Bloomsbury

Bloomsbury
Top to right: British Museum; Bedford Square, Cartwright Gardens; Sicilian Avenue; Gordon Square
Bloomsbury Location within Greater London
Population	10,892 (2011 Census. Ward)[1]
OS grid reference	TQ299818
London borough	Camden
Ceremonial county	Greater London
Region	London
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LONDON
Postcode district	WC1, NW1
Dialling code	020
Police	Metropolitan
Fire	London
Ambulance	London
UK Parliament	Holborn and St Pancras
London Assembly	Barnet and Camden
List of places UK England London 51°31′12″N 0°07′44″W / 51.5201°N 0.1288°W / 51.5201; -0.1288

Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. 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. Bloomsbury is an intellectual and literary hub for London, as home of world-known Bloomsbury Publishing, publishers of the Harry Potter series, and namesake of the Bloomsbury Group, a group of British intellectuals which included author Virginia Woolf, biographer Lytton Strachey, and economist John Maynard Keynes.

Bloomsbury began to be developed in the 17th century under the Earls of Southampton,^[2] 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.^[3] The district is known for its numerous garden squares, including Bloomsbury Square, Russell Square and Bedford Square.^[4]

Bloomsbury's built heritage is currently protected by the designation of a conservation area and a locally based conservation committee. Despite this, there is increasing concern about a trend towards larger and less sensitive development, and the associated demolition of Victorian and Georgian buildings.^[5]