Queen Square, London

Statue of Queen Charlotte and Square

Queen Square is a square in the Bloomsbury district of the London Borough of Camden, England. Queen Square was originally constructed between 1716 and 1725. It was formed from the garden of the house of Sir John Cutler baronet (1608-1693) whose last surviving child, Lady Radnor, died in 1697 leaving no issue.

Name

The square was previously named Queen Anne's Square because a statue contained within it was misidentified as depicting Queen Anne. This statue is now believed to be a portrayal of Queen Charlotte, wife of King George III.

George III was treated for mental illness in a house in Queen Square towards the end of his reign. The public house on the southwest corner of the square, called 'the Queen’s Larder' was, according to legend, used by Queen Charlotte to store food for the King during his treatment.

Buildings

Queen Square, Bloomsbury in 1787. The fields to the north reach as far as Hampstead

Many of the buildings surrounding the square are devoted to providing, researching and administering health care. Two hospitals, the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery (NHNN), often referred to synechdochally as 'Queen Square', and the Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine (formerly the Royal London Homoeopathic Hospital), make up the east side of the square. The Institute of Neurology, part of University College London (UCL), is located in the north east corner of the square. The former Institute for Public Health takes up much of the north side - the building is now used as the administrative centre for the NHNN and Institute of Neurology.

Several buildings on the west side of the square are devoted to medical research and are part of the Institute of Neurology and other departments of UCL. These include Alexandra House at 17 Queen Square which houses the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and the Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit. The Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging (commonly referred to as the Functional Imaging Laboratory (FIL)) are located at 12 Queen Square. 8-11 Queen Square (Sir Charles Symmonds House) houses the Dementia Research Centre on the first floor and the Centre for Neuromuscular Diseases on the ground floor.

At the southern end of the square is the church of St George the Martyr, the Mary Ward Centre and the former Italian Hospital, now part of Great Ormond Street Hospital (whose main buildings are in Great Ormond Street, off Queen Square).

References

• Richard Tames. Bloomsbury Past (Historic Publications LTD, ISBN 0-948667-20-6
• Godfrey Heathcote Hamilton. Queen Square (Leonard Parsons, Edition 1926)

External links

• Queen Square Archive, an extensive archive of historical documents relating to the neurology institutions in Queen Square
• Map

See also

• List of demolished buildings and structures in London