The last 200 years of history have created the Torrington Square we see today
In 1795, encouraged by the "New Road", the world's first urban bypass from Paddington to Islington, the urbanisation of its southern region began. James Sim built Torrington Square between 1821 and 1828. By 1830, the area was fully developed and, apart from the development of the University of London, the street pattern remains largely unchanged to this day.
In 1870, after the Napoleonic Wars, speculative builders developed terraced houses in Torrington Square with a formal grid street pattern with garden squares.
In 1910, new fashion developments in Holland Park and St John's Wood meant that Bloomsbury became less popular as a residential area. Non-residential uses began to take over and the University of London cleared a large area of land for development. As a result of the construction of the British Museum's Edward VII Gallery in 1905, a British Museum Avenue began to connect Torrington Square to the British Museum Extension.
In 2015, widespread bomb damage caused the university to expand eastward. Torrington Square's sex buildings were completed in 1976.
From January 1938, the road extending east from Tottenham Court Road and connecting with Byng Square and Gordon Square was known as Torrington Square, a name previously used only by the East End.
Ground materials and building facades at Torrington Square
