Hugh Lupus Grosvenor, Marquis of Westminster (1825-1899) (later 1st Duke of Westminster. from Vanity Fair 1870
Over the past few months we’ve examined the story of the London square, and the last post revealed the beginning of both a slow decline in status and tentative attempts to open them to the public. Today’s post is going to look at these attempts and show how, gradually through the second half of the 19thc, the squares became part of the movement to increase the amount of publicly accessible green space in the capital.
It was achieved by a mix of charitable institutions, religious and secular bodies petitioning the owners and trustees of private squares, especially those whose gardens were unkempt or under-utilised to allow limited access to them. But these reformers could not achieve their aims alone. They had considerable help from a public-spirited Duke who also happened to be the wealthiest man in Britain.
Once the momentum developed, legislation followed that allowed local authorities to acquire other important open spaces such as commons, burial grounds as well as squares for recreational use.
