Ovington Square

Ovington Square is a garden square in central London's Knightsbridge district. It lies between Brompton Road to the north-west (reached via Ovington Gardens) and Walton Street to the south-east.[1]

## History[edit]

Ovington Square (centre) within Knightsbridge

The freehold property on which the square is built was owned by Frederick, Baron von Zandt of Würzburg, Germany, and after his death was developed in 1844 by his widow, Elizabeth Standerwick, of Ovington House in Hampshire.[1] The houses surrounding the green were built from 1844 to 1850 by W.W. Pocock.[2]

The south side of the square, 1–35, and number 34 on the north side are grade II listed, as are 37–43 and 36–42 on the road into the square.[2][3][4][5][6]

The green itself was secured soon after development, protected under the 1851 Garden Square Act and maintained under the Kensington Improvement Act 1851. Responsibility for the garden passed to Trustees following a settlement made by Sir John Swinnerton Dyer in 1912.[7]

## Notable buildings and residents[edit]

* #10 was home to the London Buddhist Vihara from 1955 to 1964, when it moved to Heathfield Gardens, Chiswick.[8][9]
* The six-storey apartment building #22–26 was built in 1957, and the architect was Walter Segal.[10] Pevsner called it "a Morris Traveller parked among grander saloons".[10] In the 1990s, the Twentieth Century Society recommended it for listed building status, but this was rejected.[10]
* #10 Frederic Chapman (1823–1895), publisher, died at his home there[11]
* #17 Birthplace of Vera Bate Lombardi (1883–1948), socialite[12]
* #18 Sir Wilfrid Lawson, 2nd Baronet, of Brayton (1829–1906), temperance campaigner and radical politician died at his home there[13]
* #27 Headquarters of the Beatles' Apple Corps and Harrisongs companies[14]
* Arthur Grote (1814–1886), colonial administrator, died at his home there[15]
* Jane Wilde lived there from 1879, as did briefly her son, Oscar Wilde[16][17]

## References[edit]

1. ^ a b "Ovington Square". londonsquares.net. 12 March 2010. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
2. ^ a b England, Historic. "1–33, OVINGTON SQUARE SW3, Kensington and Chelsea – 1066550 – Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
3. ^ England, Historic. "34, OVINGTON SQUARE SW3, Kensington and Chelsea – 1066552 – Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
4. ^ England, Historic. "35, OVINGTON SQUARE SW3, Kensington and Chelsea – 1357158 – Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
5. ^ England, Historic. "36–42, OVINGTON SQUARE SW3, Kensington and Chelsea – 1357159 – Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
6. ^ England, Historic. "37–43, OVINGTON SQUARE SW3, Kensington and Chelsea – 1066551 – Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
7. ^ "About Ovington Square Garden". Ovington Garden. Trustees of Ovington Garden. Retrieved 13 January 2021.
8. ^ "London Buddhist Vihara". Archived from the original on 21 September 2018.
9. ^ "Buddhist missionary in the West after WW II". www.budsas.org. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
10. ^ a b c Peter Ruback. "1957: 22–26 Ovington Square, London — The Twentieth Century Society". c20society.org.uk. Archived from the original on 17 September 2018. Retrieved 17 September 2018.
11. ^ Leadam, Isaac Saunders. "Chapman Frederic". Retrieved 21 September 2018 - via Wikisource.
12. ^ Crisp, Frederick Arthur, ed. (1914). Visitation of England and Wales. Vol. 18\. Privately printed. p. 26.
13. ^ Sir Wilfrid Lawson (1910). Sir Wilfrid Lawson: A Memoir. Smith, Elder, & Company. pp. 263, 275. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
14. ^ "One for Beatles fans: rent next to The Fab Four's Knightsbridge HQ". homesandproperty.co.uk. 10 January 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
15. ^ "Volume 35". Journal of the Society of Arts. The Society of Arts. 1887. p. 86. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
16. ^ Franny Moyle (23 June 2011). Constance: The Tragic and Scandalous Life of Mrs Oscar Wilde. Hodder & Stoughton. p. 42\. ISBN 978-1-84854-461-1.
17. ^ Kerry Powell; Peter Raby (12 December 2013). Oscar Wilde in Context. Cambridge University Press. p. 51\. ISBN 978-1-107-01613-2.

## External links[edit]

Media related to Ovington Square at Wikimedia Commons

51°29′49″N 0°9′54″W﻿ / ﻿51.49694°N 0.16500°W﻿ / 51.49694; -0.16500