In 1804, at the height of his fame as a landscape architect, Humphry Repton was asked by the 5th Duke of Bedford to work on the grounds at Woburn Abbey.  He soon extended his interest to the Duke’s London estate in Bloomsbury, which was in the process of being transformed into a private housing development by James Burton. Plans for Russell Square and Bloomsbury Square were produced, but their execution encountered difficulties. Focused on Repton’s landscaping activities, the talk covers the history of the development of the area from the open fields of the eighteenth century to the reworking of Russell Square on Reptonian lines in the early twenty-first century.

Susan Jellis, our speaker, is a contributor to the forthcoming multi-author book,  Repton in London: The gardens and landscapes of Humphry Repton  (1752-1818) in the London Boroughs,  to be published by the London Parks and Gardens Trust in April 2018. Her talk is based on her chapter on Repton’s London Squares.

Free to members. Non-members welcome (£1 at the door). This talk is preceded at 7pm by the Society's AGM (open to CHS members only).