Cavendish Square

Cavendish Square was planned in 1717 as the centrepiece of the new Marylebone estate of Edward Harley, Earl of Oxford and Mortimer. The square is named after Lady Henrietta Cavendish Holies, his wife, through whom he succeeded to the manor of Marylebone when they married in 1713. Lord Harley was following the successful Hanover Square development of 1714 which in turn had imitated the pattern of private estate development in St James's Square and Bloomsbury in the 17th century. A plan showing the layout of Cavendish Square and the surrounding streets was published by the architect John Price in 1719 but because of economic recession and wars, the square itself was not completed for 50 years and then only in a form rather different from that originally planned.

There were further problems early on, on the north side, where the immensely wealthy duke of Chandos had originally wanted to build "the greatest town house in Europe". An engraving survives showing the design by John Price for this sumptuous mansion, but it was never built, being a victim of the South Sea Bubble in 1720. The Duke was able to build two existing Palladian houses which were built by George Tufnell.

The bridge over Dean's Mews which links the houses, was designed after the war for the convent of the Holy Child Jesus by Louis Osman. Jacob Epstein's sculpture of the Madonna and Child was commissioned at this time and placed here in 1953.

Until 1906 the largest house in the square was Harcourt House which occupied most of the west side. It was replaced by the block of apartments of the same name. Since the bomb damage of the last war and subsequent rebuilding, the south side of the square has become more closely linked to Oxford Street. Originally it too consisted of large private houses similar to those on the east side which attracted the wealthy and fashionable.

Blue plaques record some of the many famous and interesting people who lived in the square. Among others who should be mentioned are Princess Amelia, the mildly eccentric daughter of George II who lived at no. 16, the corner house, (1761-80); and a succession of artists including Frances Gotes (1769-70) George Romney (1776-97) and Sir Martin Archer Shee (1799-1850) at no. 32, now demolished. Here Romney painted many of his portraits of Emma Haile (who became Lady Hamilton). The 5th Duke of Portland lived at Portland Harcourt House and was a wealthy bachelor whose concern for security caused him to erect glass screens rising 80 feet above the ground, running for 200 feet in length on either side of the back garden. Lord Asquith, who is better known as Mr Asquith, lived on the west side of Cavendish Square at no. 20 from 1894, and owned the house until 1919, although in his later years he lived at Downing Street as Prime Minister.

In the early days the Square was provided with a central plot of green turf upon which sheep were allowed to graze. Later, the green area was replaced by a garden designed by Charles Bridgeman, the famous landscaping gardener, a contemporary of Capability Brown and Humphrey Repton. The statue of the Duke of Cumberland, second son of George II shown on a prancing charger, was erected in 1770 and removed in 1868. Today, only the stone base complete with its inscription remains. The statue of Lord George Bentinck (1802-48), descendant of Lord Harley, devotee of the Turf, and politician, is by Thomas Campbell, 1851.

The present layout of the garden dates from 1971 when the underground car park was built under Cavendish Square by Westminster City Council, The principal species of tree found in Cavendish Square is the London Plane (Platanus x hispanica), a tree introduced into England in 1680 and widely planted in Victorian London as it thrived in a polluted atmosphere. Cavendish Square and the surrounding estate belongs today to the Howard de Walden family, descendants of Lord Harley. The gardens are managed and maintained by Westminster City Council.