Description
Grove Terrace Squares are three strips of public gardens located between Highgate Road and the slip-roads serving the Georgian houses of Grove Terrace and Grove End. The land was acquired by the LCC for £754 in order to preserve it as public open space and it was maintained by St Pancras Vestry, later Borough Council. The 'squares' were previously enclosed but the railings were removed in WWII when civil defence chambers were built underground, a staircase to which is still visible. They have wide swathes of lawn into which are set a series of shaped flower beds with seasonal displays, shaded by mature trees including oak and London plane.
Practical Information
| Previously known as | Grove Terrace Green |
|---|---|
| Site location | Grove Terrace/Highgate Road |
| Postcode | NW5 |
| What3Words | ///trips.metro.accent |
| Type of Site | Public Gardens |
| Borough | Camden |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | unrestricted |
| Public Transport | Tube/Rail: Kentish Town, Archway (Northern) then bus. Bus: 143, 210, 271, 214, C2, C11. |
| Research Updated | 1 October 2013 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
The fine houses of Grove Terrace date from the C18th and C19th; Nos.6-17 were built in c.1793 by R Cooke, Nos.18-27 in c.1780 by J Cheeke, and Nos.1-5 are early C19th. This district including part of Highgate Road was marked as 'Green Street' in John Rocque's map of 1746; just to the south of Grove Terrace and College Lane the name remains in Little Green Street. The garden 'squares' that separate the terraces from Highgate Road feature in James Frederick King's extraordinary Kentish Town Panorama of c.1850. Their preservation under the London Squares Preservation Act arose as a result of intervention by the LCC. The land was acquired at a cost of £754 under the LCC General Powers Act of 1892 through a deal whereby the Dartmouths and other major owners made it available at less than market value provided that the LCC and St Pancras Vestry would continue to maintain them as ‘ornamental gardens' and adopt the roads in question. In the 1928 Report of the Royal Commission on London Squares they were described as 'very attractive open spaces with well-kept lawns and some fine trees', maintained by St Pancras Borough Council. On the other side of Highgate Road are Highgate Enclosures (q.v.), a wider area of public gardens, also protected under the London Squares Preservation Act.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ285859 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 0.3089 |
| Site Ownership | LB Camden |
| Site Management | Parks & Open Spaces |
| Dates | probably C19th |
| Listed Structures | LBII*: Nos. 6-27 Grove Terrace, attached railings/lamp-holders. LBII: Nos. 1-5 Grove Terrace and attached railings; Grove End House (150 Highgate Road) |
| 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 | Camden |
| In Conservation Area | Yes |
| Conservation Area Name | Dartmouth Park |
| Tree Preservation Order | Not known |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Other LA Designation | Public Open Space (Small Local). London Squares Preservation Act 1931. Strategic View Corridor |
Gallery
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Nearby parks and gardens
Highgate Enclosures consists of three landscaped areas on the south-west side of Highgate Road that formed part of the old village green of Kentish Town, a once extensive area of commonland that was gradually enclosed. This district was marked as 'Green Street' in John Rocque's map of 1746. By the C19th they existed as green enclosures separating the villas of The Grove from Highgate Road, by 1906 overlooked by the Edwardian Lissenden Gardens Estate. In 1940 an air raid shelter was built in the most northerly enclosure for use by tenants of the estate. The railed gardens have grass, shrubs and some flower beds, with paths and seating.
Lissenden Gardens Estate is a small Edwardian development by Alfred Armstrong comprised of 3 red-brick Arts and Crafts style blocks of mansion flats, Parliament Hill Mansions, Clevedon Mansions and Lissenden Mansions. Built between 1898-1906, the estate was designed by Boehmer and Gibbs, whose initial plan of 1897 went through various changes but from the first incorporated a garden. This was laid out in 1899, later converted to tennis courts, with a Gardener's Cottage built on the north side. The plane trees on the estate roads and other landscaping provided a green foil to the buildings and a footpath gave access to Parliament Hill Fields. The Gardener's Cottage has been replaced in 2010 by a modern house designed by J J Lorraine for his family to live in.
York Rise Estate was built as a garden estate for the St Pancras Housing Improvement Society in 1937-8, designed in neo-Georgian style. The Society was founded in 1924, its aims to buy and convert poor quality old properties or build new housing for only a small profit. The London Midland & Scottish Railway invited the Society to build a new estate on railway lands north of Kentish Town and each of the 5 blocks was named after a railway or engineering pioneer: Brunel, Faraday, Newcomen, Stephenson and Trevethick. The estate was laid out with formal gardens between Faraday and Newcomen, a playground between Newcomen and Brunel, six drying grounds that still retain their concrete posts; originally there were allotments behind Trevithick.
