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St George's Fields gardens are on the site of the former burial ground of St George Hanover Square, established in 1763 and closed in 1852. Following closure, while remaining Church property, the headstones were placed around the walls and the land was used for various purposes, including allotments in WWI and later sports. In 1964 the land was deconsecrated by Act of Parliament and the site was cleared by the Parish of St George. It was sold in 1967 to the Utopian Housing Society who built 7 blocks, housing 300 flats and maisonettes, completed in 1973. Many of the site's mature trees, including a plane c250 years old and a red oak, were retained; the main buildings were separated with garden areas around them and each flat had an open view of the gardens. It was set up as a community ownership development but passed into private tenant ownership in 1982 and continues to be self-managed. There is a fine collection of trees, areas of lawn and shrubberies, ornamental ponds and a collection of ferns, a woodland garden and herb garden. In 2008 a woodland garden was created, and there is a herb garden and fishponds.
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* on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens
The central garden of St George's Square consists of a long rectangular enclosure between Grosvenor Road and Lupus Street, terminated at the north end by the Church of St Saviour, built in 1864. The gardens were originally provided for private use of residents of the square and were designed by Thomas Cubitt, who issued keys to the first residents in 1854. The layout is little changed and the garden still retains a C19th character with barley sugar edging to paths and shrubberies, seating, and an ornamental fountain in the centre surrounded by flower beds. Mature trees are mainly around the perimeter. At the northern end is the site of an underground bomb shelter, now planted over. In June 2020 St George's Square was added to Historic England's Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.
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St James's Church Piccadilly was consecrated in 1684 and is the only one of Sir Christopher Wren's churches to have been built on an entirely new site. Leasehold land was offered by the Earl of St Albans in 1676 and the freehold was granted in 1684, including land to the north and west for burial. In the winter of 1688-89 it became the first London churchyard to be lit by patent lights. The burial ground underwent various improvements during the C18th and C19th and was twice enlarged, in 1749 and 1764. Vaults had been created beneath the north end of the ground by the mid C18th. The church suffered severe bomb damage in WWII and was restored in 1947-54. After WWII Viscount Southwood provided money to convert the churchyard into a garden of remembrance, which opened in 1946. The garden was refurbished and replanted in early 2012.
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The royal residences of Clarence House and St James's Palace share this large garden, which is on the site of the late C17th royal pleasure grounds. It is hidden behind an C18th (?) brick wall with a stone coping on top of which is a lofty wooden fence and behind this a high hedge of laurels. A number of fine old plane trees are visible over the wall. An area of formal planting at the front of Clarence House was designed in 2004-5 by The Prince of Wales in memory of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. The scheme was laid out by members of The Prince's School of Traditional Arts.
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* on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens
The marshy site was acquired in 1532 and drained for a deer park by Henry VIII, who built St James's Palace as a hunting lodge. In the C17th St James's Park was remodelled for James I and later for Charles II who opened it to the public. Its formal layout had avenues of trees, lawns and a rectangular canal extending for c.900m. In 1828/9 it was drastically re-landscaped by John Nash, and his undulating landscape essentially remains, the lake the central feature with an island at each end, belts of trees along boundaries, extensive lawns and winding paths. Pulham & Co constructed various works in 1895 and 1899, including rockwork on the lake edge, 'Cormorant & Pelican islands' for the park's birdlife and a small rocky pool along the inner bank of the island. The western end of the park and lake were remodelled in 1901-11 to accommodate the rond-point of the Queen Victoria Memorial Gardens. Between c.1894 and at least 1914 a historic bomb disposal facility was located on Duck Island.
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* on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens
St James's Square was the first of the West End squares, enclosed for Henry Jermyn, Earl of St Albans in c.1665. The layout of the central garden was developed and modified over the years, in the C18th, C19th and C20th, with notable designers involved. The C18th formal layout was by Charles Bridgeman with a central circular basin, later infilled in 1854. In 1807 a statue of William III was set in the centre of the pool flanked by 4 obelisks from the earlier layout, and it remains today surrounded by low shrubbery, bedding and rosebeds. The Square was gradually opened to the public from 1933 onwards, at first only at weekends.
