Plaque (lost): Lenin - Holford Gardens - plaque
Erection date: 13/3/1942
London County Council
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, Lenin, 1870 - 1924, founder of the U.S.S. R., lived here, 1902 - 1903.
The British Pathe commentator says the plaque will eventually be sent to Russia. Some people are carrying a large banner reading 'Quiet Nights, Thanks To Russia'."
The plan to send the plaque to Russia makes sense given that it was erected on the ruins of a building due to be demolished to make way for Lubetkin's new flats. The plaque was presumably despatched before the Cold War set in so, if it still exists, it's somewhere in Russia.
This unveiling was also covered by Life Magazine 20 April 1942.
Site: Lenin - Holford Gardens (2 memorials)
WC1, Holford Gardens, Bevin Court
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.
Immediately 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 in 1902 - 3 had stayed at 30 Holford Gardens. 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 in the same ceremony, by Russian Ambassador Maisky and his wife.
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.
