Kildare Gardens

Westbourne Gardens, roughly triangular in plan, have a dominant terrace at the western base. Originally a private garden, it was acquired by WCC and opened to the public in the C20th. The asphalt paths are a simplified version of the pattern surveyed in 1862, and are possibly original. The garden boundary has recent railings and is planted with lime trees; within the garden there are several notable London plane trees, with shrubs and bedding displays.

Leinster Square, begun in the 1850s, was largely the work of builder and speculator George Wyatt although it is not known who designed the central garden. By the 1890s it was managed by a Residents' Garden Committee whose records indicate the emphasis placed on good behaviour and maintenance of the ornamental plantings. The original layout was probably that shown on the 1869 OS map, a rectangular garden with perimeter hedge of trees and shrubs, perimeter path and, on its east-west alignment, 3 trees and a central oval bed flanked by two circular beds containing shrubs and/or trees. A number of the mature London plane trees probably date from the original layout, now augmented by additional mature trees. The garden was refurbished in 1977 with extensive planting that largely survives today and the restoration of its iron railings, the originals probably removed in WWII.

Formerly called St Stephen's Square, this small town square was laid out c.1850-55 as part of development of the area for the St Stephen's Estate. By 1928 the Trustees of the Estate had sold the houses in the square to the lessees, who had rights of access to the central garden under leases that ran until 1955. The garden had been owned by Stephen Phillips and in 1928 it was described as 'a narrow rectangular enclosure containing a few well-grown trees'. There are notable London plane trees at the east and west ends. The garden has a new pergola and central paved area, and a discreet playground at the western end, a modern urn at the eastern end.