Tavistock Square

Tavistock Square, looking North. BMA building on the right.

Tavistock Square is a public square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden.

Public art [edit]

The centre-piece of the gardens is a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, sculpted by Fredda Brilliant, which was installed in 1968.

There is also a memorial to conscientious objectors (unveiled in 1995), busts of Virginia Woolf and Dame Louisa Aldrich-Blake as well as a cherry tree planted in 1967 in memory of the victims of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima.

A view looking towards Tavistock Square.

History [edit]

The square is part of an estate owned by the Dukes of Bedford, and takes its name from the courtesy title given to the eldest sons of the Dukes of Bedford, Marquess of Tavistock. It was developed in the 1820s by the builder Thomas Cubitt.

Buildings [edit]

The following buildings are on Tavistock Square:

BMA House, the headquarters of the British Medical Association (BMA), the professional association of doctors in the United Kingdom. BMA House was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and is a grade II listed building. [1]
Woburn house, the headquarters of Universities UK, the conference of university rectors
the Tavistock Hotel, a branch of Imperial Hotels.[2]
Connaught Hall, a University of London hall of residence, which houses 215 students, and is a grade II listed building.
Institute for the Study of the Americas, part of the University of London's School of Advanced Study
School of Public Policy of University College London.
London office of Churches Together in England
Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan, United Kingdom office
Development Planning Unit, University College of London

On the BMA building is a blue plaque commemorating that Charles Dickens once lived in Tavistock House on the site.

London bombings [edit]

Tavistock Square was the scene of one of the four suicide bombings on 7 July 2005. The bomb was detonated by 18-year-old terrorist Hasib Hussain on a double-decker bus bearing number 30 opposite the BMA building. The explosion killed 13 commuters, plus Hussain himself.

On the occasion of the first anniversary in 2006, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport announced that the square would be the site of the permanent national memorial. A memorial garden is to be laid out in part of the existing garden and the BMA has commissioned a commemorative sundial.