Project68

Regent Square Gardens

High Holborn · 0.1 miles

A public garden set within the historic Regent Square provides a green focal point in the St Pancras area of north-central London. The square lies close to High Holborn, Kings Cross and Bloomsbury and has been part of the London Borough of Camden since the mid-1960s. The garden was laid out around a large central lawn in the Harrison Estate and first occupied in 1829, echoing the garden-square pattern typical of Bloomsbury’s better-known developments. The southern side of the square retains its original early-nineteenth-century façades, which are collectively protected as a Grade II-listed group, and a traditional red telephone box situated within the gardens also carries a listed status. The site once accommodated two churches – the National Scotch Church, built between 1824 and 1827 and later an English Presbyterian congregation, and St Peter’s Church of the Church of England. Both structures were destroyed by wartime bombing and removed after the Second World War, leaving the surrounding architecture and the garden as the principal features. The park is managed by the London Borough of Camden and remains freely accessible to the public. Entry is from the surrounding streets, with the nearest reference point being High Holborn. No admission fee is required, and the space is open for typical park activities such as walking, casual recreation and appreciation of the listed surroundings.

Cartwright Gardens

High Holborn · 0.1 miles

A crescent-shaped green space set within Bloomsbury offers a quiet alternative to the surrounding streets, with the nearest main thoroughfare being High Holborn. Managed by the London Borough of Camden, the park is open to the public and is bounded by iron railings that enclose mature plane trees, grassed areas and a network of circular walks. A bronze statue by George Clarke, dating from 1831, stands on a granite plinth that records the reform work of John Cartwright, after whom the gardens were renamed in 1908. Unusually for a central London garden, several tennis courts are available for residents of the surrounding buildings and hotels. The surrounding crescent was originally laid out between 1809 and 1811 as Burton Crescent, part of the Skinners’ Company Estate designed by James Burton. Early occupants included a number of prominent 19th-century figures such as social reformer Edwin Chadwick, postal reformer Rowland Hill and writer Sydney Smith. The east side of the gardens was largely demolished in the early 20th century; an Art Deco block, Canterbury Hall, was erected in the 1930s and later incorporated into University of London inter-collegiate halls, including Commonwealth Hall in the 1950s and Hughes Parry Hall in 1969. Those structures gave way to the Garden Halls built between 2014 and 2016, although the tower block of Hughes Parry Hall remains. Several of the Georgian houses, numbered 27-43 and 46-63, retain Grade II listed status, preserving the architectural character of the original development.

Mahatma Gandhi

Euston · 0.1 miles

A bronze memorial to Mahatma Gandhi occupies the centre of Tavistock Square in Bloomsbury, London, close to University College London where Gandhi studied law between 1888 and 1891. The work, created by sculptor Fredda Brilliant, was unveiled on 17 May 1968 by Prime Minister Harold Wilson in the presence of the Indian High Commissioners of the time. It was erected by the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Committee with guidance from the India League and received Grade II listed status in 1974. The statue depicts Gandhi in his later years, seated in a lotus-position with his left hand resting on his ankles, dressed in a dhoti and a shawl over the right shoulder. It stands on a rounded Portland-stone plinth that bears the inscription “Mahatma Gandhi, 1869–1948” and includes a recessed alcove suitable for flowers or candles. A plaque added in 1996 marks the 125th anniversary of Gandhi’s birth. The surrounding square also contains the 7 July Memorial, the Conscientious Objectors Commemorative Stone, a cherry tree planted in 1967 to remember the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the Dame Louisa Aldrich-Blake Memorial of 1926. The monument is listed as a step-free, wheelchair-accessible feature on OpenStreetMap, making it readily approachable for visitors.

The Lion of Knidos

St Giles · 0.6 miles

A marble lion, larger than life and weighing six tonnes, stands on a plinth beneath the roof of the Queen Elizabeth II Great Court, forming part of the British Museum’s collection. Carved from the same Pentelic marble that built the Parthenon, the recumbent figure measures 2.89 metres in length and 1.82 metres in height; only its lower jaw and front legs are absent, and the eyes were probably once set with glass inlays. The statue originally topped a square funerary monument with a stepped pyramidal top, a form that has prompted scholarly debate over its date, ranging from the mid-fourth century BC to the second-century BC, with the museum currently estimating a creation period of 200–250 BC. The lion was first observed by the archaeologist Richard Popplewell Pullan in 1858 while he assisted Charles Thomas Newton in excavations near the ancient port of Knidos, now close to Datça in Turkey. After the monument collapsed, the marble lion was recovered, transported along the coast and loaded onto HMS Supply by Robert Murdoch Smith before being shipped to London. Since 2000 it has been displayed prominently in the museum’s Great Court. In 2008 the Turkish town of Datça lodged a formal request with the British Ministry of Culture and Tourism for the statue’s return. The monument is listed in OpenStreetMap as a historic feature near the St Giles area of London.

London Canal Museum

King's Cross · 0.6 miles

A museum dedicated to the history of London’s canals occupies a Victorian former ice warehouse in the King’s Cross district, directly on the Regent’s Canal. The building, originally constructed between 1862 and 1863 for Carlo Gatti’s ice imports, was substantially rebuilt in 1904–06 and later repurposed before its conversion to a museum in 1992. Visitors reach the site via a five-minute walk from King’s Cross St Pancras tube station, with Battlebridge Basin accessible from the rear of the premises. Admission is subject to a charge and the interior is step-free, providing wheelchair access. Opening times are listed on the museum’s website. Inside, the permanent displays explore every facet of the United Kingdom’s waterways, including the development of the Regent’s Canal, canal engineering and locks, the variety of boats and cargoes, and the evolution of traction from horse power to internal-combustion engines and miniature tractors. Social history of canal workers, the decorative “roses and castles” art, and Carlo Gatti’s ice trade are also featured, alongside temporary exhibitions that rotate on related themes. Guided trips are available on the 12-seater boat Long Tom, offering a 50-minute return journey through the Islington Tunnel and longer routes to Little Venice and Victoria Park. Two historic ice wells lie beneath the building; one can be viewed on-site, while the other is observable via CCTV on the museum’s web page.

Paul Stolper

St Giles · 0.6 miles

Paul Stolper Gallery is a contemporary art gallery in Museum Street, Bloomsbury, London. It was established in 1998.