Bedford Row

HOLBORN, WC2

A five story, Grade II* listed house of exceptional quality located in the heart of Charles Dickens’ London that inspired famous classics such as Nicholas Nickleby and Dombey and Son.

12 Bedford Row is set in the Parish of St. Andrew’s, Holborn, one of central London’s most notable and picturesque locations, and runs along the western boundary of The Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn. Commonly known as Gray’s Inn, the historic society is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London, founded in 1370.

Bedford Row does not derive its name from the Russell family who owned much of the area, but from the town of Bedford. It is a beautiful, wide thoroughfare, lined with mature Robinias trees, similar in appearance to Elms, helping to give the Row a familiar quintessentially English appearance.

The terrace of six houses of exceptional quality, were built in 1717-18 by carpenter

Robert Burford and plumber George Devall.

Together the two tradesmen secured a lease for the land from Margaret Skipwith, of the

Skipwith family, originally from Yorkshire. The location of The Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn has ensured that the area is most closely associated with the practice of the law, with the wider area known for authors and publishers. Charles Dickens is connected to the area on both counts, having worked as a clerk at the offices of

Ellis and Blackmore, attorneys of Holborn

Court, at Gray’s Inn and later as a published author, resided in the area. It was Dickens’ experience while working as a clerk that informed such well-known works as

Nicholas Nickleby, David Copperfield,

Martin Chuzzlewit and, in particular, Bleak

House, the plot of which makes great use of the machinations and bureaucracy of the legal profession at that time.