Bloomsbury Doors

Sherry Felix

Bloomsbury Doors are for Norm’s Thursday Doors, April 14.

Bloomsbury is an area of the London Borough of Camden, in central London, between Euston Road and Holborn, developed by the Russell family in the 17th and 18th centuries into a fashionable residential area. It is notable for its array of garden squares, literary connections (exemplified by the Bloomsbury Group), and numerous cultural, educational and health-care institutions.

History

The earliest record of what would become Bloomsbury is in the 1086 Domesday Book, which states that the area had vineyards and “wood for 100 pigs”. But it is not until 1201 that the name Bloomsbury is first noted, when William de Blemond, a Norman landowner, acquired the land. The name Bloomsbury is a development from Blemondisberi – the bury, or manor, of Blemond.

At the end of the 14th century, Edward III acquired Blemond’s manor, and passed it on to the Carthusian monks of the London Charterhouse, who kept the area mostly rural.

In the 16th century with the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Henry VIII took the land back into the possession of the Crown and granted it to Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton. The Russell family became landowners in the 18th century.

Queen_Square_Bloomsbury[1]
Queen Square, Bloomsbury in 1787. The fields to the north reach as far as Hampstead (Wikipedia)

Historically, Bloomsbury is associated with the arts, education, and medicine. The area gives its name to the Bloomsbury Group of artists, the most famous of whom was Virginia Woolf, who met in private homes in the area in the early 1900s, and to the lesser known Bloomsbury Gang of Whigs formed in 1765 by John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford.

Bloomsbury Square, laid out in 1660 by Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton, was the first to be named as a square.

Bedford Square, built between 1775 and 1783, is still surrounded by Georgian town houses.

No 1 Bedford Square, London 1/5/2016
No 1 Bedford Square, London 1/5/2016
Bedford Avenue, Bloomsbury, London 1/6/2016
Bedford Avenue, Bloomsbury, London 1/6/2016

The British Museum, which first opened to the public in 1759 in Montagu House, is at the heart of Bloomsbury. At the center of the museum the space around the former British Library Reading Room, which was filled with the concrete storage bunkers of the British Library, is today the Queen Elizabeth II Great Court, an indoor square with a glass roof designed by British architect Norman Foster.

British Museum, London 1/5/2016
Rear entrance to the British Museum, London 1/5/2016
British Museum 1/6/2016
Central courtyard of the British Museum 1/6/2016

Also in Bloomsbury is the Foundling Museum, close to Brunswick Square. The Dickens Museum is in Doughty Street. The Petrie Museum and the Grant Museum of Zoology are at University College London in Gower Street.

Charles Darwin (1809–1882) lived at 12 Upper Gower Street in 1839. And…

Bonham Carter House, 45 Gower Street London 1/5/2016
Bonham Carter House, 45 Gower Street London 1/5/2016
First Anaesthetic plaque, Bonham Carter House
First Anaesthetic plaque, Bonham Carter House (Wikipedia)
Location of images, Bloomsbury, London
Location of my images in Bloomsbury, London (Google map in Lightroom)

Source for text: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloomsbury

20 thoughts on “Bloomsbury Doors”

  3. Dan Antion 2016-04-15 / 8:47 pm

    Beautiful photos and very interesting history – thanks!

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  4. Indah Susanti 2016-04-15 / 2:15 pm

    Hi Sherry, what a wonderful story and images! Thank you so much for sharing this 🙂 Have a great weekend..

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  6. circadianreflections 2016-04-14 / 3:17 pm

    Interesting history and wonderful doors! I loved that first door. It’s stunning with the those great windows with red trim on either side, and the fantastic armament in the insets beside the door.
    I love it.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  7. Norm 2.0 2016-04-14 / 2:20 pm

    Nice collection again this week Sherry. I absolutely love that first one; the deep rich green, the arrows, the entire entrance is so classy.
    Great post!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
  8. joey 2016-04-14 / 10:09 am

    Stunning collection. I cannot imagine living in such a historical place. How magnificent is that one with the arrows in the arched insets? Mercy! But the following one, well, it’s not imposing, despite its clear status. It looks so warm and inviting, like only good things could happen there.
    Fantastic post, thank you 🙂

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  9. sustainabilitea 2016-04-14 / 7:38 am

    I love that second one, Sherry. It’s not only impressive, but welcoming.

    janet

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    • Sherry Lynn Felix 2016-04-14 / 8:53 am

      Thanks. That is my favorite too. The golden light helps make it welcoming.

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