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Portman Square
Portman Square is a garden square in Marylebone, central London, surrounded by townhouses. It was specifically for private housing let on long leases having a ground rent by the Portman Estate, which owns the private communal gardens. It marks the western end of Wigmore Street, which connects it to Cavendish Square to the east. HistoryContext and developmentIt was built between 1765 and 1784 on land belonging to Henry William Portman. An infantry barracks, Portman Square Barracks, was built between Portman and Orchard Streets; it was demolished in about 1860.[1] At the east end of the garden, thus marking one end of Baker Street and of Orchard Street (a short link to Oxford Street) is the Hamilton Memorial Drinking fountain. This was provided by Mariana Augusta, under the auspices of the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association, in honour of her late husband Sir John James Hamilton, 2nd Baronet, briefly MP for Sudbury. The fountain is statutorily protected and recognised in the mainstream, initial category (Grade II).[2] Notable residentsIts houses were in its first century let or rented in toto by Alexander Hamilton, 10th Duke of Hamilton, Sir Brook Bridges, 3rd Baronet, Henry Pelham-Clinton, 4th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne, George Keppel, 6th Earl of Albemarle, Sir Charles Asgill, 1st Baronet, and William Henry Percy. Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife, maintained his London home at No. 15. Notable housesAbout a third of the north side is in the statutory category scheme, described above but in the rarest, highest category, Grade I.[3]
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External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Portman Square. |
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