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St John's Gardens is the former burial ground of St John's Smith Square, which was consecrated in 1731. It soon became overcrowded and an extension was acquired in 1823, but later closed to burials in 1853. The former burial ground was laid out as a public garden by a local committee with the involvement of the MPGA, and opened in May 1885. Many of the old gravestones were stacked against the perimeter with a few choicer monuments left in place. The garden is raised, surrounded by railings and contains some fine trees. The lawn is traversed by paths, with a central fountain and pool installed in 2001, to replace the C19th one that had become derelict.
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* on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens
This is the formal garden to St John's Lodge, the first villa to be built in John Nash's Regent's Park. It remained in private hands until 1916, and past owners included Lord Wellesley, Sir Isaac Goldsmid and the Marquesses of Bute. During this time various alterations were made to the house and the grounds were extended in 1836 and 1884. In 1892 a new garden 'fit for meditation' was designed for the 3rd Marquess of Bute with formal areas, fountain pond, Doric temple, stone portico and partly sunken chapel. The garden features reflected Arts and Crafts ideas and the revival of interest in the classical. In 1916 part of the garden area was taken back into Regent's Park, and the house was put to a number of uses but is now back in private ownership. The garden has been open to the public since 1928 and in 1994 it was renovated to reflect the 1890s layout.
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The burial ground was bought by St Marylebone Vestry in 1807 after Paddington Street burial grounds were closed. St John's Church was built in 1813, originally a chapel of ease for the developing Portman and Eyre Estates. Both church and burial ground were consecrated by the Bishop of London on 24 May 1814. The burial ground closed in 1855 when St Marylebone Cemetery in East Finchley opened. The former burial ground was converted into a public garden in 1886, opening as St John's Wood Church Grounds. There are thought to be 50,000 graves here. Among the many monuments is that of water colourist John Sell Cotman. The garden has fine trees, formal displays and now a wildlife area. In front of the church is a Neo-baroque war memorial with bronze sculpture of St George and the Dragon.
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The remains of the former churchyard of St John's Church is a narrow strip of garden that runs around the church perimeter. St John's, Smith Square was designed by Thomas Archer (1668-1743) and was consecrated in 1726. Damaged in WWII, it was restored and is now a concert hall. Mature trees and shrubs are planted within a stone coping, the footings of the former railings, and the garden is now defined with stone bollards. Smith Square, 'an exceptionally well preserved C18th enclave, was laid out by Sir James Smith from c.1715 and has some surviving early C18th terraced houses.
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St Margaret Westminster is surrounded by its former burial ground, which had probably been in use since the C12th until it was cleansed of gravestones and grassed over in 1881. Today it is laid to lawn and traversed by a single path with good mature trees and a few shrubs near the church. No tombs or gravestones survive apart from one railed tomb slab to Alexander Davies (d.1665), who owned lands that later belonged to the Grosvenor family. The site is surrounded by good early C18th cast-iron railings, obelisk piers and octagonal stone bollards; also remaining are six mid C19th lamp standards.
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St Martin-in-the-Fields gained its name from the fields that once surrounded it, and there has been a church here from at least Norman times. A mid-C16th church was enlarged in the early C17th, but the present church is that of James Gibb, completed in 1726. It was patronised by royalty due to the proximity of the Palace of Westminster. The former parish burial grounds have largely disappeared as a result of building, with one burial site covered by the National Gallery's northern block, and another by Charing Cross Road. To the south an area known as Waterman's Churchyard was lost to improvements in c.1831 and new catacombs under the church were built in compensation. Part of the churchyard immediately around the church survived, which included a strip on the north side and an area at the east end. This was paved with flagstones and planted with trees by the MPGA and opened to the public in 1887. It has recently been improved as part of restoration of the church that commenced in 2006 and now provides a pleasant public courtyard with seating.