| St George's Circus | |
|---|---|
 Obelisk at St George's Circus, 2021 | |
 Interactive map of St George's Circus | |
| Location | |
| London,United Kingdom | |
| Coordinates | 51°29′55″N0°06′18″W / 51.49861°N 0.10500°W /51.49861; -0.10500 |
| Roads at junction | Blackfriars Road,Borough Road,London Road,Lambeth Road,Westminster Bridge Road andWaterloo Road |
| Construction | |
| Type | Intersection |
| Opened | 1771 |
St George's Circus is a road junction inSouthwark, London, England. At its centre, which is now a trafficroundabout, is an historicobelisk, designed byRobert Mylne (1733–1811), in his role as surveyor and architect ofBlackfriars Bridge.[1]
St George's Circus was built in1771 to mark the completion of the new roads throughSt George's Fields in the parish ofSouthwark St George the Martyr during the tenure ofBrass Crosby asLord Mayor of the City of London. It was the first purpose-built traffic junction in London, and initially featured an obelisk with four oil lamps affixed to it.[2] The obelisk was removed in 1897 for a clocktower, to commemorateQueen Victoria's diamond jubilee. In 1905, it was relocated to what is now theGeraldine Mary Harmsworth Park, in front of theImperial War Museum.[3] The clocktower was demolished as a "nuisance to traffic" in the 1930s, but the obelisk did not return to its original location until 1998, by then without the oil lamps. At the base of the obelisk is the inscriptionErected in XI year of the reign ofKing George MDCCLXXI, with the inscriptions on the other three sides reflecting the obelisk's distances fromPalace Yard (one mile),London Bridge (one mile 40 feet) andFleet Street (one mile 350 feet). The obelisk has beenGrade II listed since 1950, when it was in its previous location.[4]
The landscaping introduced in the centre of the circus when the obelisk returned incorporated a semi circle of soil in which two Cabbage Palms were planted. This was then neglected and fell into long term decay until in 2005guerrilla gardeners took over the land. They subsequently replanted it with lavender, rosemary, tulips, campanula, azalea and even a 7' Christmas tree, but is no longer planted.
The circus and obelisk provided a formal termination ofBlackfriars Road, a mile long boulevard from the recently constructedBlackfriars Bridge. At the circus, Blackfriars Road intersected with new and existing highways toLambeth,Newington,Westminster Bridge and The Borough atSouthwark. In local parlance the area was known as the "obliss", it was a destination point for both trams and busses, so passengers, – if they so wished – could ask for a "tuppeny to the obliss please guv."[5]
TheSt. George's Fields (Surrey) Improvement Act 1812 (52 Geo. 3. c. ccxi) required that all new building around the circus should have concave fronts and should be consistent with a minimum diameter across the Circus of 240 ft.[6] It also specified that no houses "inferior to the 3rd building rate should be erected on the frontages of Borough Road and St. George’s Circus".
Following the construction ofWaterloo Bridge,Waterloo Road was also cut through to terminate nearby, but this was not part of the original formal layout. Following the growth of nearby industry, and the construction of a railway viaducts by theLondon, Chatham and Dover Railway in the 1860s bringing noise and smoke pollution, the area become less popular as a middle class residential suburb. The surrounding streets contain a number ofsocial housing estates constructed by theCity of London Corporation andPeabody Trust, dating from theVictorian era to the 1950s.
St George's Circus was the location of a tube station on the abortiveCity and Brixton Railway, which was authorised by theCity and Brixton Railway Act 1898 (61 & 62 Vict. c. lx) but which was never built.
The south side of the circus was originally occupied by theSchool for the Indigent Blind. This was reconstructed and enlarged in the 1830s, but subsequently moved out of London. The site is now occupied by a brick building of 1901 on the same scale as the adjacent terraces. This conceals the subsurface depot forLondon Underground'sBakerloo line.
In 1900 a replica of the obelisk was placed inBrookwood Cemetery to mark where human remains from the crypt ofSt George the Martyr Southwark were reburied in 1899. Located on St. George the Martyr Avenue in plot 81 in the South side of the cemetery, this replica has subsequently toppled due to the subsidence of the remains beneath it.
To the north western side is McLaren House, a hall of residence for students ofLondon South Bank University. The building was opened in 1996 and holds around 600 students. This ten-storey building replaced a derelict 1890s building that previously housed theRoyal Eye Hospital.
In 2013, the property developerBarratt London purchased existing office blocks on the north eastern side of the junction, announcing plans for up to 400 new homes to replace the existing office buildings.[7] The development was subsequently named Blackfriars Circus, reflecting its position on Blackfriars Road and St George's Circus.[8] The development, designed by architects Maccreanor Lavington received a multitude of awards, including theRIBA National Award and RIBA London Award for 2021.[9]
The area is now aconservation area, including a number ofGeorgian buildings that was part of the original development. Many of these had been allowed to deteriorate to a near-derelict state of repair, following their purchase by theLondon South Bank University for redevelopment plans that were subsequently abandoned, and were on the "buildings at risk" register. In 2007, facade repairs were completed to most of the buildings, although their long-term use remains unresolved. In 2013, the listed Victorian dwellings and the former Duke of Clarence public house on the southeast corner and down London Road[10] were restored by London South Bank University and is now a business centre dedicated to supporting the university's graduates in creating new businesses.[11]
From the north and clockwise, the following roads converge here: