Squares in London

Some of these gardens are now open to the public, while others, for example around Notting Hill, are railed (a form of fencing) and private.

"Square" is a generic term for neat, planned or set aside urban open spaces larger than a verge or pavement overlooked by buildings.

Another is that some older squares were irregularly shaped to begin with, or lost their original layout due to the city's many transformations, not least following the Great Fire of London and The Blitz.

6. c. xcvii), imposes rules to authorise appropriate street names for new developments and for owners wishing to rename features.

Increasingly, spaces are being constructed that are legally private, though in practice open to the public (Paternoster Square).

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea contains over a hundred garden squares whose use is restricted to residents, almost all share a name with their directly adjoining road.

A minority of these partly or wholly survive such as Newington Green to form council-run open spaces breaking up housing, road networks and/or retail streets.

By subtle distinction their less urban equivalent amounts to London's 26 commons most of which were diminished in the period of legal inclosure and/or the city/county's 16 country parks.

Since 1998 many private squares (which term in that context takes in many other shapes of gardens between houses) temporarily open to the paying public: London's "Open Garden Squares Weekend", founded by Caroline Aldiss, takes place on the second weekend in June.

The local proliferation relative to other UK cities coupled with, since the early 20th century, their widespread opening up has similarly made squares broadly cited in portrayals of London.

"A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" is a romantic hit of 1940 with lyrics by Eric Maschwitz and music by Manning Sherwin, sang that year separately by Ray Noble and Vera Lynn and a theme of a film the next year, by Fritz Lang., Man Hunt.

from the musical My Fair Lady, Professor Henry Higgins laments, "Hear them down in Soho Square/Dropping H's everywhere."

Drama most notably includes the high-audience soap opera broadcast by the BBC running since 1985, EastEnders based on a semi-permanent set north of London's border, Albert Square.