Coade stone in Bloomsbury
I love to stroll through Bloomsbury for some Coade spotting. For reference, I use the list of addresses in Alison Kelly’s seminal work, Mrs Coade’s Stone. But Kelly notes that her list is incomplete. I’ve marked with ‘TS’ works not in Kelly but that I think must be Coade.
Look out for keystone heads, rusticated blocks with vermiculation – worm tracks – medallions, string courses, fascia, floral or fabric swags and bucrania (cow skulls).
North Bloomsbury:
41, 43 Grafton Way (TS)
Fitzroy Square, the Robert Adam building taking up the whole of the south side (TS).
I love the contrast between Georgian finery and the BT Tower!31, 33, 35, 37 (and more) Fitzroy Street
South Bloomsbury
17-23 Gower Street
Bedford Square, nearly every doorway. One house was damaged in the war and replaced by cement. Much has been overpainted, like the elements on the N, W and S side central houses. But there are lovely examples where the detail can be seen, like on no 48.
36, 38 and 58, 60 Bloomsbury Street (TS)
The Foundling Museum, 40 Brunswick Square
This fascinating museum displays the original Coade stone font commissioned by the Foundling Hospital in 1804, and used in their chapel to baptise all the children they housed.
