The Plane Facts about Berkeley Square

As you approach the entrance to The Berkeley Square Fair this October (October 22-27), look up. Dominating the skyline and, indeed, the whole square itself, are some of the most magnificent plane trees in London, around 30 in all. They look ancient, and they are, having been planted 235 years ago in 1789.

Their purpose was not merely decorative; thought to have been installed by the MP Edward Bouverie, who lived in the square at number 13, they are particularly hardy and dealt well with the growing pollution of the city, hence their survival in large numbers across the capital in places as far away as Richmond riverside.

According to Exploring London, under the Capital Asset Value for Amenity Trees system in 2008, the greatest of them all in Berkeley Square, the Berkeley Plane or Victorian Plane, was valued at $750,000, making it the most valuable tree in Britain at the time. It is one of the original 41 Great Trees of London.

Of similar age to the trees is the little pump house with a Chinese roof in the centre of the square. It replaced an equestrian statue of George III, which collapsed owing to the instability of its construction.

Your best chance of recapturing the Georgian spirit of Berkeley Square is to sit on a bench on the eastern side and look at the grand terrace of 18th century houses to the West, completed in 1745, just 15 years after the plans for the square were first laid out, and the sole surviving buildings of that early period here.

Among them you will see number 50, distinguished today by its blue plaque to Britain’s shortest serving prime minister, before Liz Truss surpassed his record almost 200 years later: George Canning died in office in 1827. The house itself has the reputation of being one of the most haunted in London… but that’s another story.

The majestic plane trees of Berkeley Square. Image courtesy of Richard Croft.