Description
Cornwall Gardens is an elongated garden square with three private communal garden enclosures. It was developed by Thomas and John Broadwood, whose family owned the land, and became famous as piano makers. The gardens have magnificent plane trees dating from the 1870s and are overlooked by Italianate terraces probably designed by the Broadwood estate surveyor Thomas Cundy III. The central garden has the original arched cast-iron entrance gates but the perimeter railings were removed during WWII, and the gardens are bounded by privet hedges.
Practical Information
| Site location | Cornwall Gardens |
|---|---|
| Postcode | SW7 4AW |
| What3Words | ///sculpture.leap.lows |
| Type of Site | Garden Square |
| Borough | Kensington & Chelsea |
| Open to Public | Occasionally |
| Opening Times | Has opened for London Open Gardens. Otherwise private, for keyholders only |
| Public Transport | Tube: Gloucester Road (District, Circle). Bus: 49, 74 |
| Research Updated | 1 October 2013 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
Cornwall Gardens was developed on a thin block of land stretching east and west, which belonged to the Broadwood family from 1803 and was at that time a market garden. Thomas and John Broadwood were probably encouraged in their endeavour by the success of the Vallotton Estate to the north. The original layout and the design of the earlier houses is ascribed to Thomas Cundy III, the estate's surveyor, from whom they commissioned two tall Italianate terraces facing a central communal garden flanked by two access roads with mews at the rear, described by Nikolaus Pevsner as 'the classic Kensington High Victorian formula'. It was named Cornwall Gardens for the Prince of Wales' coming of age. Building on the north side commenced in 1871, with the last group that faced Gloucester Road completed by 1876. Its early residents included lawyers, senior civil servants and Empire administrators, and Thomas Cundy III himself moved into No.82. The west end of Cornwall Gardens was built a little later between 1876-8, probably to the designs of Edward Habershon and Brock, and developed by builder William Willett, Cundy apparently losing interest.
Thomas Cundy's original plan had allowed for a church and more housing to complete the western end but this was prevented from taking place due to the cutting of the Metropolitan and District Railway. Constructed between 1864-69, the railway took in this end of the site on a north-west/south-east axis (see Daws' map of 1879). The land was eventually returned to the estate by 1875, and Willett's plans to complete the development were then approved. These included two vast and elaborate buildings, influenced by the French Renaissance style then fashionable, the Garden House and Cornwall House. Designed by James Trant Smith, they were built in 1877-79.
The communal gardens remain private today, maintained by a Garden Committee for the use of permitted keyholders, and consist of three enclosures divided by the access roads. Each section is laid out formally with straight paths around the perimeter, although the central section had semi-circular paths at each end, thus giving them more emphasis. The central garden retains the original arched cast-iron entrance gates but the perimeter railings enclosing the gardens were removed during WWII; their reinstatement has been proposed by Cornwall Gardens Residents Association. The eastern and central enclosures are enclosed by privet hedge, while the western enclosure is railed and more visible from the exterior. The gardens are shaded by particularly tall plane trees dating from c.1870, but an irrigation system enables lawns and flowering shrubs to flourish and has made further planting possible.
Thomas Cundy's original plan had allowed for a church and more housing to complete the western end but this was prevented from taking place due to the cutting of the Metropolitan and District Railway. Constructed between 1864-69, the railway took in this end of the site on a north-west/south-east axis (see Daws' map of 1879). The land was eventually returned to the estate by 1875, and Willett's plans to complete the development were then approved. These included two vast and elaborate buildings, influenced by the French Renaissance style then fashionable, the Garden House and Cornwall House. Designed by James Trant Smith, they were built in 1877-79.
The communal gardens remain private today, maintained by a Garden Committee for the use of permitted keyholders, and consist of three enclosures divided by the access roads. Each section is laid out formally with straight paths around the perimeter, although the central section had semi-circular paths at each end, thus giving them more emphasis. The central garden retains the original arched cast-iron entrance gates but the perimeter railings enclosing the gardens were removed during WWII; their reinstatement has been proposed by Cornwall Gardens Residents Association. The eastern and central enclosures are enclosed by privet hedge, while the western enclosure is railed and more visible from the exterior. The gardens are shaded by particularly tall plane trees dating from c.1870, but an irrigation system enables lawns and flowering shrubs to flourish and has made further planting possible.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ260791 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 0.6873 |
| Site Ownership | private |
| Site Management | Cornwall Gardens Residents Association |
| Dates | 1862 |
| Designers | Thomas Cundy III |
| Listed Structures | LBII: 6-16 consec., 17-44 consec., 55-82 consec., 83-93 consec. Cornwall Gardens, Cornwall House and Garden House and railings to east. |
| 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 | Kensington & Chelsea |
| In Conservation Area | Yes |
| Conservation Area Name | De Vere, Kensington Court and Cornwall |
| Tree Preservation Order | Yes - TPO area |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
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Nearby parks and gardens
Emperor's Gate was built on land once part of the Edwardes Estate owned by Lord Kensington, which had been sold when the railway was constructed here in the 1860s. Surplus to railway requirements, it was sold and developed for housing in 1872-5. The terraces overlook the small railed garden, which has grass, seating and a number of trees, including horse chestnut.
St Stephen's Church was built in 1867 when new parishes were created in the large parish of Kensington to serve the growing population, as house development accelerated. A small area of the church garden is publicly accessible along Southwell Street with gravel, flower beds and a number of trees. A stone seat was installed here in memory of Susan Sadleir (d.1991). A further area of garden to the south of the church is not publicly accessible, where a Church Room has been built and the trees here have Tree Preservation Orders.
The development of this area of Kensington took place largely after the Great Exhibition of 1851 when Parliament decided to establish a 'cultural centre' and grand residential estate. The land was owned by the 1851 Commissioners and a number of private estates, including the Harrington estate, where building began in 1855 on the site of former market gardens. The gardens were laid out c.1860 for the use of those living in surrounding houses, this privilege extended to those in the near neighbourhood. In WWII there were air raid shelters under the gardens. Since early 1990s the residents have been restoring the gardens, and paths have been re-drawn and gravelled to the original layout. In the interim additional planting had taken place, including a grove of 12 silver birch trees for the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977.