View source for Torrington Square

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2015}}
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[[File:Torrington Square towards Senate House.jpg|thumb|View of Torrington Square.]]
[[File:Sundial, Torrington Square, London.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Armillary sphere]] [[sundial]] outside [[Birkbeck College]] in Torrington Square, unveiled on 12 June 2008 by [[Anne, Princess Royal|Princess Anne]] to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the [[University of London]] External System.]]

'''Torrington Square''' is a square in [[Bloomsbury]], owned by the [[University of London]], located in central London, England.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.londontown.com/LondonStreets/torrington_square_b5c.html|title=Torrington Square Guide|last=LondonTown.com|website=LondonTown|accessdate=17 December 2017}}</ref> Today, the square is largely non-residential since most of the houses have been demolished by the university. The southern end of the square is dominated by the University of London's [[Senate House (University of London)|Senate House]]. [[Birkbeck College]] and the [[School of Oriental and African Studies]] (SOAS) are also located here. To the southwest is [[Malet Street]] and to the southeast is [[Russell Square]]. The square is the site of a weekly [[farmers' market]], held on Thursdays.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lfm.org.uk/markets/bloomsbury/|title=Homepage|website=Lfm.org.uk|accessdate=17 December 2017}}</ref>

==Notable people==
[[John Desmond Bernal]] lived in a flat at the top of no.&nbsp;22. In November 1950, [[Pablo Picasso]], a fellow communist, en route to a Soviet-sponsored<ref>Eric Hobsbawm, Interesting Times, p.&nbsp;181</ref> World Peace Congress in Sheffield created a mural in Bernal's flat.<ref>{{Cite book | last=Goldsmith |first= Maurice | title=Sage: A Life of J. D. Bernal | year=1980 | publisher=[[Hutchinson (publisher)|Hutchinson]] | location=London | isbn=0-09-139550-X |page=picture}}</ref> In 2007, this became part of the [[Wellcome Collection|Wellcome Trust's collection]]<ref name = "Picasso">[http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/visual_arts/article1599818.eceThe night that Picasso was a little plastered]{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}, ''[[The Times]]'', 2 April 2007.</ref><ref name="Picasso2">[http://www.culture24.org.uk/art/art53172Bernal's Picasso goes on show in London at Wellcome Collection], [[Culture24]], UK, 14 January 2008.</ref> for £250,000. It was displayed at the 2012 [[Tate Britain]] exhibition on ''Picasso and Modern British Art''.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.tate.org.uk/britain/exhibitions/picassoandbritain/ | title=Picasso and Modern British Art: 15 February – 15 July 2012 | publisher=[[Tate Gallery]], UK | work=[[Tate Britain]] | year=2012 | accessdate=16 March 2012}}</ref> The poet [[Christina Rossetti]] lived at 30 Torrington Square until her death here on 29 December 1894 from breast cancer.<ref>Bryson, John,[http://www.britannica.com/biography/Christina-Rossetti "Christina Rossetti English poet"], ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'', 7 September 2015. Retrieved on 24 March 2016.</ref>

==See also==
Other squares on the [[Bedford Estate]] in Bloomsbury included:

*[[Bedford Square]]
*[[Bloomsbury Square]]
*[[Gordon Square]]
*[[Russell Square]]
*[[Tavistock Square]]
*[[Woburn Square]]

==Bibliography==
* [[Steen Eiler Rasmussen|Rasmussen, Sten Eiler]]. ''London: The Unique City''. London: Penguin (Pelican), 1960.

==References==

{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Oscoor gbx|TQ298820}}

{{Bloomsbury}}
{{University of London}}

{{coord|51.52201|N|0.13050|W|region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(TQ298820)|display=title}}<!-- Note: WGS84 lat/long, converted from OSGB36 grid ref -->

[[Category:Squares in the London Borough of Camden]]
[[Category:University of London]]
[[Category:Birkbeck, University of London]]
[[Category:SOAS University of London]]
[[Category:Bloomsbury]]


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