Collingham Gardens

Like much of the borough, the Courtfield area developed rapidly in the latter part of the C19th where open fields had previously covered the land from the village of Kensington to the Thames. The Court Fields originally belonged to Earl's Court Manor and were part of the large tract of land owned by the Gunter family who had made their money selling high class confectionary in Berkeley Square. They began to develop the estate from the late 1840s, commencing with The Boltons (q.v.) and continuing northwards. Many of the street names reflect the family's connections in the West Riding of Yorkshire, including Collingham Gardens, the village where Captain Robert Gunter lived in the C19th.

The houses of Collingham Gardens are described as representing 'the extreme point of late Victorian individualism' (Survey of London) and are placed in the setting of a square that was very simply laid out, with grass and trees and shrubs around the edge. Paths divided the rectangular space into three main areas. In 1928 the garden enclosure at Collingham Gardens was owned by Sir R V Gunter and leased to Mr G J Spicer, solicitor and son of John Spicer, the lease expiring in 1983. Spicer had similar leases from the Gunter family for the garden enclosures of Bina Gardens West, Bolton Gardens, Bramham Gardens, Gledhow Gardens and Wetherby Gardens (q.q.v.). Collingham Gardens was for the use of lessees who paid a rent for its upkeep, this maintenance undertaken through a Committee. In that year it was described as 'An oblong enclosure flanked on the two narrow sides byroads and on the other two sides by the rear of dwelling-houses. Laid out as an attractive ornamental garden, with a thick shrubbery along the borders abutting on roads. Contains some fine trees'. The elaborate original entrance gate is still there, but the railings are modern; like elsewhere in the borough garden railings were removed for the war effort. Protected under 1851 Garden Square Act.