Area Description

The entire area is dense with ancient buildings and famous garden squares but at the same time close to contemporary London and the famous sights and attractions. Many buildings survive from before the Great Fire of 1666, including the magnificent timber-framed facade of Staple Inn.

Bloomsbury is historically associated with the intelligentsia, social reformists and gifted writers. During the 18th and 19th centuries hospitals and universities were established in an area previously only fields and manor houses.
London's first home for abandoned children was established in 1739 -The Foundling Hospital - a period when most children in London died before the age of 5. Today there is a museum on the site and a children's play park with animals and paddling pool at Coram Field.

Bloomsbury also lent it's name to the Bloomsbury Group - a well known group of artists and writers who at the turn of the last century were politically outspoken, sexually uninhibited and Bohemian; its more famous members being Virginia Woolf and E. M. Forster.

Both the University of London and The British Museum are located in the area and continue the tradition of culture and learning. The British Museum houses a vast collection of artifacts of immense historical importance, the Rosetta Stone and the Egyptian mummies being perhaps best known.

Holborn is historically home to the legal profession. The four Inns of Court - Lincoln's Inn, Gray's Inn, the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple - were located here to symbolize the function of the law as 'referee' between the City and Westminster. The Inns are open to the public and offer a fantastic contrast to the modern busy city surrounding - medieval buildings, manicured lawns, quiet alleys and courtyards, be-wigged lawyer.

When the ancient and the highbrow wear you out, take a break in one if the beautiful garden squares in the area - Russell Square, Bloomsbury Square, Gordon Square or Tavistock Square. Or launch into contemporary London - it's on your doorstep. Stroll down to the West End theaters, Covent Garden with it's famous Opera House, Soho, Piccadilly Circus, Buckingham Palace and Big Ben - all the famous London must see sights are within a short walk or tube ride.