Description
Millbank Gardens is a rectangular public garden that was created as part of the LCC's Millbank Estate of 1897-1902, whose towering mansion blocks overlook the garden. The Millbank Estate was built on a site formerly that of the Millbank Penitentiary, which had been earmarked for public housing by a Royal Commission in 1885, with its road plan established in 1896. The estate streets are tree-lined, with planted courtyards between blocks of different shapes. Surrounded by modern railings, the public garden has paving and areas of grass with terraces in the centre and at each end. There are a number of trees and planted tubs, as well as bedding displays.
Practical Information
| Site location | John Islip Street/Bessborough Place/Erasmus Street, Millbank |
|---|---|
| Postcode | SW1V 3SG |
| What3Words | ///remind.pots.popped |
| Type of Site | Public Gardens |
| Borough | Westminster |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | 8am - dusk |
| Public Transport | Tube: Pimlico (Victoria) |
| Research Updated | 1 January 2014 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
The area gets its name from a mill that once stood here belonging to Westminster Abbey. In 1730 the mill was replaced by a private house, itself later demolished in the early C19th when the Millbank Penitentiary was built. The prison operated from 1816 - 1890 and was eventually demolished when the Tate Gallery (q.v.) was built. Part of the site of the former Penitentiary was earmarked for public housing by a Royal Commission in 1885, with its road plan established in 1896.
The Millbank Estate of 1897-1902 echoed and pushed further the LCC's aims of providing high standards of design for working class housing of its earlier Boundary Estate in Shoreditch (q.v.). Intended to house 4,430 people and built along Arts and Crafts socialist principles, the estate was designed with careful consideration to quality and detailing. Unlike other large housing projects, tenants were not obliged to share toilet and scullery facilities, and spacious courtyards, now planted, were provided between blocks of different shapes. The estate streets were tree-lined and Millbank Gardens was provided as a public amenity for the estate, a rectangular garden from which the estate layout radiated. The earliest block on the estate, Hogarth House of 1897-9 was designed by R. Minton Taylor, who also designed or oversaw all but one of the other blocks. When completed, the estate consisted of 17 red-brick mansion blocks named after eminent artists including Turner, Gainsborough, Reynolds, Wilkie and Ruskin. Millbank Primary School, built over the prison graveyard, was provided at the same time as the estate.
Now surrounded by modern railings, Millbank Gardens has long been a popular amenity for residents and visitors. It once had a lily pond, and the landscaping today consists of paving and areas of grass, with terraces in the centre and at each end, a number of trees and planted tubs, as well as bedding displays, and a red brick shelter to the south. During WWII a bomb landed in the gardens, but luckily did not explode, although buildings on the estate suffered bomb damage. A reminder of the old Penitentiary remains as part of its old moat in the courtyard of Wilkie House, which was used as the Estate's communal drying area and recently transformed into a community garden in 2013.
Today the Millbank Estate is made up of 561 individual flats, occupied by 55% leaseholders and 45% council tenants. Since 1997 it has been managed on behalf of WCC by the Millbank Estate Management Organisation (MEMO), a non-profit Tenant Management Organisation (TMO) run by and for the residents of the Estate. The Millbank Estate has won a number of awards, including two in the 2013 NFTMO Awards for 'Initiative in the Community' and 'Initiative in Tackling Anti-social Behaviour'.
In 2011 the Peabody Trust acquired a number of residential properties in the Pimlico area from the Crown Estate, but not within the LCC estate, although confusingly adopted the same name, Millbank Estate.
The Millbank Estate of 1897-1902 echoed and pushed further the LCC's aims of providing high standards of design for working class housing of its earlier Boundary Estate in Shoreditch (q.v.). Intended to house 4,430 people and built along Arts and Crafts socialist principles, the estate was designed with careful consideration to quality and detailing. Unlike other large housing projects, tenants were not obliged to share toilet and scullery facilities, and spacious courtyards, now planted, were provided between blocks of different shapes. The estate streets were tree-lined and Millbank Gardens was provided as a public amenity for the estate, a rectangular garden from which the estate layout radiated. The earliest block on the estate, Hogarth House of 1897-9 was designed by R. Minton Taylor, who also designed or oversaw all but one of the other blocks. When completed, the estate consisted of 17 red-brick mansion blocks named after eminent artists including Turner, Gainsborough, Reynolds, Wilkie and Ruskin. Millbank Primary School, built over the prison graveyard, was provided at the same time as the estate.
