Brunswick Square

Brunswick Square occupies land that once served a purpose far more urgent than a quiet urban garden. In the late eighteenth century, the governors of the nearby Foundling Hospital faced a desperate financial crisis after losing their government grant. To save the institution, which provided a refuge for abandoned children, they decided to develop their estate into a high-end residential square. The project commissioned builder James Burton to lay out this space in 1801, turning the hospital grounds into a source of rental income to fund the ongoing care of the children.