Plaque

We thank Jamie Davis for finding this link and this one, to the British Pathe news film of the unveiling of this plaque and bust which are no longer on site.

Following bomb damage to the houses here in the 1940 - 41 Blitz, Berthold Lubetkin was commissioned to build a block of flats, to be named in honour of Lenin, who with his wife had stayed in a two-room first-floor flat at No. 30 Holford Square, April 1902 - May 1903. As a precursor to the building Lubetkin designed a memorial to Lenin, incorporating a bust, which was erected, in the Holford Square central garden, facing the remains of number 30, on which a plaque was erected. Both were unveiled in 1942, apparently in 2 separate ceremonies, by Russian Ambassador Maisky and his wife. Holford Square in its entirety was cleared in 1948 and by 1951 the memorials were removed.

The outbreak of the Cold War meant that the block of flats, finished in 1954, could no longer be named after Lenin so Ernest Bevin, who had died in 1951, was honoured instead. For other reasons neither the bust not the plaque survived on site.

For some very interesting detailed information about exactly this area: the bomb damage and the planning for redevelopment see LocalLocalHistory.

Lubetkin actually designed 2 residential buildings for this large plot: Holford House and Bevin Court. The central stair-well of the Y-shaped Bevin Court is a stunning space. It's not open to the public but we managed a visit one day and can't resist using one of our photos here. The lobby contains a plaque unveiled on 24 April 1954 by Florence Bevin, Ernest's wife, with the usual list of councillors, etc.

2017: IanVisits reports that a recreated Bevin bust is now back in place.

Other sources: British History Online. Wikipedia's List of former English Heritage blue plaques.