{{Short description|Residential garden square in London, England}} {{About|the garden square in London|the garden square in Boston|Chester Square (Boston)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Coord|51|29|43|N|0|8|59|W|type:landmark_region:GB|display=title}} [[File:Chester Square2.jpg|thumb|right|Chester Square]] [[File:St. Michael's Chester Square - geograph.org.uk - 1194324.jpg|thumb|right|St Michael's Church, Chester Square]] '''Chester Square''' is an elongated residential garden square{{efn|840 feet by 150 feet plus three short approach ways, one of which has extreme numbers 82 to 88 opposing 80a to 81a. The landmark square including roads thus measures 2.89 acres (building to building), of which the green area is 1.25 acres less bisecting Eccleston Street (0.07 between the greens).}} in [[London]]'s [[Belgravia]] district. It was developed by the [[Duke of Westminster|Grosvenor family]], as were the nearby [[Belgrave Square|Belgrave]] and [[Eaton Square]]. The square is named after the city of [[Chester]], the city nearest the Grosvenors' ancestral home of [[Eaton Hall, Cheshire|Eaton Hall]].<ref>{{Cite book |title= 'The western suburbs: Belgravia', Old and New London|last= Walford|first= Edward|year= 1878|pages= 1–14|url= http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45218|access-date= 2009-12-03}}</ref>

No.32 was used as a backdrop for video accompanying [[Morrissey]]'s track "[[Suedehead]]".

The whole except No.s 80a, 81, 81a, 82, 83 and 83a (so No.s 1–13 and 14–23, 24–32, 37–39, 42–45, 45a, 45b, 65–76 and 77–80, 80a, and 84–88 and the Mews Arch) is listed [[listed building|Grade II]] for architectural merit.<ref name="Historic England 1-13">{{NHLE|num=1357284|desc=1–13 Chester Square|access-date=15 February 2016|mode=cs2}}</ref><ref name="Historic England 25-48">{{NHLE|num=1219270|desc=14–23 Chester Square|access-date=15 February 2016|mode=cs2}}</ref><ref name="Historic England 24-32">{{NHLE|num=1066274|desc=24–32 Chester Square|access-date=15 February 2016|mode=cs2}}</ref><ref name="Historic England 37-392">{{NHLE|num=1066275|desc=37–39 Chester Square|access-date=15 February 2016|mode=cs2}}</ref><ref name="Historic England 42-45">{{NHLE|num=1219286|desc=42–45 Chester Square|access-date=15 February 2016|mode=cs2}}</ref><ref name="Historic England 65-76">{{NHLE|num=1219297|desc=65–76 Chester Square|access-date=15 February 2016|mode=cs2}}</ref><ref name="Historic England 77-80">{{NHLE|num=1066276|desc=Nos 77 to 80 (consec), 80a and Mews Arch, Chester Square|access-date=15 February 2016|mode=cs2}}</ref><ref name="Historic England 84-88">{{NHLE|num=1219312|desc=84-88 Chester Square|access-date=15 February 2016|mode=cs2}}</ref>

The (private, communal) gardens are Grade II listed on the [[Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England|Register of Historic Parks and Gardens]].<ref name=LGO>{{cite web|url=https://londongardenstrust.org/conservation/inventory/site-record/?ID=WST017|title=Chester Square|publisher=London Gardens Online|access-date=16 February 2016|archive-date=3 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160403221800/http://www.londongardensonline.org.uk/gardens-online-record.asp?ID=WST017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=NHLE>{{NHLE|num=1001675|desc=Chester Square|access-date=16 February 2016|mode=cs2}}</ref>

==St Michael's Church== The [[Church of England|Anglican]] [[St. Michael's Church, Chester Square|church of Saint Michael in Chester Square]] was built in 1844 along with the rest of the square, and consecrated two years later. ''[[Cambridge Camden Society#The Ecclesiologist|The Ecclesiologist]]'' magazine criticised the opening, saying it was "an attempt - but happily a most unsuccessful one - to find a Protestant development of the Christian styles".{{citation needed|date=March 2015}} The church is in the late [[English Gothic architecture#Decorated Gothic|Decorated Gothic]] style, with an exterior of [[Kentish Ragstone]]. The architect was [[Thomas Cundy (junior)|Thomas Cundy]] the younger.<ref>{{cite book|title=The London Encyclopaedia|author=Ben Weinreb and Christopher Hibbert|edition=1992|publisher=Macmillan|page=770|ISBN=0-333-57688-8}}</ref>

==Notable residents== *[[Roman Abramovich]], [[Russian oligarch]] and former owner of [[Chelsea FC]] *[[Matthew Arnold]], poet and critic *[[Tony Curtis]], actor, had a house here when he was filming ''[[The Persuaders!]]'' in the early 1970s. *[[Blake Edwards]] and [[Julie Andrews]], film director and his actress wife, lived here for a few years in the early 1970s after their departure from Hollywood *[[George II of Greece|George II]], King of the Hellenes, bought a lease on a house at No. 45 shortly before his return to Greece in 1946 *[[Mick Jagger]] and [[Marianne Faithfull]], pop musicians, lived here in 1966-67<ref>{{cite book|last=Faithfull|first=Marianne|title=Faithfull|publisher=Penguin|year=1995|ISBN=0-14-024653-3|page=182}}</ref> *[[Nigella Lawson]], celebrity chef and food writer; daughter of Conservative former Cabinet Minister [[Nigel Lawson]] *Sir [[John Liddell (Royal Navy officer)|John Liddell]], doctor and director-general of the [[Royal Navy]] medical department, lived at No. 72 until his death in 1868 *[[Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin]], American-born violinist and conductor *[[Edward Ford (courtier)|Edward Ford]], private secretary to Queen Elizabeth II, lived at No. 16 during the 1950s *[[Margaret Thatcher]], former British Conservative Prime Minister, lived at No. 73 until shortly before her death in 2013 *[[Wilhelmina of the Netherlands|Wilhelmina]], Queen of the Netherlands, had her headquarters at No. 77 during the [[World War II|Second World War]] *Major Conrad Norman, Senior Gunnery Officer Royal Artillery Woolwich, Dunkirk survivor, officer in charge of British coastal gun emplacements in the Second World War, lived at No. 56 from 1946 until 1951 *[[Gideon Mantell]], an obstetrician, geologist, and palaeontologist, whose attempts to reconstruct the structure and life of the Iguanodon began the scientific discovery of dinosaurs, lived until his death at No. 19. *[[Tony Fernandes]], Malaysian businessman and founder of [[Tune Group]] and former owner of [[Queens Park Rangers FC]] *{{Abbreviation|Rev. Can.|The Reverend Canon}} [[W H Elliott]], a broadcaster on religious matters for the [[BBC]], and known as "the Radio Chaplain", was vicar of St Michael's in the mid-20th century.<ref name="Wilson">{{cite web|url=http://www.stmichaelschurch.org.uk/downloads/church-history-leaflet.pdf|title=Church History & Guide|last=Wilson|first=Alyson|access-date=25 July 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140727112151/http://www.stmichaelschurch.org.uk/downloads/church-history-leaflet.pdf|archive-date=27 July 2014}}</ref>

==Footnotes and References== ;Footnotes {{notelist}} ;Citations {{Reflist}}

[[Category:1828 establishments in England]] [[Category:Grade II listed buildings in the City of Westminster]] [[Category:Grade II listed houses in London]] [[Category:Grade II listed parks and gardens in London]] [[Category:Squares in the City of Westminster]] [[Category:Belgravia]] [[Category:Garden squares in London]] [[Category:Communal gardens]]