We've found 119 parks

* on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens

The site of Finsbury Circus Garden was once part of Finsbury Manor Estate. A moor existed here until 1527, which was subsequently drained and gravelled walks laid out. Bethlehem Royal Hospital was at the southern end of Moor Field from 1675/6 until 1815, following which the Moorfields estate was developed. Finsbury Circus was enclosed in 1812 and the oval garden laid out in 1815-17 to designs of George Dance the Younger by City Surveyor William Montague. Initially a private garden for the surrounding residents, the garden was acquired in 1900 by the City Corporation for public use. The City's only bowling green was built here in 1925, and the bandstand dates from 1955. During WWII a barrage balloon was anchored on the gardens. The garden was closed 2010-2020 during Crossrail construction works, and will be closed between November 2023 and late 2024 for refurbishment works.

The Fishmongers' Company has its origins in at least the C12th and was granted its first Charter in 1272. The Company has had premises here since the C16th, the current Hall built in 1831-35 to replace an earlier hall when part of its site was needed for the new London Bridge Approach. Additional offices were built it 1976/7 facing Upper Thames Street and Swan Lane, at which time the courtyard between the wings was enlarged and laid out as a small garden open to the river. It is on two levels and largely paved with a flower border and a few trees. A statue of James Hulbert, benefactor of the Fishmongers' Company, was brought from the Fishmongers' Almshouses at Bray in Berkshire, and on one wall are the arms from the entrance of the C17th Hall.

* on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens

The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple is 1 of the 4 Inns of Court, along with Middle Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn. It is possible that gardens have existed since the Knights Templar established themselves here in c.1160. Leased to students of the law since the C14th, in 1608 the land was granted by a Charter of James I to the Benchers of the Inner and Middle Temple. By the mid C15th the buildings and gardens were separated into the Inner and the Middle Temple although formal division took place in 1732. The Great Garden of the Inner Temple was created by the building of an embankment to control the Thames in 1533, another embankment in 1770 doubled its size and it was again enlarged in the 1870s when the Embankment was constructed. There are lawns, a fine collection of trees, rose beds, a peony garden, seasonal displays in the High Border and a woodland garden.

* on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens

The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple is 1 of the 4 Inns of Court, along with Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn. It is possible that there have been gardens since the Knights Templar established themselves here in c.1160. Leased to students of the law since the C14th, in 1608 the land was granted by a Charter of James I to the Benchers of the Inner and Middle Temple. By the mid C15th the buildings and gardens had been separated into the Inner and the Middle Temple although formal division took place in 1732. Middle Temple's gardens and buildings were reworked in mid-late C17th when the gardens were enclosed by brick wall. They included a Benchers' Garden, terrace south of the Hall and the main Lower Garden below the terrace. In 1681-82 Fountain Court was formed; 2 mulberry trees were planted here in 1887 to commemorate Queen Victoria's Jubilee. The main garden today is little changed from 1870s when Victoria Embankment was constructed and doubled the area of the garden. Elm Court has a small formal garden with fountain; and Hare Court has Mediterranean-style planting.

George Yard had long existed as a narrow alleyway and was opened out in 1929-32 to provide a large paved courtyard as office development took place, becoming George Square. It has changed over the C20th as new building has taken place. In 1986-94 Barclays Bank built new premises here with the main entrance onto George Square, where 5 decorative reliefs commissioned for the Bank's previous premises at Lombard Street were mounted, showing old street signs of former properties and occupants of the site. The courtyard is largely hard landscaped.

The Worshipful Company of Girdlers has had a Hall with a garden on this site since 1431. Due to the proximity of the Guildhall, Basinghall Street was a favoured location for the Livery Companies. The first Girdlers' Hall was destroyed in 1666 and rebuilt in 1680/81, but this building was destroyed by bombing in 1940. The new Hall re-opened in 1961 with a garden at the rear that contains a mulberry tree grown from a cutting of a tree probably planted in 1750. The garden has lawn surrounded by paving stone paths with perimeter shrubs, a number of tree including fig, and a small fountain with cherubic figure. The Corporation of London owns the public space in front of the Hall. The garden has won many awards, the latest being the Livery Hall Trophy 2010 in the Flowers in the City Campaign organised by the City of London.

