25 Facts About Bloomsbury

1.

Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London.

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2.

Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest museum in the United Kingdom, and several educational institutions, including University College London and a number of other colleges and institutes of the University of London as well as its central headquarters, the New College of the Humanities, the University of Law, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, the British Medical Association and many others.

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3.

Bloomsbury began to be developed in the 17th century under the Earls of Southampton, but it was primarily in the 19th century, under the Duke of Bedford, that the district was planned and built as an affluent Regency era residential area by famed developer James Burton.

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4.

Bloomsbury's built heritage is currently protected by the designation of a conservation area and a locally based conservation committee.

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5.

Bloomsbury has a long association with neighbouring Holborn; but is nearly always considered as distinct from Holborn.

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6.

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.

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7.

The differences between the formal and more recent understandings of the area, seem to derive from Bloomsbury having been commonly misconceived as being coterminous with the Bedford Estate.

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8.

Rachel's son and heir was Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford, of Woburn Abbey in Bedfordshire, whose family owned Covent Garden, south of Bloomsbury, acquired by them at the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

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9.

Bloomsbury's commissioned the construction of Bedford Square and of Gower Street.

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10.

All of the geographic area of Bloomsbury is covered by the Bloomsbury Conservation Area, an historic designation designed to limit new development, and ensure that changes to the built environment preserve and enhance its special character.

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11.

Bloomsbury contains one of the highest proportions of listed buildings and monuments per square metre of any conservation area, including many of the UK's most iconic buildings, such as the British Museum.

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12.

Bloomsbury's topography is largely flat, being situated in the Thames basin, with a gradual decline in elevation eastwards towards Gray's Inn Road and King's Cross Road, where the culverted River Fleet runs.

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13.

Bloomsbury Festival was launched in 2006 when local resident Roma Backhouse was commissioned to mark the re-opening of the Brunswick Centre, a residential and shopping area.

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14.

Bloomsbury is home to the federal University of London's central administrative centre and library, Senate House, as well as many of its independent members institutions including Birkbeck College, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, School of Oriental and African Studies, School of Advanced Study, Royal Veterinary College, and University College London .

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15.

Bloomsbury is home to London Contemporary Dance School, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, a branch of University of Law, Architectural Association School of Architecture, and the London campuses of several American colleges including Arcadia University, University of California, University of Delaware, Florida State University, Syracuse University, New York University, and Hult International Business School.

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16.

Also in Bloomsbury is the Foundling Museum, close to Brunswick Square, which tells the story of the Foundling Hospital opened by Thomas Coram for unwanted children in Georgian London.

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17.

Bloomsbury contains some of London's finest parks and buildings, and is particularly known for its formal squares.

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18.

Bloomsbury is the location of University College Hospital, which re-opened in 2005 in new buildings on Euston Road, built under the government's private finance initiative .

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19.

Bloomsbury is in the parliamentary constituency of Holborn and St Pancras.

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20.

The proposal was passed and part of Bloomsbury was brought within the InHolborn BID.

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21.

Controversy was raised during this BID renewal when InHolborn proposed collecting Bloomsbury, St Giles and Holborn under the name of "Midtown", since it was seen as "too American".

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22.

Bloomsbury is part of InMidtown BID with its 2010 to 2015 business plan and a stated aim to make the area "a quality environment in which to work and live, a vibrant area to visit, and a profitable place in which to do business".

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23.

All buses passing through Bloomsbury call at bus stops on Russell Square, Gower Street or Tottenham Court Road.

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24.

Several key London destinations can be reached from Bloomsbury directly, including: Camden Town, Greenwich, Hampstead Heath, Piccadilly Circus, Victoria, and Waterloo.

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25.

Additionally, Bloomsbury is connected to the wider London cycle network via several routes, including:.

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