Christchurch Gardens

The land for a burial ground for St Margaret Westminster (q.v.) was given in 1625. In 1638-42 a chapel of ease, Broadway Chapel, was built here, which was later replaced by Christ Church, Westminster built by Sir Ambrose Poynter in 1841-44, from which the garden derives its name. Several notorious people were interred in the churchyard. The church was later destroyed in the Blitz in 1941 and the site left as open space until it was converted into a public garden in 1950. The garden was laid out as a simple grassed plot bounded by a low brick wall with a stone coping, which was formerly surmounted by the iron railings of the church. There are no burial monuments remaining but several mature trees, a welcome sight in Victoria Street. Adjacent to the garden is a bronze statue commemorating Henry Purcell, 1995, by Glynn Williams. Entitled 'The Flowering of the English Baroque' it was unveiled by Princess Margaret on 22 November 1995, the tercentenary of Purcell's death. In 1970 the Suffragette Monument was installed in the gardens; created by Lorne McKean and Edwin Russell and fabricated in fibreglass, the scroll-like form was set in a paved area that was re-landscaped with paving, seating and formal planting in 2009/10. In June 2013 the Memorial to Victims of Violence was unveiled in the gardens, commissioned by Victims' Voice, a charity set up to support the families of murder victims. The memorial by carver Jim Martins takes the form of a commemorative stone with a bronze plaque.

The Victoria Business Improvement District (BID) was set up on 1 April 2010 as a not-for-profit company limited by guarantee. There are four key strands to its work: Security and Business Resilience, Inclusive Economy, Destination Victoria, and Public Realm and Greening. Under the latter strand, Victoria BID instigated a project in 2017 to improve and regenerate Christchurch Gardens and appointed ReardonSmith Landscape as landscape architect. They worked closely with WCC and a public consultation event encouraged input from the local community. In 2019 the final design was adopted by WCC, who provided £2.5m for the project. Construction commenced in January 2020 and was completed by September the same year when the gardens re-opened to the public. The new scheme provides more seating, a diverse planting palette (including species from the RHS Perfect for Pollinators list), new lawns and trees, bird and bat boxes, log piles, and an extensive jasmine climber wall, new lighting columns, a history panel and new paving that incorporates a design reflecting the site’s history as a burial ground. Other improvements include permeable paving and rainwater diffuser units that will retain rainfall as part of a sustainable drainage system (SuDS) approach. The scheme also incorporates a drinking water fountain to encourage water bottle reuse. The three existing memorials have been retained in the design.