In this section you will find a list of resources we have used for finding more information about Gloucester Square. If in your travels you discover more information on Gloucester Square, including new sources of information – we’d love to hear from you.

London Metropolitan Archives (LMA)

Great For: Information pointing to the original builders of Gloucester Square.

Tips: Use the advanced search (exact terminology) and search separately for Gloucester Square as well as Gloucester Square, as many of the entries are misspelt. Further details available for Hyde Park Square, Southwick Place, and Sussex Place. Only Houses on the long sides (North West and South East) were originally addressed Gloucester Square, the other two sides were addressed to their corresponding streets, namely Somers Street and Sussex Place.

Access: Free in-person once registered with a “History Card” (also free) – further details n the website.

London Picture Archive, Part of the LMA

Great For: Historic pictures and maps (many of which are embedded on our website)

Tips: Search for “Paddington” and sort by date for the easiest way to browse. Use advanced search to match exact terms such as Gloucester Square.

Access: Free – Online

Historic England

Great For: A few street-level historic photos, and lots of aerial photos.

Tips: Fairly intuitive, the link will point you to the archive landing page where you can select photographs or aerial photos. The Aerial Photo section supersedes BritainFromAbove.org.uk, as it no longer requires the user to have an account to zoom.

Access: Free to view online

Google Books

Great For: Searching historic books that have been digitised, including Booths Fashionable Court and Country Guide that was released annually with all the names of

Tips: Try searching for “Gloucester Sq” and “Gloucester-Sq” as well as the full “Gloucester Square” , and apply a filter for specific dates to narrow results. The accuracy of some information is typical of the time so acquiring multiple unrelated sources is preferable.

Access: Free

RIBA Library (Marylebone) and RIBA Study Room (V&A Museum)

Great For: Details on 20th century developments including non-materialised plans (like for No.24-25), historic articles including the Tyburnia series by Gordon Toplis, The Builder Articles (including TP Bennet’s houses at either end of the Garden), and photos by Fry & Co after the construction of Chelwood House.

Tips: Search is fairly intuitive, if clunky, use inverted commas – e.g. ‘Gloucester Square’ – to narrow results. Do not be led estray by the 1988 onwards results for Gloucester Square in East London.

Access: Free in-person, no registration needed, though separate appointments might be required for photo transparencies, paper articles, and records held at the V&A study room.

Layers of London

Great For: Exploring Historic Maps including old Ordinance Survey Maps, Booth’s Poverty Maps, and the LCC Bomb Map of London

Tips: You have to first apply overlays onto the map. It is a lot more easy to use / see if you opt to “Hide Pins” in the top right corner of the window.

Access: Free

British Museum

Great For: Access to pictures of Hyde Park and the surrounding environs, building plans, and portraits of key people.

Tips: The search is fairly intuitive if not very refined. E.g. “Samuel Pepys Cockerell” will bring up lots of results of works by Charles Robert Cockerell. The tools to the left of the search results can let you narrow down the items – e.g. by Person / Object Name.

Access: Free

British Library

Great For: Access to Gordon Toplis PHD thesis, some maps of the Hyde Park Estate by Cockerell and Gutch.

Tips: Use the “Available Online” tab of the search results to see the items you can immediately access. The website has frankly declined of late, as they have removed zoomable images (as we use from the London Picture Archive for much of our History section). Their approach to reuse of images non-commercial purposes is also somewhat archaic compared to other sites in this list.

Access: Free

Britain From Above

Great For: Historic Aerial Photos of Gloucester Square between 1920 – 1952

Tips: Superseded by the Historic England Aerial Photo Viewer, though retains an intuitive search. Uncertain if image purchase requests are still being accepted.

Access: Free to view online, free account required to zoom