Cartwright Gardens

Cartwright Gardens is a crescent shaped park and street located in Bloomsbury, London.

West side of Cartwright Gardens in 2011

The gardens were originally built between 1809 and 1811 as part of the Skinners company estate and were known as Burton Crescent after the developer James Burton.[1] Burton Crescent was later renamed Cartwright Gardens after the political reformer and local resident John Cartwright. A bronze statue by George Clarke was added to the garden in 1831 which is set on a granite plinth that has details of Cartwright's works as a reformer. The garden is enclosed by iron railings, with mature plane trees, laid out with grass and circular walks.

The crescent is composed of several hotels set in their original Georgian buildings. On the east side are the Garden Halls, a large set of Halls of Residence belonging to the University of London following the redevelopment of the separate Hughes Parry Hall, Canterbury Hall and Commonwealth Hall in 2014–16. [2] Unusually the gardens also have several tennis courts available for residents of the surrounding buildings and hotels.[3]

The author James White died in a house on the square in 1820.