Description
This is a strip of private garden in front of Nos. 1-7 Edwardes Place, set behind a brick wall with railings, gate, trees and shrubberies. The houses were built in c.1820 as part of Lord Kensington's Edwardes Square development, and undertaken in the first period of building that was focussed along the Kensington to Hammersmith Road.
Practical Information
| Site location | 1-7 Edwardes Place, Kensington High Street |
|---|---|
| Postcode | W8 |
| What3Words | ///fleet.mirror.guards |
| Type of Site | Private Garden |
| Borough | Kensington & Chelsea |
| Open to Public | No |
| Opening Times | private |
| Public Transport | London Overground/Tube (District): Kensington (Olympia). |
| Research Updated | 1 October 2007 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
The first period of building included Edwardes Square, Earls Terrace, Pembroke Square (q.q.v.), terraces in Abington Road as well as a number of other terraces on Kensington High Street that are no longer in existence. This small terrace was originally intended to consist of 10 houses and to be called Elderton Row, set forward from the adjacent longer and grander Earls Terrace of 25 houses, at the east of which there was originally another small terrace matching Edwardes Place, but this was demolished in 1923/4.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ248791 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 0.0271 |
| Site Ownership | private |
| Dates | 1820 |
| Listed Structures | LBII: 1-5 Edwardes Place |
| 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 | No |
| Local Authority | Kensington & Chelsea |
| In Conservation Area | Yes |
| Conservation Area Name | Edwardes Square, Scarsdale & Abingdon |
| 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
This is a private area of garden for residents of Earl's Terrace, which was laid out as part of the Edwardes estate and developed by Louis Leon Changeur, who also developed Edwardes Square. The terrace is set back from the south side of High Street Kensington, fronted by the strip of garden laid out with areas of shrubs and grass, with a lodge at each end and railings to the road. Behind the terrace are private gardens.
Warwick Square was laid out by Lord Kensington's surveyor William Cutbush between 1824-39 but it was not a successful development. It was later bisected by the roadway, now Warwick Gardens, a major one-way route south. In the centre of the road is an area of landscaping around the Queen Victoria Monument, a memorial erected by inhabitants of the borough of Kensington. Designed by H L Florence in 1904, the granite column is topped with an urn and has reliefs of the Queen on the faces. It was re-erected here in 1934. All that remains of the houses of Warwick Square are Nos. 1 - 9 Warwick Gardens. The central area with the memorial column has planters either side and a drinking trough to the south, sited here in 1899 by the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association at the behest of 'R McC'.
Leighton House Museum is the former home of Victorian artist Frederic Lord Leighton (1830-1896), a grand house with a large secluded garden. The house with purpose-built painting studio was designed for him in the mid-1860s by architect George Aitchison on a plot adjacent to Holland Farm, part of the Holland Estate. At that time the area to the north was open land, but gradually other grand houses were built, and the area became a centre for artists, writers and politicians. Leighton's immediate neighbour was the painter Val Prinsep, whose house by Philip Webb was built at the same time as Leighton's, and later residents included Sir Luke Fildes. Leighton lived here until his death in 1896, the house then opening as a museum. With funding from the HLF, the garden of Leighton House was restored in 1997 based on a plan of 1896 that showed formal beds immediately in front of the house and a large lawn with perimeter herbaceous borders. A trellis covered part of the path on the west of the garden and two mounds were originally planted with substantial trees.