* on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens

Golden Lane Estate was built for the Corporation of London from 1953-62 after the area had been badly bombed in WWII. Architects Chamberlin, Powell and Bon won the competition and their design of both architecture and landscaping is formal and geometric. Designed to be traffic-free, the estate was for people working in the City, with 10 blocks of different sizes around 4 landscaped courtyards. Hard landscaping predominates in the communal spaces although there is some green space and tree planting. Social facilities included a swimming pool, a bowling green (now tennis courts), a nursery school and community centre. The first part was completed by 1957 and represented the first phase of the replanning / rebuilding of the Barbican/London Wall area; a later phase was completed by 1962 along Goswell Road. In 2010 a group of residents set up The Golden Baggers, a food-growing project on the unused nursery playground, which has expanded considerably since then.

Gough Square was originally laid out in the late C17th by a family of that name. No. 17 Gough Square is famous for being the house where Dr Samuel Johnson lived between 1748-59 and where he compiled his Dictionary. In 1911 the house was restored as a museum with a Curator's House to the south, a small garden between the two buildings. The north and east sides of Gough Square were rebuilt in the 1950s and further refurbishment took place in the 1990s; the square is paved with granite setts, with one tree, reproduction gas-lights and C19th and C20th cast-iron bollards, with a covered carriageway in the north-west corner. A bronze sculpture of Johnson's cat 'Hodge' on a stone pedestal was erected in 1997.

The raised forecourt of Nos. 27 and 28 Queen Street, a pair of fine C18th private houses now used by Gresham Computing Personnel, is on part of the site of the former burial ground of the church of St Thomas-the-Apostle. The church was first recorded in 1170, rebuilt in 1371 but destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666 and not rebuilt. The churchyard remained until 1851 when Queen Street was widened and remains were interred in a vault on the east side. The paved forecourt, accessed by a flight of steps each side, has a large plane tree and shrubbery; a stone plaque relating to the site is set into the front wall.

The Grocers' Company, which had grown out of the Guild of Pepperers recorded in 1180, purchased the house of Lord Fitzwalter in 1427, at that time a much larger site. The Company's first Hall dated from 1428-33 and was rebuilt over the years; it was let to the Bank of England from 1690-1734. The present Hall was built in 1970 after its late C19th predecessor was destroyed in a fire. There was a garden in Victorian times, although it was reduced in size when the Bank was extended and Prince's Street realigned in 1798-1805, and encroached further when the Midland Bank was extended in the 1920s. What remains of the garden is a triangular courtyard with a small amount of planting along one side; a statue of St Anthony of Vienne is by the main entrance, formerly in the Hall of 1889.

The Guildhall was established in the C12th, although the building today is C15th. Earlier buildings included a chapel and a library, and a gatehouse once separated Guildhall Yard from the street by the C12th St Lawrence Jewry, whose former churchyard is now incorporated into the piazza. The Great Fire of 1666 destroyed the church, which was rebuilt by Christopher Wren, and necessitated some rebuilding of the Guildhall. Various other buildings were added over the years, including Civic Offices on the site of St Michael's church, demolished in 1900. From 1908 rebuilding the entire complex was planned but not carried out until post WWII, following bomb damage. Guildhall Piazza and Guildhall Yard are largely hard landscaped, the area to the south abutting the church having a pond and planting. The piazza to the north has a number of sculptural features.

Jubilee Gardens is a small public garden created for the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977. The layout consisted of raised brick planters within a paved area and some seating. It was closed in the mid 1980s when the LEB Substation was built. The garden was refurbished in 2004 when more structured planting and box hedging was added to reflect the outlines of the hard landscaping and surrounding buildings. (Please note, the gardens are currently closed for refurbishment - February 2022)