Historic England describes it as "important for the radical logic of its design, of a type rarely seen outside Scotland and the North, and unlike anything in London.

"[1] Thomas Milner Gibson was a Member of Parliament, President of the Board of Trade, supporter of the free-trade movement and a leading anti-Corn Laws orator.

Milner Square was designed by architects Robert Lewis Roumieu and Alexander Dick Gough,[5] and work began on the east side in 1841 and was completed in 1844.

Roumieu's original plan included a large Greek-style church at the centre of the west side, 60 ft (18 m) wide, to accommodate a congregation of 1,000.

[10] The square was completed to a single design, resulting in a uniform theme on all sides which also wraps around the corners into Milner Place.

Due to its location behind a botanic garden which was not part of Milner Gibson's land the square could not be accessed by road from Upper Street, and so at no.

[14]: 224–228  Hussey also thought that "though for residential purposes, Milner Square is somewhat gloomy and monotonous owing to its complete suppression of the individual unit, there is no denying its impressiveness".

"[15]: 268  Sir Nikolaus Pevsner thought it demonstrated a "disintegration of the classical conventions...naked, in sheer harshness and negation of harmonious proportions".