Cavendish Square - Westminster, London, UK
N 51° 30.969 W 000° 08.721
30U E 698060 N 5711088
Cavendish Square is located to the north of Oxford Street and west of Regent Street in London's busy west end. The garden area is at the centre of the square and is circular in shape. There is a car park beneath it.
Waymark Code: WMJDAD
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 11/03/2013
Views: 5
The co-ordinates given are for the south west entrance to the garden area
with other entrances, around the square being available.
The gardens open to the public at 8am on weekdays and at 9am on Sundays and
public holidays. The gardens close at differing times depending on the time of
year. They can close as early as 4.30pm and as late as 9.30pm.
The
Westminster City Council website tells us:
Cavendish Square Garden is a formal London Square,
laid out on a circular plan enclosed with a perimeter hedge, containing a
central plinth. Informal clusters of mature trees provide partial shade and
shelter in summer with ornamental garden lawns, shrubs and flower beds.
It is located in the north west corner of Oxford Circus and is directly
across Oxford Street from Hanover Square.
Cavendish Square can be considered one of the West End’s green oases
providing an easily accessible contrast to the hectic hustle and bustle of
nearby Oxford Street.
First developed in 1717, Cavendish Square became popularised by references
to it in books by Charles Dickens, including Nicholas Nickleby, Little
Dorrit and Barnaby Rudge.
The garden now includes a low circular grass mound which creates a key
feature in its own right and during the summer months is popular with
sunbathers.
There is also an underground car park situated directly under the Square.
Notice boards with the gardens tell us about the area and the gardens and for
the latter they advise:
In the early days the Square was provided with a
central plot of green turf upon which sheep were allowed to graze. Later,
the green area was replaced by a garden designed by Charles Bridgeman, the
famous landscape gardener, a contemporary of Capability Brown and Humphrey
Repton. The statue of the Duke of Cumberland, second son of George II shown
on a prancing charger, was erected in 1770 and removed in 1868. Today, only
the stone base complete with its inscription remains. The statue of Lord
George Bentinck (1802-48), descendant of Lord Harley, devotee of the Turf,
and politician, is by Thomas Campbell, 1851.
The present layout of the garden dates from 1971 when the underground car
park was built under Cavendish Aquare by Westminster City Council. The
principal species of tree found in Cavendish Square is the London Plane (platanus
x hispanica), a tree introduced into England in 1680 and widely planted in
Victorian London as it thrived in a polluted atmosphere. Cavendish Square
and the surrounding estate belongs today to the Howard de Walden family,
descendants of Lord Harley. The gardens are managed and maintained by
Westminster City Council.