20 Hanover Square, London W1: first home of The Royal Society of Medicine

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Today Hanover Square, in the heart of Mayfair, is an entirely commercial area surrounded by buildings in every style from the 18th to the 20th centuries. It is hard to imagine it as one of the first Georgian squares to have been built in the 1720s in the West End of London. Only two houses, numbers 20 and 24, survive with their original facades and both are preserved as grade II listed buildings, though number 20 lost its elegant proportions with the addition of an extra storey at a later date. Number 20 is a very important house in the history of the medical profession in London. For over 110 years it was in the possession of a medical institution—first the Royal Medical and Chirurgical Society (RMCS), then its successor, The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM). It became the meeting place for many of the specialist societies that emerged during the latter part of the 19th century, and within its walls many advances in knowledge and practice were first announced. It was only in 2001 that the RSM sold it, bringing to an end this long and venerable connection. The histories of the two societies have been written before, 1,2 most recently by Hunting3 who tells us how important 20 Hanover Square was to both societies. The RMCS first rented rooms in Gray's Inn within the City of London. It was not alone amongst professional institutions to migrate west; this was a common pattern from the end of the 17th until well into the 19th century. The residences in Mayfair and Belgravia were built by the aristocracy on their own land and, as they continued to move further from the City, so members of the professional classes moved into the houses they vacated.