Description
Connaught Square was built between 1821-30 as part of S P Cockerell's plan for Tyburnia when the land within the extensive estate owned by the Bishops of London began to be developed in the early C19th. According to the Report of the Royal Commission on London Squares the private communal garden was laid out in 1809. In 1928 it was described as an 'oblong area surrounded by a sparse hedge and attractively laid out with well-kept lawn and some fine trees'. Today the garden is surrounded by privet hedge and a wire mesh fence; a perimeter walk follows its oval shape and its mature London plane trees dominate the square.
Practical Information
| Site location | Connaught Square, Paddington |
|---|---|
| Postcode | W2 |
| What3Words | ///issued.films.mole |
| Type of Site | Garden Square |
| Borough | Westminster |
| Open to Public | No |
| Opening Times | private, for keyholders only |
| Public Transport | Tube: Marble Arch |
| Research Updated | 1 November 2007 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
Land to the north of Hyde Park was for centuries farmland owned by the Church of England, the area known as Tyburnia after the river Tyburn that flows underground. It was at Tyburn Gallows at Marble Arch that public executions were held until 1783. The development of the Bishop of London's large Paddington Estate began after that, with an early masterplan drawn up by Samuel Pepys Cockerell (1754-1827), the estate surveyor, possibly begun in 1805 although little was built until the 1820s. Cockerell was succeeded as estate surveyor by George Gutch (c.1790-1874), who modified and intensified the layout, and drew up his 'Final Plan of Tyburnia' in 1838. In 1928 the garden of Connaught Square, still owned by the Paddington Estate Trustees, was provided for the use of residents of adjoining houses and was managed by a Committee of occupants. The expenses of maintenance were assessed proportionately on each house, although the Trustees had the power to undertake maintenance in cases of neglect.
In 1954 a 90-acre area of land within the Church Commissioners estate containing C19th terraces south of Sussex Gardens was consolidated as the Hyde Park Estate. The cost of maintenance of the gardens is through an annual service charge to lessees who have exclusive rights to use the gardens.
In 1954 a 90-acre area of land within the Church Commissioners estate containing C19th terraces south of Sussex Gardens was consolidated as the Hyde Park Estate. The cost of maintenance of the gardens is through an annual service charge to lessees who have exclusive rights to use the gardens.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ275810 |
|---|---|
| Site Ownership | Church Commissioners |
| Site Management | Estate Management Scheme, Gardens Committee |
| Dates | 1809; 1821-30 |
| Listed Structures | LBII: Nos. 1 - 15; 8, 10 & 10a; 23 - 37; 38; 39 - 46; 47 Connaught Square |
| On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens | No |
| Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965 | No |
| Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931 | Yes |
| Local Authority | Westminster |
| In Conservation Area | Yes |
| Conservation Area Name | Bayswater |
| Tree Preservation Order | Yes |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
Please note the Inventory and its content are provided for your general information only and are subject to change. It is your responsibility to check the accuracy.
Nearby parks and gardens
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.
Norfolk Crescent, together with Oxford and Cambridge Squares, was created on the site of the earlier, much larger Stanhope Square. The area was within the Bishop of London's extensive Paddington Estate and was developed from 1838 as part of estate surveyor George Gutch's 'Final Plan for Tybernia'. The form of the garden is intact although the surrounding area was redeveloped in the 1960s. Nowadays the garden contains notable mature London plane trees, modern bedding, a central privet-hedged enclosure and modern railings.
Great Cumberland Place was built as part of the Portman Estate development, which took place between the 1760s and 1820. On an axis with Marble Arch, the southern part of Great Cumberland Place was planned as a circus or double crescent, but only the eastern crescent was completed, built in 1789. The crescent of houses, including the Western Marble Arch Synagogue at No.32, are now set back from the road behind a landscaped open space, which was laid out as a memorial to the Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, with a statue unveiled in 1998.
