2 and 3, Bloomsbury Square is a Grade II listed building in the Camden local planning authority area, England. First listed on 22 July 1976. College. 6 related planning applications.
2 and 3, Bloomsbury Square
- WRENN ID
- ghost-remnant-jackdaw
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Camden
- Constituency
- Holborn and St Pancras
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 22 July 1976
- Type
- College
- Address
- 2 and 3, Bloomsbury Square, WC1A 2RL
- OS grid reference
- TQ 303 815
- Coordinates
- 51.51816, -0.12258
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
Nos. 2 and 3 Bloomsbury Square is a building dating from 1887, designed by F. Pinches. It was originally the College of Preceptors and is now used as a college. The structure is made of red brick with decorative ashlar stonework. It features a steeply pitched, hipped slate roof with an elaborate ashlar dormer at the center, which has carved escutcheons.
The building has three storeys, a basement, and an attic, with three windows on the façade. The central doorway is deeply recessed and semi-elliptical, featuring a moulded reveal and a double panelled door that is accessed by steps. The windows are architraved, with two-light mullion and transom designs, and the second-floor windows have arched heads.
On the first floor, there is a central three-light bowed oriel window, which has an enriched apron and a dado from the second-floor window above that wraps around the oriel parapet. The window bays on each floor are defined by composite pilasters, which are adorned with carved, foliated panels and busts in the center of each bay. The central bay projects slightly between paired pilasters and features a continuous arcaded frieze topped with segmental pediments. The outside bays have arcaded parapets.
Inside, there is a geometrical staircase with a wrought-iron balustrade. Additionally, there is an area with a balustraded stone parapet that has panelled piers.
Local climate
2 and 3, Bloomsbury Square sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 690 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 95% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 98% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 35 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 57% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
- No sale records on file
- Related listed building consents — 6 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
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