Now surrounded by modern railings, Millbank Gardens has long been a popular amenity for residents and visitors. It once had a lily pond, and the landscaping today consists of paving and areas of grass, with terraces in the centre and at each end, a number of trees and planted tubs, as well as bedding displays, and a red brick shelter to the south. During WWII a bomb landed in the gardens, but luckily did not explode, although buildings on the estate suffered bomb damage. A reminder of the old Penitentiary remains as part of its old moat in the courtyard of Wilkie House, which was used as the Estate's communal drying area and recently transformed into a community garden in 2013.
Today the Millbank Estate is made up of 561 individual flats, occupied by 55% leaseholders and 45% council tenants. Since 1997 it has been managed on behalf of WCC by the Millbank Estate Management Organisation (MEMO), a non-profit Tenant Management Organisation (TMO) run by and for the residents of the Estate. The Millbank Estate has won a number of awards, including two in the 2013 NFTMO Awards for 'Initiative in the Community' and 'Initiative in Tackling Anti-social Behaviour'.
In 2011 the Peabody Trust acquired a number of residential properties in the Pimlico area from the Crown Estate, but not within the LCC estate, although confusingly adopted the same name, Millbank Estate.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ299785 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 0.224 |
| Site Ownership | WCC |
| Site Management | Parks Service (Contractors: Continental Landscapes Ltd). Millbank Estate Management Organisation |
| Dates | 1897-1902 |
| Designers | London County Council, supervised by R Minton Taylor |
| Listed Structures | LBII: 12 blocks on Millbank Estate: Ruskin House, Romney (Stubbs) House, Landseer House, Leighton House, Millais House, Mulready House, Lawrence House, Maclise House, Turner House, Wilkie House, Morland House, Rossetti House |
| 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 | Westminster |
| In Conservation Area | Yes |
| Conservation Area Name | Millbank |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
| Other LA Designation | London Square |
Gallery
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
The Tate Gallery was built in 1897 named after Sir Henry Tate who gave his collection to the nation and paid for the building. The site selected was part of the former site of the Millbank Penitentiary, which was demolished in 1890. Areas of garden flank the main entrance and as the buildings have been successively enlarged, the landscaped areas have also been re-modelled over the years. In 2000 the gallery was re-dedicated to British art and renamed Tate Britain, when the new Tate Modern was constructed at the former Bankside Power Station.
Millbank Tower, a 32-floor office tower designed by Ronald Ward & Partners, was built for Vickers in a pioneering curtain walled block of 1963, briefly the tallest building in London. In and around the podium, the landscaping has asymmetric beds, paving, planters and areas of shrubbery, particularly in the courtyard where the gardens are reflected in the mirrored ground floor windows. The effect is stylish and completely 'of its time'. Part of the site is known as the 'Speaker's Stables', presumably after such a facility that once existed here.
Riverside Walk Garden is on a triangular site bounded by Millbank and the Thames, overlooked by a row of terraced houses c.1843-45, part of Thomas Cubitt's Pimlico development. Millbank is named for the mill that stood here until 1730 when it was replaced by a private house, itself later demolished when the Millbank Penitentiary was built. Prisoners were held waiting deportation to Australia, and one of two large bollards remains, marking the gateway through which prisoners passed before boarding boats to Australia. The public gardens were created in 1965 when Riverwalk House was built, but underwent a complete re-landscaping in 2004, the new design reflecting the site's historical associations with the river and repositioning Henry Moore's bronze sculpture 'Locking Piece', on loan since 1968. Check current layout, re-landscaping 2016?
