanding the language of historic gardens.

British-Indian secret agent Noor Inayat Khan was the first woman wireless operator to be infiltrated into occupied France in 1943. In 2012, a bust in her honour was unveiled near her childhood home in Gordon Square – the first statue of an Asian woman in the UK. This talk introduces these two remarkable women and their connections with Bloomsbury, and explores the role that gardens played in both their lives.

Dr Elizabeth Dearnley teaches within the School of European Languages, Culture and Society at UCL.

Explore more Leading Women london.ac.uk Open Garden Squares Weekend 2018 7

Pop-up theatre: The Memoir Club

Bloomsbury Group members in the garden in July 1915.

Left to right: Lady Ottoline Morrell, Mrs Aldous Huxley, Lytton Strachey, Duncan Grant, and Vanessa Bell.

If Virginia Woolf, Lytton Strachey, ballet dancer Lydia Lopokova and various other members of the Bloomsbury Group all met in Gordon Square one June afternoon, what would happen next?

The Goodenough Theatre Company invite you to join an immersive, improvised garden party, based on scenes from Anjali Bhat’s upcoming play The Memoir Club, a promenade theatre show which will be staged at this year’s Bloomsbury Festival. Overhear secret conversations, stop and talk with actors in character, and uncover some surprising stories about Virginia Woolf and her circle.

Performers from the Goodenough Theatre Company will be in character in Gordon Square Garden on Saturday 9 June and Sunday 10 June, 12:00–16:00.

Rights for Women: London’s Pioneers in their Own Words A free exhibition and events season exploring over 50 of London’s female pioneers who broke barriers to drive change and establish rights for women.

Focusing on women from the late 18th century onwards, it features diverse, unique and, in some cases, forgotten stories of pioneering women in the spheres of politics, employment, education and reproductive rights.

Their stories are told through the rare and precious books, letters, objects and photos held at Senate House Library, providing a platform to ensure a lasting legacy for these women’s words and inspiration for future generations. #RfW18 #RememberHer www.senatehouselibrary.ac.uk Open Monday–Saturday

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Garden and Landscape History at the University of London

University of London alumni Keep in touch!

When you graduate from the University of London, you join a global community of alumni. There are many ways you can keep in touch with us, build your network and connect with friends, old and new.

Update your contact details at www.alumni.london.ac.uk/ keep-in-touch to ensure that you don’t miss out on news, updates and event invitations from the University. www.london.ac.uk/alumni development@london.ac.uk

Learn about garden-making over time and in different countries in this unique master’s programme that brings together history, horticulture, architecture, and archaeology. The programme emphasises design, management, ownership, and the cultural contexts of gardens and landscapes.

• One-year programme • Full time or part time flexibility • Funding available • Support for mature and returning students • Widely respected University of London Master of Arts (MA) degree For more information please visit sas.ac.uk/study/gardenhistory or call 020 7862 8846.

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