Description
Frederick Goodenough founded The Dominion Students' Hall Trust in 1931 to provide a collegiate home for male postgraduate students from overseas, with a sister Trust for female graduates established post WWII. London House was completed in 1933, a neo-Georgian building designed by Sir Herbert Baker. The northern and western ranges were completed to a simplified design after Baker's death in 1944. London House has an enclosed quadrangle entered through wrought-iron gates. The central garden is set to lawn with mixed beds on the perimeter and three specimen trees including a large mulberry. A sundial in the garden was unveiled by HRH The Queen on 10 November 2006 to mark the 75th anniversary of the college.
Practical Information
| Site location | Mecklenburgh Square |
|---|---|
| Postcode | WC1N 2AB |
| What3Words | ///indoor.period.icons |
| Type of Site | Institutional Grounds |
| Borough | Camden |
| Open to Public | Occasionally |
| Opening Times | Has opened for London Open House and London Open Gardens |
| Events | College tours: Fridays at 1pm and first Sat of month at 11am (contact: tours@goodenough.ac.uk) |
| Public Transport | Tube: Russell Square (Piccadilly), King's Cross St Pancras (Piccadilly, Hammersmith & City, Circle, Metropolitan, Northern). Bus: 17, 45, 46; 19, 38, 55, 243 |
| Research Updated | 1 June 2009 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
In 1931 Frederick C Goodenough raised the funds with which to found The Dominion Students' Hall Trust to provide male postgraduate students from overseas with a collegiate home while studying in London. After WWII, a Sister Trust was formed funded by the Lord Mayor's National Thanksgiving Fund and William Goodenough House was built for female graduates and married families. In 1965 the two Trusts merged to become London House for Overseas Graduates, then London Goodenough Trust for Overseas Graduates and in 2001 it was renamed Goodenough College and it is now fully international. London House was completed in 1933, a neo-Georgian building designed by Sir Herbert Baker, which is one of his most characteristic later buildings, comparable to Rhodes House in Oxford, and Church House, Westminster. The post-war northern and western ranges were completed to a simplified design after Baker's death in 1944. London House has an enclosed quadrangle entered through wrought-iron gates. The central garden is set to lawn with mixed beds on the perimeter and three specimen trees including a large mulberry. A sundial in the garden was unveiled by HRH The Queen on 10 November 2006 to mark the 75th anniversary of the college. Goodenough College also owns Mecklenburgh Square Gardens (q.v.), which is open to users of the College and residents of the Square.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ306822 |
|---|---|
| Site Ownership | Goodenough College |
| Site Management | Goodenough College |
| Dates | 1931-3 |
| Designers | Sir Herbert Baker |
| Listed Structures | LBII: London House |
| 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 | Blooomsbury |
| Tree Preservation Order | To be checked |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | Yes - Central London Area (Clear Zone Region) |
| Other LA Designation | Strategic View - Background Consultation Area |
Gallery
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Nearby parks and gardens
* on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens
The Trustees of the Foundling Hospital, established in 1739 by Captain Thomas Coram, purchased 56 acres in Lamb's Conduit Fields from Lord Salisbury and the Foundling Hospital, now Coram's Fields, was built by 1753. Samuel Pepys Cockerell was appointed to develop the estate surrounding the hospital, and his plan of 1790 had two squares. Mecklenburgh Square on the east was named after Queen Charlotte, formerly Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz; it was designed by Joseph Kay with Cockerell as consultant, the houses built c1810-1820, the gardens laid out by Kay in 1809-10. The layout remains close to the original design with mature plane trees, ornamental trees, formal lawns and gravel paths.
The Trustees of the Foundling Hospital, established in 1739 by Captain Thomas Coram, purchased 56 acres in Lamb's Conduit Fields from Lord Salisbury and the Foundling Hospital, now Coram's Fields, was built by 1753. Samuel Pepys Cockerell was appointed to develop the estate surrounding the hospital, and his plan of 1790 had two squares. Mecklenburgh Square on the east was named after Queen Charlotte, formerly Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz; it was designed by Joseph Kay with Cockerell as consultant, the houses built c1810-1820, the gardens laid out by Kay in 1809-10. The layout remains close to the original design with mature plane trees, ornamental trees, formal lawns and gravel paths.
In 1739 John Wesley's first London base was a converted foundry in Moorfields. By the 1770s larger premises were needed and in 1778 the Mother Church of World Methodism Chapel was opened here. Behind the Chapel is a small graveyard with plain chest tombs and the monument of John Wesley with pyramid and urn. In the forecourt is an obelisk to Susannah Wesley erected in 1870 and the Wesley memorial with bronze statue of John Wesley erected on the centenary of his death in 1891. The forecourt was re-landscaped with granite setts and York paving in the 1990s but has notable mature London plane trees.
* on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens
This is on part of the site of the Foundling Hospital established by Captain Thomas Coram in 1739 as a home for destitute and abandoned children. 56 acres in Lamb's Conduit Fields were purchased and developed as the Foundling Estate to provide ground rents to support the Hospital but also retain the open situation. In 1926 when the Hospital sold up and moved out of London, the main buildings were demolished apart from its single-storey colonnaded forecourt buildings. Following a public campaign to save the site, it was purchased for London's first public children's playground. It opened as Coram's Fields in 1936 with the Memorial Pavilion in the centre commemorating Harold Vyvyan and Vere Harmsworth. The basic layout of the gardens is similar to that of the C18th.
This is on part of the site of the Foundling Hospital established by Captain Thomas Coram in 1739 as a home for destitute and abandoned children. 56 acres in Lamb's Conduit Fields were purchased and developed as the Foundling Estate to provide ground rents to support the Hospital but also retain the open situation. In 1926 when the Hospital sold up and moved out of London, the main buildings were demolished apart from its single-storey colonnaded forecourt buildings. Following a public campaign to save the site, it was purchased for London's first public children's playground. It opened as Coram's Fields in 1936 with the Memorial Pavilion in the centre commemorating Harold Vyvyan and Vere Harmsworth. The basic layout of the gardens is similar to that of the C18th.
