Description
The Friends House was built between 1924-27 as the headquarters for the Religious Society of Friends, an award-winning design by Quaker architect Hubert Lidbetter. The site had previously included private open space of Endsleigh Gardens, and from an early stage the plans for the new building incorporated a garden to the east of the Meeting House. This is enclosed by a low Portland stone wall with railings on the north and south side and is laid out with two square lawns with a central path and roses, shrubs to the north and south, and a magnolia tree alongside Euston Road.
Practical Information
| Site location | 173-177 Euston Road |
|---|---|
| Postcode | NW1 2BJ |
| What3Words | ///appeal.spine.splash |
| Type of Site | Private Garden |
| Borough | Camden |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | unrestricted |
| Events | Friends House has opened for London Open House |
| Public Transport | Rail/London Overground/Tube (Northern, Victoria): Euston. Tube: Euston Square (Northern, Victoria). Bus: 10, 18, 30, 68, 73, 91, 168, 205, 253. |
| Research Updated | 1 September 2009 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
The Friends House was built between 1924-27 as the new headquarters for the Religious Society of Friends, who in 1923 had organised an architectural competition for its design open to 5 Quaker architects. The successful design was by Hubert Lidbetter, and the classically-inspired building won an RIBA bronze medal for 'best building erected in London' in 1927. The Society had previously met at Devonshire House in Houndsditch and the need for larger premises had been under discussion from at least 1911. The brief for the new headquarters required that it had a large meeting room that could hold 1500 people, and it also has committee rooms and offices as well as the Quaker Library with manuscripts relating to the Society's foundation in Pennsylvania in 1673. The site for the new building was previously occupied by the private open space of Endsleigh Gardens, once part of Euston Square (q.v.). It was owned by Sir Alfred Butt, who had offered the site to St Pancras Borough Council for a public garden, but the asking price of £50,000 was deemed too high. Butt subsequently sold the site for £45,000 to the Society of Friends, who approached the MPGA with the suggestion that it purchased the two end sections of the site for laying out as gardens. This was not taken up but the plans for Friends House from an early stage incorporated laying out a garden area to the east. The small garden that was created is enclosed by a low Portland stone wall with railings on the north and south side. Landscaping consists of two square lawns with a central path and roses, shrubs to north and south and with a fine magnolia tree alongside Euston Road.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ297825 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 0.0955 |
| Site Ownership | The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain |
| Site Management | The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in Britain |
| Dates | 1927 |
| Designers | Herbert Lidbetter |
| Listed Structures | LBII: Meeting House; walls, railings to garden |
| On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens | No |
| Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965 | No |
| Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931 | No |
| Local Authority | Camden |
| In Conservation Area | Yes |
| Conservation Area Name | Bloomsbury |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | Yes - Area of Special Character: Central London Area |
| Other LA Designation | Private Open Space |
Gallery
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Nearby parks and gardens
Euston Square does not currently exist as a garden square, temporarily built over as part of the Government's HS2 rail scheme of which Euston Station is the London Terminus. The garden square was laid out in the early C19th on the site of the Bedford Nursery Ground. It formed two rectangular strips either side of New Road, built as a cattle route to Smithfield Market and later renamed Euston Road. The southern side of Euston Square became Endsleigh Gardens in 1880 and only the northern part survives as a garden, enclosed by railings, with grass and mature London plane trees. Euston Station opened in 1837 and was enlarged over the next decades. The two lodges, inscribed with names of stations served by the London and North Western Railway, date from c.1870 and were once at the station entrance. They are now the only survivors of the formal 1870 layout, which was replaced by the new station in 1968. Following completion of HS2, the historic gardens are due to be reinstated.
St Pancras Church was built as the new parish church when a larger building was needed than the medieval parish church, now known as St Pancras Old Church. The earliest Greek Revival church in London, its design was influenced by St Martin-in-the-Fields and by the Erechtheion on the Acropolis in Athens. The tower recalls the Tower of the Winds, and the sets of 4 caryatids are copies from the Erechtheion. The church has landscaping to the boundary railings with Euston Road, and an area of garden south of the church where a sculpture has been installed in memory of victims of 7 July 2005 bombings.
University College London (UCL) is the third oldest university in England after Oxford and Cambridge. It was founded in 1826 as the University of London to provide university education without religious bias. The benefactors of the new university purchased the site, once part of the Mortimer estate, and William Wilkins' design was selected following public competition. The main buildings are ranged around the Front Quad, accessed via central entrance gates past the Front Lodge. The neo-Grecian central block was designed by William Wilkins, the south and north wings added in 1869-76 and 1871-81 respectively. The Front Quad is laid out as two lawns either side of a central path, in each an octagonal Observatory with domed lead roof and a number of mature trees.
