page_title: The Square, Bournemouth
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: The Square, Bournemouth / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Leaning tower of Bournemouth. The Square, Bournemouth, was in fact a large roundabout until 4 October 1992 when it was closed to traffic for the last time to enable a pedestrianisation scheme. It was only when workmen started removing the shrubbery that it was realised that the tower was actually leaning - the centre of the tower at the top being fully 18 inches adrift from the centre of the foot. Once the pedestrianisation was complete, the tower remained for a short period, during which this picture was taken, before itself being removed and replaced by a camera obscura/café that now stands there (see 509151).
context_page_description: The Square is a public square that marks the centre of Bournemouth, England. The Square separates the Central Gardens from the Lower Gardens.
context_section_description: In the 18th century Decoy Pond House stood at the point where a plank was used to cross the Bourne Steam on the track from Poole to Christchurch. The River Bourne still flows under the Square.
  In 1848 composer Hubert Parry was born next door to The Square and is marked with a blue plaque.
  In 1925, a tram shelter was built at the center of the Square, with a clock on the top, which was given by Captain HB Norton, a magistrate and former Councillor.
  The Square later became a large roundabout, with the clock being relocated into a clock tower at the roundabout's centre. By this time the clock tower had become known as the "Leaning Tower of Bournemouth".
  The roundabout was removed in October 1992, and since 2000 the square has been almost totally pedestrianised. The old clocktower is now the site of the Obscura Café, so called because it once incorporated a functioning camera obscura, and the clock was installed at the top of the cafe.
caption: The "leaning tower of Bournemouth" in 1995
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