London
Town Guide

Bloomsbury District

WC1
Nearest Tube: Goodge Street

The district of Bloomsbury lies to the east of Marylebone and just north of Soho and Covent Garden. The borders are not clearly defined, but are generally taken to be Oxford Street in the south, Euston Road in the north, Great Portland Street in the west and Woburn Place in the east.

The name is derived from the 13th Century owner of the land William Blemond. The word 'Blemondisberi' meant Manor of Blemond, and over time became shortened to Bloomsbury.

Today Bloomsbury is one of the most elegant of London's districts for the area is dominated by grassy squares and beautiful Georgian houses. This makes it a great place to just wander around, but there are also lots of attractions in the district.

The area has very strong literary connections - this is where the famous Bloomsbury Group met. And the literary influence is still very strong in the area and there are lots of bookshops to choose from, including Dillons, the massive bookshop of the University of London.

Other literary attractions in the area include Dickens' House, and Baker Street where fans of Arthur Conan Doyle can visit the Sherlock Holmes Museum. The other main attractions that Bloomsbury is famous for are the British Museum, the British Library, and the University of London.



Bloomsbury Group

The Bloomsbury Group was a group of writers, artists and intellectuals that lived in the district of Bloomsbury in the years between the two world wars. The group met to talk, write, but more importantly to enjoy life - the members subscribing to G. E. Moore's philosophy that 'by far the most valuable things are the pleasures of human intercourse and the enjoyment of beautiful objects'.

Their antics occasionally caused scandal, but nevertheless they were the most influential intellectual group of the era.

Members of the group included the novelist Virginia Woolf and her sister Vanessa Bell, fellow writer EM Forster, the art critic Royer Fry and the economist John Keynes, who all became famous in their own rights.

The main focus of the group was Gordon Square, where several of the members lived and where the group frequently met.



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