Fitzroy Square is aGeorgiansquare inLondon, England. It is the only one in thecentral London area known asFitzrovia.The square is one of the area's main features, this once led to the surrounding district to be known as Fitzroy Square or Fitzroy Town^[1] and latterly as Fitzrovia, though the nearbyFitzroy Tavern is thought to have had as much influence on the name as Fitzroy Square.

The square, nearby Fitzroy Street, and the Fitzroy Tavern inCharlotte Street have the family name ofCharles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton, into whose ownership the land passed through his marriage.^[2] His descendantCharles FitzRoy, 1st Baron Southampton developed the area during the late 18th and early 19th century.

Fitzroy Square was a speculative development intended to provide London residences for aristocratic families, and was built in four stages. Leases for the eastern and southern sides, designed byRobert Adam, were granted in 1792; building began in 1794^[3] and was completed in 1798 by Adam's brothersJames and William. These buildings are fronted inPortland stone brought by sea fromDorset.

TheNapoleonic Wars and a slump in the London property market brought a temporary stop to construction of the square after the south and east sides were completed. According to the records of the Squares Frontagers' Committee, 1815 residents looked out on "vacant ground, the resort of the idle and profligate". Another contemporary account describes the incomplete square:

The houses are faced with stone, and have a greater proportion of architectural excellence and embellishment than most others in the metropolis. They were designed by the Adams, but the progress of the late war prevented the completion of the design. It is much to be regretted, that it remains in its present unfinished state.^[4]

The northern and western sides were subsequently constructed in 1827–29 and 1832–35 respectively, and arestucco-fronted.^[3]

The south side suffered bomb damage duringWorld War II and was rebuilt with traditionalfacades to remain in keeping with the rest of the square.

The square was largely pedestrianised in the 1970s, as part of a scheme designed by SirGeoffrey Jellicoe and undertaken as part of environmental improvement works.^[5][6] In 2008 the square was upgraded by relaying most of the surface at a single level, removing street clutter such as bollards, and further restricting vehicular access.^[7]

The square is at the heart of theFitzroviaconservation area and is the subject of the Fitzroy Square conservation area appraisal and management strategy adopted by theLondon Borough of Camden in March 2010.^[8]

The square has a number of notable buildings, many with distinguished connections marked byblue plaques.

Numbers 1, 1A, 2–8 and 33–40 are grade Ilisted buildings.

• No. 6 holds the office and library ofThe Georgian Group.
• No. 7 was the home ofSir Charles Eastlake, first director of theNational Gallery.
• No. 8 was the home of the painterJames McNeill Whistler.
• No. 9 was the home of chemistAugust Wilhelm von Hofmann (1818–1892).
• No. 11 for varying lengths of time housed the offices of publishersCresset Press, Merlin Press, andAllison and Busby in the latter 1960s.^[9] Later it was the home of novelistIan McEwan.
• Nos. 13–14 were home toSt Luke's Hospital for the Clergy (1904–2009).
• Nos. 16-18 were formerly the headquarters of the charityScope.
• No. 19 belonged to the architectJames Lockyer who died in the house in 1875.^[10] It was then the base for the "International School" run byLouise Michel in the 1890s.^[11] Later it was the home ofBloomsbury Group artistDuncan Grant (c. 1909).^[12]
• No. 20 is the headquarters of theRugby League International Federation.
• No. 21 was the home of English statesman andPrime MinisterLord Salisbury. It is now occupied by theHigh Commission of Mozambique.
• No. 23 is theEmbassy of Liberia.
• No. 25 was the site of a police raid in 1927 on the basement flat, rented by the gay dancer Bobby Britt, who was convicted of keeping a disorderly house and sentenced to 15 months' hard labour.
• No. 27 was the home of theatre critic and occasional Shaw collaboratorWilliam Archer.^[13]
• No. 28 was the headquarters of theMagistrates' Association until 2017.
• No. 29 was the home ofGeorge Bernard Shaw from 1887 until his marriage in 1898; and later ofVirginia Woolf from 1907 to 1911.
• No. 33 housedRoger Fry'sOmega Workshop, creating avant-garde furniture from 1913 to 1919.^[14]
• No. 34–35, owned byGuy Ritchie, was controversially squatted as theLondon Free School in 2011.
• No. 37 was the home of the artist SirWilliam Quiller Orchardson from 1862, an address he shared for three years withJohn Pettie. Later it was the home of the artistFord Madox Brown and childhood home of his grandson, the writerFord Madox Ford.

In addition to those above:

• GeneralFrancisco de Miranda lived at nearby 58Grafton Way (1802–10). On the corner of 40 Fitzroy Square is a statue of him, a copy of a work by the Venezuelan sculptorRafael de la Cova.^[15][16]
• EpidemiologistWilliam Farr (1807–1883) established his first medical practice in Fitzroy Square.
• William Nisbet (1759–1822), Scottish physician and medical writer, practised in Fitzroy Square after 1801.
• Spandau Ballet'sGary Kemp lives there.^[17]
• The thriller writerReg Gadney lived there with his restaurant critic wifeFay Maschler.
• Until recently the clothing designerLinda Bennett owned a Grade I listed house in the Square.
• The Welsh comedian, writer and television personalityGriff Rhys Jones is a resident.
• Chad Gould, English-Filipino footballer, lives there.

The square is described inWilliam Makepeace Thackeray'sVanity Fair as the "Anglo-Indian district", where many retired officials of the civil service in India resided.

It was a filming location for the BBC's2009 adaptation ofJane Austen's novelEmma.^[18]

C. R. W. Nevinson painted a view of Fitzroy Square from the window of society hostessMrs Aria, evidently looking east from theConway Street corner of the square.^[19][20]

On the south-west side of the square's central gardens is a fibreglass sculpture created byNaomi Blake to commemorateQueen Elizabeth II’sSilver Jubilee in 1977.

Until April 2011, No. 11 was the long-term home of authorIan McEwan, who set much of his 2005 novelSaturday, and the home of its leading character, brain surgeon Henry Perowne, in the square.^[21]

NovelistJacqueline Winspear gives her 1920s detectiveMaisie Dobbs an office in Fitzroy Square.^[22]

TheTARDIS stands in Fitzroy Square for the duration of the 1966Doctor Who seriesThe War Machines.^{[citation needed]}

TheMonty Python team had an office at No. 20 between 1973 and 1974.^[23]

The 2017 filmPhantom Thread was set and filmed primarily in a home on Fitzroy Square.^[24]

In March 2023, scenes of the filmBack to Black were filmed in Fitzroy Square.^{[citation needed]}

• List of eponymous roads in London
• Squares in London

• A 360 degree view from Urban75Fitzroy Square, Fitzrovia, London 360º panorama

Wikimedia Commons has media related toFitzroy Square.

51°31′22.61″N00°08′24.37″W / 51.5229472°N 0.1401028°W /51.5229472; -0.1401028

• Squares in the London Borough of Camden
• Grade I listed buildings in the London Borough of Camden
• Grade I listed houses in London
• Fitzrovia
• Garden squares in London
• Communal gardens
• Bloomsbury Group locations

• All articles with dead YouTube links
• Articles with dead YouTube links from February 2022
• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from April 2022
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from August 2018
• Articles with unsourced statements from July 2024
• Commons category link from Wikidata
• Coordinates on Wikidata