Many significant figures from the arts and literary worlds have lived in the square, including George Orwell, Evelyn Waugh, Samuel Phelps, Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell.

Henry Leroux of Stoke Newington started building the north-west range of the square in 1805, on land owned by the Marquess of Northampton.

[1] The new road interfered with the quiet of the rudimentary square, affecting the economics of the venture and subsequently the unity of design of the buildings surrounding it and the time taken to complete construction.

[3] Like other parts of Islington, from the 1860s the area began to decline, largely because of the exodus along the railways to newer, more rural suburbs.

37-39 in the north-east section of the square were demolished, and the space created was filled with a terrace of five new houses of complementary design.