Editing Bloomsbury (section)

==History==
[[File:Christ the King, Gordon Square, London WC1 - geograph.org.uk - 1592452.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Church of Christ the King, Bloomsbury|Church of Christ the King]] was built in 1850]]
Bloomsbury (including the closely linked [[St Giles, London|St Giles]] area) has a long association with neighbouring [[Holborn]]; but is nearly always considered as distinct from Holborn.

===Origins and etymology===
The area appears to have been a part of the parish of [[Holborn]] when [[St Giles, London|St Giles]] hospital was established in the early 1100s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Religious Houses: Hospitals {{!}} British History Online |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol1/pp204-212#h3-0010 |access-date=2024-10-24 |website=www.british-history.ac.uk}}</ref>

The earliest record of the name, Bloomsbury, is as ''Blemondisberi'' in 1281. It is named after a member of the Blemund family who held the manor. There are older records relating to the family in London in 1201 and 1230. Their name, Blemund, derives from Blemont, a place in [[Vienne (department)|Vienne]], in western France.<ref>The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names, Eilart Ekwall, 4th Edition</ref> At the end of the 14th century, [[Edward III]] acquired Blemond's manor, and passed it on to the [[Carthusian]] monks of the [[London Charterhouse]]. The area remained rural at this time.

In the 16th century with the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]], [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] took the land back into the possession of the Crown and granted it to [[Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton]].

===Administrative history===
[[File:German Historical Institute London 5 Dec 2016.jpg|thumb|left|The historic seat of the [[Royal Historical Society]]]]
The area was part of the [[Civil Parish#Ancient Parishes|Ancient Parish]] of [[St Giles, London|St Giles]], served by the church of [[St Giles in the Fields]]. Some sources indicate that the parish was in place before 1222<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol5/pt2/pp1-2 |access-date=8 September 2021 |title=Boundary of the parish of St. Giles-in-the-Fields |website=British History Online }}</ref> while others suggest 1547.<ref name="Youngs">{{cite book |first=Frederic |last=Youngs |title=Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England |volume=I: Southern England |year=1979 |publisher=[[Royal Historical Society]] |location=London |isbn=0-901050-67-9 }}</ref> From 1597 onwards, English parishes were obliged to take on a civil as well as ecclesiastical role, starting with the [[Act for the Relief of the Poor 1597|relief of the poor]].

In 1731 a small new independent parish of ''Bloomsbury'' was created, based on a small area round [[Bloomsbury Square]]. In 1774 these parishes recombined, for civil purposes, to form the parish of ''St Giles in the Fields and St George Bloomsbury'' – which had the same boundaries as the initial parish of ''St Giles''.<ref name="Youngs"/>

The area of the combined civil parish was used for the [[St Giles District (Metropolis)]], established under the [[Metropolis Management Act 1855]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/static/London-life19th.jsp |title=London History - London, 1800-1913 - Central Criminal Court |publisher=oldbaileyonline.org |access-date=26 July 2010 |archive-date=15 November 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101115183928/http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/static/London-life19th.jsp |url-status=live }}</ref> This body managed certain infrastructure functions, while the civil parish continued with its responsibilities until the abolishment of the Poor Law in 1930; however it was not formally abolished until the creation of Greater London in 1965.
[[File:St Giles &amp; Holborn Civil Parish Map 1870.png|thumb|The combined parishes of ''St Giles in the Fields and St George Bloomsbury'' (west) joined with most of Holborn District to form the Met. Borough of Holborn, in 1900]]

In 1900 the area of the ''St Giles District (Metropolis)'' merged with [[Holborn District (Metropolis)]] (excluding those parts of [[Finsbury division|Finsbury Division]] which had been temporarily attached to Holborn) to form a new [[Metropolitan Borough of Holborn]]. The traditional boundaries of ''St Giles'' and ''Bloomsbury'' were used for wards in the new borough, though these were subject to minor rationalisations to reflect the modern street pattern rather than the historic basis of the older streets and pre-urban field boundaries. The combined civil parish continued to operate, in parallel, for a considerable time after.

In 1965 the [[Metropolitan Borough of Holborn]] merged with [[St Pancras, London|St Pancras]] and [[Hampstead]] to form the new [[London Borough of Camden]].

