Bloomsbury, London

Bloomsbury is an area of central London, in the London Borough of Camden, named after a Norman landowner William de Blemund (Blemondisben) who acquired the land in 1201. The land in question remained largely rural/agricultural until the early 1660s when the then Earl of Southampton constructed what was eventually to become Bloomsbury Square.

Related Topics:
London - London Borough of Camden - William de Blemund - 1201

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The area was laid out mainly in the 18th century, largely by landowners like the Wriothesley Russell, 3rd Duke of Bedford who built Bloomsbury Market which opened in March 1730.

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The area contains some of London's finest parks and buildings, and is particularly known for its formal squares. These include the large and orderly Russell Square, with its gardens originally designed by Humphry Repton, the smaller unusual round Bedford Square (built between 1775 and 1783), Bloomsbury Square, dominated by the grand Victoria House, Queen Square, home to many hospitals, Gordon Square, Woburn Square and Torrington Square, which are home to parts of University College London. Tavistock Square, home to the British Medical Association, was the site of one of the 7 July 2005 London bombings.

Related Topics:
Russell Square - Humphry Repton - Bedford Square - 1775 - 1783 - Bloomsbury Square - Queen Square - Gordon Square - Woburn Square - University College London - Tavistock Square - British Medical Association - 7 July 2005 London bombings

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Historically Bloomsbury is associated with the arts, education and medicine. It is home to Senate House, the library of the University of London, University College London, SOAS, Slade School of Fine Art, Birkbeck, University of London, and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. The British Museum, which first opened to the public on January 15, 1759 in Montagu House, is at the heart of Bloomsbury. At the centre of the museum around the former British Library Reading Room where Karl Marx was a reader, the space formerly filled with the concrete storage bunkers of the British Library is today the Great Court, an indoor square with an amazing glass roof designed by British architect Norman Foster. It houses displays, cinema, a shop, cafe and restaurant. The British Library now has a new purpose-built home on the north edge of Bloomsbury, just across Euston Road.

Related Topics:
Senate House - University of London - University College London - SOAS - Slade School of Fine Art - Birkbeck, University of London - Royal Academy of Dramatic Art - British Museum - Montagu House - British Library - Karl Marx - Norman Foster - Euston Road

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One of London?s most famous hospitals, Great Ormond Street Hospital for children, is located just off Queen Square, which is home to National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery and the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital. Bloomsbury is also the location of University College Hospital, which re-opened in 2005 in new buildings on Euston Road, built under the government?s public private partnership (PPP). The Eastman Dental Hospital is located on Gray?s Inn Road close to the Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital administered by the Royal Free Hospital.

Related Topics:
Great Ormond Street Hospital - Queen Square - National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery - Royal London Homeopathic Hospital - University College Hospital - Eastman Dental Hospital - Royal National Throat, Nose and Ear Hospital - Royal Free Hospital

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Nearby areas include Somers Town and King's Cross to the north, Fitzrovia to the west, Clerkenwell to the east, Covent Garden and Holborn to the south and Soho to the southeast.

Related Topics:
Somers Town - King's Cross - Fitzrovia - Clerkenwell - Covent Garden - Holborn - Soho

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Bloomsbury, as an area, is best explored on foot. Its numerous squares, alleyways and Georgian terraces are all waiting to be discovered. You should not miss St Georges Bloomsbury built by Nicholas Hawksmoor between 1716 and 1731, with its steeple based on the Tomb of Mausolus at Halicarnassus and topped with a statue of George II. Literary fans will want to visit Dickens House in Doughty Street. One of London?s most surprising museums is the Foundling Museum close to Brunswick Square; it tells the story of the Foundling Hospital opened by Thomas Coram, for unwanted children (foundlings) in Georgian London. The hospital, now demolished but for the Georgian colonnade, is now a playground and outdoor sports field for children, called Coram?s Fields; adults are only admitted with a child. It is also home to a small number of sheep, which are quite a surprise when wandering in central London. The nearby Lamb?s Conduit Street is a pleasant thoroughfare with independent shops, cafes and restaurants.

Related Topics:
St Georges Bloomsbury - Nicholas Hawksmoor - Tomb of Mausolus - Halicarnassus - George II - Dickens House - Foundling Museum - Brunswick Square - Thomas Coram

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In Lincoln?s Inn Fields, the largest square in London, is the Sir John Soane's House museum. Soane was, amongst other things, the architect of the Bank of England, and a free thinker and collector. His house is filled with paintings by artists such as William Hogarth (A Rake's Progress), Canaletto, Turner, Sir Thomas Lawrence and Sir Joshua Reynolds, as well as many Egyptian, classical, medieval, and Renaissance antiquities.

Related Topics:
Lincoln?s Inn - Sir John Soane's House - Bank of England - William Hogarth - A Rake's Progress - Canaletto - Turner - Thomas Lawrence - Joshua Reynolds

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The area gives its name to the Bloomsbury Group (also Bloomsbury Set) of artists, the most famous of whom was Virginia Woolf, who met in private homes in the area in the early 1900s, and to the lesser known Bloomsbury Gang of Whigs formed in 1765 by John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford.

Related Topics:
Bloomsbury Group - 1900s - Bloomsbury Gang - Whig - John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford

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For those visiting, Bloomsbury is served by numerous tube stations: Euston, Euston Square, Goodge Street, Warren Street, Tottenham Court Road, Russell Square and King's Cross St. Pancras. The mainline rail stations Euston, King's Cross and St. Pancras are all located on the northern edge of Bloomsbury. It is also home to the disused British Museum tube station.

Related Topics:
Tube stations - Euston - Euston Square - Goodge Street - Warren Street - Tottenham Court Road - Russell Square - King's Cross St. Pancras - King's Cross - St. Pancras - British Museum tube station

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