Soho Square
Soho Square is a square in Soho, London, England, with a park and garden area at its centre that dates back to 1681. It was originally called King Square after Charles II, whose statue stands in the square. At the centre of the garden, there is a distinctive half-timbered gardener's hut. During the summer, Soho Square hosts open-air free concerts.
Contents
History
Built in the late 1670s, Soho Square was in its early years one of the most fashionable places to live in London. It was originally called King's Square, for King Charles II. A statue of Charles II was carved by Danish sculptor Caius Gabriel Cibber in 1681 and placed at the centre of the Square. By the early 19th century, the statue was described as being 'in a most wretched mutilated state; and the inscriptions on the base of the pedestal quite illegible'.[1] In 1875, it was removed during alterations in the square by T. Blackwell, of Crosse and Blackwell, the condiment firm, who gave it for safekeeping to his friend, artist Frederick Goodall, with the intention that it might be restored.[1] Goodall placed the statue on an island in his lake at Grim's Dyke, where it remained when dramatist W. S. Gilbert purchased the property in 1890, and there it stayed after Gilbert's death in 1911. In her will, Lady Gilbert directed that the statue be returned, and it was restored to Soho Square in 1938.[2]
Between 1778 and 1801 the Square was home to the infamous White House brothel.[3]
In 1862 charity The House of St Barnabas moved around the corner from Rose Street to 1 Greek Street where it still resides today. [4]
Wilfrid Voynich had his antiquarian bookshop at no. 1 Soho Square from 1902. The publisher Rupert Hart-Davis was at no. 36 from about 1947.
Fauconberg House was on the north side of the square until its demolition in 1924.[5]
Two of the original houses, nos. 10 and 15, still stand. At nos. 8 and 9 is the French Protestant Church, built in 1891–3.
Number 22 was home to British Movietone[6] and Kay (West End) Film Laboratories,[7] having been re-built to its current form between 1913 and 1914.[8]
For almost forty years, beginning in 1955, Soho Square housed the official headquarters of world-renowned animator Richard Williams.
Present day
Soho Square is home to several media organisations, including the British Board of Film Classification, 20th Century Fox, Bare Escentuals, Deluxe Entertainment Services Group Inc., Dolby Europe Ltd, Fin London, Paul McCartney's MPL Communications, Tiger Aspect Productions, Wasserman Media Group and See Tickets. In the 1990s Sony Music had an office here. Their record label Sony Soho Square has since been renamed S2 Records.
The south-east corner of the square is home to The House of St Barnabas, a charity established in 1846 to help those in necessitous circumstances. The charity now runs a not-for-profit private members club and integrated Employment Academy, helping those who have been homeless back into lasting work.
The square is also home to St. Patrick's Church a large Roman Catholic parish church that features extensive catacombs that spread deep under the Square and further afield.
Streets running off the square, counted clockwise from the north, are Soho Street, Sutton Row, Greek Street, Batemans Buildings, Frith Street and Carlisle Street.
Cultural references
In the book A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, Soho Square is where Lucie and her father, Doctor Manette, reside. It is believed that their house is modelled on The House of St Barnabas which Dickens used to visit, and it is for this reason that the street running behind the House from Greek Street is called Manette Street (it was formerly Rose Street).
In the song "Why Can't The English?" from the musical My Fair Lady, Professor Henry Higgins laments, "Hear them down in Soho Square/Dropping H's everywhere."
In the novel Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, the eponymous Jonathan Strange and his wife Arabella maintain a home in Soho Square as their residence in London. [9]
The Soho Square garden contains a bench that commemorates the late singer Kirsty MacColl, who wrote the song "Soho Square" for her album Titanic Days. After her death in 2000, fans bought a memorial bench in her honour, inscribing the lyrics: "One day I'll be waiting there / No empty bench in Soho Square".[10]
Nearby places
- Tottenham Court Road tube station
- Oxford Street, to the North
- Charing Cross Road, to the East
- Greek Street, to the South
See also
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Soho Square Area: Portland Estate: Soho Square Garden" in Survey of London volumes 33 and 34 (1966) St Anne Soho, pp. 51–53. Date accessed: 12 January 2008.
- ↑ Photo of the statue Archived 30 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://hurtfew.wikispaces.com/Jonathan+Strange
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