===Boundaries===
The formal historic boundaries of the combined parish of ''St Giles in the Fields and St George Bloomsbury'' (as adjusted in some places to reflect the modern street pattern) include Tottenham Court Road to the west, Torrington Place (formerly known, in part, as Francis Street) to the north, the [[London Borough of Camden|borough boundary]] to the south and [[Marchmont Street]] and [[Southampton Row]] to the east.
[[File:Holborn Met. B Ward Map 1952.svg|thumb|Wards of the Metropolitan Borough of Holborn, 1952. Bloomsbury and St Giles (including most of Lincoln's Inn) were sub-divided but retained their identity]]

The western boundary of Tottenham Court Road is common to all and a northern limit of Euston Road is often understood, though Coram's Fields and the land to the north, consisting mainly of blocks of flats, built as both private and social housing was traditionally associated as being north Bloomsbury with Judd Street and its surrounding squares being part of St Pancras, King's Cross.

The eastern boundary is sometimes taken to be in the region of Southampton Row<ref>London for Dummies, Donald Olson, p93</ref> or further east on Grays Inn Road.<ref name=LondonEncyc/> The southern extent is taken to approximates to [[High Holborn]] or the thoroughfare formed by [[New Oxford Street]], Bloomsbury Way and Theobalds Road.

On the west side, the traditional and various informal definitions of the area are all based on the ancient [[Tottenham Court Road]]. The differences between the formal and more recent understandings of the area (to the north and south), seem to derive from Bloomsbury having been commonly misconceived as being coterminous with the [[Bedford Estate]].<ref>link to a Bloomsbury history website https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bloomsbury-project/streets/bedford_ducal.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210726222638/https://www.ucl.ac.uk/bloomsbury-project/streets/bedford_ducal.htm |date=26 July 2021 }}</ref>

===Development===
In the early 1660s, the [[Earl of Southampton]], who held the manors of St Giles and Bloomsbury,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Introduction {{!}} British History Online |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol19/pt2/pp1-31 |access-date=2024-10-24 |website=www.british-history.ac.uk}}</ref> constructed what eventually became [[Bloomsbury Square]]. ''[[The Yorkshire Grey]]'' public house on the corner of [[Gray's Inn Road]] and [[Theobald's Road]] dates from 1676. The estate passed to the Russell family following the marriage of [[William Russell, Lord Russell]] (1639–1683) (third son of [[William Russell, 1st Duke of Bedford]]) to [[Rachel Wriothesley]], heiress of Bloomsbury, younger of the two daughters and co-heiresses of [[Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton]] (1607–1667). Rachel's son and heir was [[Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford]] (1680–1711), of [[Woburn Abbey]] in Bedfordshire, whose family also owned [[Covent Garden]], south of Bloomsbury, acquired by them at the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]].

The area was laid out mainly in the 18th century, largely by [[Wriothesley Russell, 3rd Duke of Bedford]], who built Bloomsbury Market, which opened in 1730. His younger brother, [[John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford]], would have built a circus here but he died in 1771, leaving his wife to continue development of the area. She commissioned the construction of [[Bedford Square]] and of [[Gower Street, London|Gower Street]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Weinreb |first=Ben |url=http://archive.org/details/londonencycloped00ias |title=The London encyclopedia |publisher=Adler & Adler |year=1986 |isbn=978-0-917561-07-8 |location=Bethesda, Maryland, US |pages=75 |language=en }}</ref> The major development of the squares that we see today started in about 1800 when [[Francis Russell, 5th Duke of Bedford]], demolished Bedford House<ref name=":1" /> and developed the land to the north with [[Russell Square]] as its centrepiece. Much is still owned today by the [[Bedford Estate]] in trust for the Russell family.

[[John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford]], extended development on the north and east side of the estate, this area would then be frequented by writers, painters and musicians as well as lawyers due to the nearby [[Inns of Court]]. The area was enclosed by gates until these were abolished under a 1893 Act of Parliament. In the 19th century, the Bloomsbury area became less fashionable, now dominated by the [[University of London]] and the [[British Museum]] as well as numerous new hospitals. Modern development has destroyed several [[Georgian era|Georgian]]-era buildings, but some remain.<ref name=":1" />

===London Beer Flood===
The [[London Beer Flood|London Beer Flood (also known as the ''Great Beer Flood'')]] was a disaster that occurred in October 1814, when a large vat of [[Porter (beer)|porter]] at the [[Horse Shoe Brewery]], just west of Dyott Street, burst open, releasing a 15-foot wave of beer onto the surrounding streets, killing eight people.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Palace |first=Steve |date=2020-07-01 |title=The Great London Beer Flood of 1814 - When a Giant Wave of Suds Crushed the City {{!}} The Vintage News |url=https://www.thevintagenews.com/2020/07/01/london-beer-flood/ |access-date=2024-10-24 |website=thevintagenews |language=en}}</ref>