Cleaver Square

Why is it significant?

Laid out in 1789, Cleaver Square in London is the first residential square built south of the River Thames, notable for its intact Georgian terraces constructed between 1789 and 1853. Originally a meadow called White Bear Field inherited by Mary Cleaver in 1743, it was called Prince's Square until 1937. Today, players can borrow boules from the 1843 Prince of Wales pub to play pétanque on the central gravel court.

Key Facts

What to look for?

• In 1743, Mary Cleaver inherited the pastureland known as White Bear Field where Cleaver Square stands today.
• Property developer Joseph Prince gave his name to the site when construction began in 1788.
• The London County Council officially renamed the location Cleaver Square in 1937.
• The Prince of Wales pub was built in 1843 and supplies boules equipment for pétanque players.

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Why was Cleaver Square in London originally named Prince's Square?

Stepping into Cleaver Square feels like stepping through a secret doorway out of modern London. Just a few paces away, traffic hums along Kennington Park Road, but inside this tranquil haven, the city noise evaporates into the gentle rustle of plane trees and the quiet clink of steel boules on gravel. Laid out in seventeen eighty-nine, this serene space holds a special place in capital history: it was the very first residential square ever built south of the River Thames. Long before brick terraces lined these cobbled edges, this land was a quiet, sprawling meadow known as White Bear Field. In seventeen forty-three, the land was inherited by a woman named Mary Cleaver. For decades, it remained simple pastureland, screened from the main turnpike road by a line of mature trees. But London was expanding fast. Following the opening of Westminster Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge in the mid-eighteenth century, south London was transformed from isolated countryside into a burgeoning suburb. In seventeen eighty, Mary Cleaver leased White Bear Field to Thomas Ellis, the ambitious landlord of the nearby Horns Tavern on Kennington Common. Ellis realized that wealthy Londoners were looking for quiet, formal residential squares, similar to those that had become all the rage in the West End, like Covent Garden and Bloomsbury. He decided to turn the pasture into a secluded residential square, beginning construction in seventeen eighty-eight. For the first hundred and forty-eight years of its existence, however, no one called this place Cleaver Square. It was originally named Prince's Square. Many visitors assumed it was named in honor of royalty, but it actually took its name from Joseph Prince, a local property developer who built the grand entrance buildings along the main road. It was not until nineteen thirty-seven that the London County Council formally renamed the square to honor Mary Cleaver, giving credit back to the woman whose family field made it all possible. Look at the spacious center of the square, shaded by tall London plane trees and surrounded by cast-iron bollards. This open middle space has lived many lives. In the late eighteenth century, horses and sheep grazed right here on the grass. By the mid-nineteenth century, a commercial nursery had taken over, filling the center with glass greenhouses and exotic flower beds. By nineteen twenty-four, private property developers saw an opportunity to make a fortune. They bought the central plot with plans to pave over the greenery entirely and erect a grid of concrete garages and dense apartment blocks. The residents rallied together, filing urgent petitions until the local council stepped in, purchasing the plot under the Open Spaces Act of nineteen hundred and six to protect it forever as a public refuge. After serving as a children's playground for much of the twentieth century, the center was thoughtfully redesigned around the year two thousand into the gravel-paved square you see today. That gravel center gave birth to one of Kennington's most delightful traditions. On warm afternoons, the square turns into London's most famous outdoor court for pétanque, the traditional French game of boules. How do players get their boules? You do not need to bring your own. If you look at the corner of the square, you will see a charming Victorian pub built in eighteen forty-three, called The Prince of Wales. If you walk inside, you can hand a small deposit to the bartender, and they will lend you a wooden box containing heavy steel boules. You can then take your drinks outside, sit on the Victorian iron-framed benches, and play a round under the canopy of leaves. Take a slow stroll along the perimeter of the square and look closely at the architecture. The elegant three-story terraces built between seventeen eighty-nine and eighteen fifty-three feature soft London stock brick, white sash windows, and beautiful arched fanlights above the front doors. Over the centuries, these quiet houses have been home to Victorian portrait painters, prominent politicians, and acclaimed authors. Even former Prime Minister John Major lived right here in Cleaver Square, drawn to its peaceful atmosphere and its short walking distance to Parliament. Today, Cleaver Square stands as an untouched island of Georgian elegance, proving that sometimes the best places in London are the ones hidden just out of sight.