The Square

Origins and Construction

Fitzroy Square is a Georgian square situated at the heart of Fitzrovia in central London . The land on which the square sits belonged to the Fitzroy family, descendants of Charles II’s illegitimate son. An Act of Parliament in 1768 enabled development, and Charles Fitzroy, 1st Baron Southampton, began laying out the square around 1790.

Construction proceeded in four distinct phases. The east side (1794–1798) was designed by Robert Adam — his last major commission before his death in 1792 — and completed by his brothers James and William Adam. Eleven houses with unified palace-front façades were built using exquisite Portland stone shipped from Dorset.

The south side (1794–1798) followed the same Adam design. Then came a 30-year gap caused by the Napoleonic Wars and a property slump. Charles FitzRoy died in 1797 with only half his vision realised. The north side (1827–1828) and west side (1832–1835) finally completed the square, though in cheaper stucco rather than Portland stone.

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Heritage Designations

The east and south terraces are Grade I listed — on the National Heritage List for England since 1954. The north and west terraces hold Grade II* listed status. The square sits at the heart of the Fitzrovia Conservation Area and is designated a Private Open Space under the London Squares Preservation Act 1931.

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Notable Residents

Victorian Era (1837–1901)

Ford Madox Brown · No. 37 · 1865–1872
Pre-Raphaelite painter, mentor to William Morris and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. His studio here became a hub for the movement.

George Bernard Shaw · No. 29 · 1887–1898
Irish playwright, critic and Nobel laureate. Shaw’s mother lived here; he used the address as he established himself as a writer and political speaker.

Lord Salisbury · No. 21 · c. 1860s
Robert Gascoyne-Cecil, 3rd Marquess of Salisbury and three-times Prime Minister, lived on the square during his early political career.

Edwardian & Bloomsbury (1901–1920)

Virginia Woolf · No. 29 · 1907–1911
Modernist novelist and essayist. Woolf moved here with her siblings after their father’s death; the house became a gathering place for the early Bloomsbury Group.

Roger Fry · No. 33 · 1913
Art critic and painter who opened the Omega Workshops at this address — an avant-garde design collective producing furniture, textiles and ceramics.

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Historical Timeline

• 1768 — Act of Parliament enables development of the FitzRoy family land in the parish of St Pancras.
• 1790 — The central garden begins as a circular railed enclosure for residents.
• 1794 — Construction of the grand East and South facades in Portland stone under Robert Adam’s final commission.
• 1797 — The 1st Baron Southampton dies with only the east and south sides complete, halting construction.
• 1827 — Construction of the North terrace begins after a 30-year hiatus caused by the Napoleonic Wars and economic depression.
• 1835 — The West side is finally finished, completing the square in stucco rather than Portland stone.
• 1865 — Pre-Raphaelite painter Ford Madox Brown moves to No. 37, making the square a centre of Victorian artistic life.
• 1887 — Shaw and his mother settle at No. 29 as he pursues his writing and socialist politics.
• 1907 — Virginia and her siblings move to No. 29, beginning the square’s association with the Bloomsbury Group.
• 1913 — Roger Fry opens his avant-garde design venture at No. 33, pioneering Post-Impressionist design in Britain.
• 1931 — Fitzroy Square Garden is protected as a Private Open Space under the London Squares Preservation Act.
• 1940 — The central section of the South terrace (Nos. 36–38) is destroyed by bombing; later rebuilt.
• 1977 — The fibreglass sculpture ‘View’ by Naomi Blake is installed in the garden to mark the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

History & Architecture