Trafalgar Square, Westminster, Central London, England

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest: 

Laid out from the 1820s onwards as a key part of John Nash's redevelopment of the West End, Trafalgar Square was designed by William Wilkins and Sir Charles Barry to enhance the setting of the National Gallery and to connect the Strand with the West End.

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING

Trafalgar Square lies within Westminster, 400 metres to the west of Hungerford Bridge, 300 metres west of Victoria Embankment Gardens from which it is separated by Charing Cross railway station, and 250 metres to the north-east of the northern tip of St James's Park. The National Gallery (Listed Grade I), built to the designs of William Wilkins in 1832-1838, defines the north side of the square. To the west is Canada House (Listed Grade II*), designed by Sir Robert Smirke in 1822-1827 as the Union Club House and College of Physicians. Sir Herbert Baker's South Africa House (Listed Grade II) of 1935, which stands to the east, replaced Morley's Hotel. To the north-east lies James Gibbs' church of St Martin-in-the-Fields (Listed Grade I), whose imposing presence was hidden before the construction of the square. Charing Cross Road, formed by the Metropolitan Board of Works in the 1880s, provides the square with a fitting northern entrance.

In 2003, under the 'World Squares for All' scheme, the road along the north side of the Square was closed and the area pedestrianised.

REFERENCES used by English Heritage:

LCC, Survey of London XX, (1940)

H Clunn, The Face of London (1951), pp 152-155

J M Crook and M H Port, The History of the King's Works VI, (1973), pp 491-494

R Mace, Trafalgar Square (1976)

G Stamp, The Changing Metropolis (1984), pp 88-99

R Bowdler, Inspector's Report, (English Heritage 1996)

Description written: March 1999

Edited: January 2002

Amended: November 2003