Description
The land here was once part of Wandsworth Common, built over for housing in the C19th. When St Anne's Church was built as a new parish church in 1820-24 it had a prominent position at the edge of the new suburbs. A Commissioners Church, St Anne's was designed by Robert Smirke in Greek Revival style. Alterations were made to the church in the 1890s when William White truncated the western gallery and E W Mountford added a chancel, Lady Chapel and vestries. The church is set within pleasant landscaping with lawns, some fine trees, shrub and flower beds. In front of the imposing west front of the church, which has a pedimented portico and circular domed tower, is a circular grass plot surrounded by roadway. The entrance gates and cast iron piers on St Anne's Hill were restored in 1993. St Anne's Crescent has some fine early Victorian houses, No. 18 having decorative wrought iron balconies.
Practical Information
| Site location | St Ann's Crescent/St Ann's Hill |
|---|---|
| Postcode | SW18 |
| What3Words | ///pouch.brand.couple |
| Type of Site | Public Gardens |
| Borough | Wandsworth |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | 8am - dusk |
| Public Transport | Rail: Wandsworth Town. Bus: 37, 39, 44, 77A, 156, 170, 337 |
| Research Updated | 1 May 2005 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ260744 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 0.3 |
| Site Ownership | Church |
| Site Management | LB Wandsworth Parks Service |
| Dates | 1820-24 |
| Listed Structures | LBII*: St Ann's Church. LBII: No. 18 St Ann's Crescent |
| 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 | Wandsworth |
| In Conservation Area | Yes |
| Conservation Area Name | Wandsworth Common |
| Tree Preservation Order | Yes (no. 12) |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | Yes - Archaeological Priority Area |
| Other LA Designation | Incidental Public Open Space |
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
Garratt Lane Old Burial Ground was in use as a burial ground from 1800 when the parish purchased a field to provide additional burial space when All Saints churchyard was full. The last burial took place here in c.1930 although Wandsworth Cemetery was established in 1878 and St Ann's Church was built in 1820 to serve the growing population. The burial ground was opened as a public garden with the original east-west path in the cemetery realigned to the south. In 2000 a semi-circular paved area backed by shrub planting was created off Garratt Lane with benches and sculptural light fixtures. A number of chest tombs and gravestones are set into the lawns.
Wandsworth Town Hall was built in a number of phases, the earliest central portion in 1926 by E L Elford, the addition to the east was built in 1935-37 and designed by E A Hunt, with relief sculptures as a frieze. The most recent buildings to the west date from the 1970s. There are formal gardens between the civic buildings and Wandsworth High Street and Fairfield Street. The gardens along Wandsworth High Street have fountain, lawns and floral displays, with three plane trees along the road frontage, bounded by railings. Along Fairfield Street the garden has lawn with flower beds and tubs.
The site of the Meeting House and burial ground was land originally bestowed by Edward the Confessor on the Abbots of Westminster, which was subsequently given to the Earls of Spencer after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Copyhold on a small house, shop and three sheds on this land was held by Joan Stringer, a local Quaker, who in 1674 underleased this to the Society of Friends. The first Meeting House was built in 1674 and cost £202. Joan Stringer is buried in the burial ground, with a stone recording her as 'giver of the ground'. In 1778 the present Meeting House was built with the original flagstones kept to form a passageway; it was one of the first properties in the area to have a piped gas supply. The cottage on the street was probably here 300 years ago, now refurbished with a new façade in 1927; in c.1955 the side entrance was covered over. The burial ground has many of the old gravestones, including members of the Hanbury family; Thomas Hanbury had a house at Wisley that he later gave to the Royal Horticultural Society.