Description
St James's Gardens closed in 2017, its site taken for the construction works of the new HS2 Euston Station. Following an Act of Parliament, the site was originally purchased in 1788 as an additional burial ground for St James Piccadilly. Encroached upon by the railway to the east, it was laid out as a public garden by the St Pancras Vestry in 1887, and the headstones mostly cleared to the boundaries. St James's Gardens were re-landscaped in the 1980s by Camden Council, a rectangular site with grass, rose beds and a few mature trees, a playground area and an extensive semi-circular pergola. When the gardens were finally closed, extensive archaeological works were undertaken.
Practical Information
| Previously known as | Burial ground of St James Piccadilly |
|---|---|
| Site location | Hampstead Road/Cardington Street |
| Postcode | NW1 |
| What3Words | ///alone.sleepy.fuel |
| Type of Site | Other |
| Borough | Camden |
| Open to Public | No |
| Public Transport | Tube: Euston Square (Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan, Northern). Rail/London Overground/Tube (Northern/Victoria): Euston. Bus: 24, 27, 29, 134, 135, 30, 73. |
| Research Updated | 17 October 2024 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
Following an Act of Parliament this land was originally purchased and laid out in 1788 as an additional burial ground for St James Piccadilly (q.v.), the parish building behind it a new chapel of St James's. The chapel, built to designs of Thomas Hardwick, was consecrated in 1793 but has since been demolished. At one time the burial ground was 4 acres, and it is estimated that 50,000 burials took place here before it was closed. The Vestry of St Pancras bought the land from St James Church in 1887 for £3,600, with faculties and Acts. Reduced to 3 acres due to encroachment by the railway to the east, it was laid out as a garden by the vestry of St Pancras in 1887 at a cost of £1,600 paid for by the LCC, and the headstones mostly cleared to the boundaries. A plaque at the entrance recorded the opening as a public garden, which was maintained by St Pancras Borough Council. There were various features including a cast iron drinking fountain c.1886-7 that closely resembles a pattern illustrated in the Macfarlane's catalogue of c.1880.
There were a number of monuments in the public garden, but many neglected and decayed. A stone obelisk, although the upper part is broken, was thought to commemorate Charles Fitzroy, first Baron Southampton (d.1797), and his wife Anne (1810), with relief of 2 birds flanking a shield, above which is a coronet. This may be the work of John Bacon Jnr, whose Way tomb of 1804 at Acton it resembles. The Southampton family owned land in the south-west part of the present borough of Camden. The mid C19th Christie monument was also in the gardens, commemorating the founder of the auction house, James Christie, d.1803, and several of his family, in the form of a grey granite cross with inscriptions on each side of the plinth and with 4 cross-bars with semicircular arms. Another tombstone that remained in the gardens commemorates John Leverton who established his funeral undertakers' firm in 1789, making coffins in premises off Hampstead Road. It was the firm of Leverton's that conducted Diana, Princess of Wales's funeral in 1997.
The garden was re-landscaped in the 1980s by Camden Council, a rectangular site, with grass, rose beds and a few mature trees, a playground area and an extensive semi-circular pergola Ownership remained with the church, and it was leased to Camden Council. . The garden was designated as a site of local importance for nature conservation.
In June 2017 St James's Gardens was closed to make way for the new HS2 railway, and the expansion of Euston Station. The initial work involved exhuming all bodies buried here, and the removal of monuments and trees from the site. Extensive archaeological work was undertaken as a result of which over 40,000 burials have been discovered, including the remains of Captain Matthew Flinders, buried here in 1814. A Royal Navy explorer, Flinders led the first circumnavigation of Australia and is credited with giving the country its name. His remains will be reinterred in Donington, near Spalding, Lincolnshire, at St Mary and the Holy Rood Church where he was baptised, and where members of his family are buried.
The HS2 archaeological team have stated that: "The scientific study of human remains from St James burial ground will better our understanding of life and death in London’s 18th and 19th centuries, shedding light on health and disease, social status and lifestyle. Those buried in the long since demolished chapel and burial ground include individuals from all walks of life: paupers and nobility, artists and musicians, soldiers and sailors, inventors and industrialists, as well as victims of accidents, disease, suicide and murder. Additionally, in 2017, two Victorian time capsules were uncovered, marking the opening of the UK’s first “sober” hospital." It was agreed that remains discovered at St James's Gardens would be reinterred at Brookwood Cemetery, Surrey where a memorial monument has been erected within a new landscaped garden. The design of the monument takes inspiration from the form of the gravestones and ledgers found at St. James’s Gardens. Since that time the site has been cleared, for further information contact hs2.org.uk.
There were a number of monuments in the public garden, but many neglected and decayed. A stone obelisk, although the upper part is broken, was thought to commemorate Charles Fitzroy, first Baron Southampton (d.1797), and his wife Anne (1810), with relief of 2 birds flanking a shield, above which is a coronet. This may be the work of John Bacon Jnr, whose Way tomb of 1804 at Acton it resembles. The Southampton family owned land in the south-west part of the present borough of Camden. The mid C19th Christie monument was also in the gardens, commemorating the founder of the auction house, James Christie, d.1803, and several of his family, in the form of a grey granite cross with inscriptions on each side of the plinth and with 4 cross-bars with semicircular arms. Another tombstone that remained in the gardens commemorates John Leverton who established his funeral undertakers' firm in 1789, making coffins in premises off Hampstead Road. It was the firm of Leverton's that conducted Diana, Princess of Wales's funeral in 1997.
The garden was re-landscaped in the 1980s by Camden Council, a rectangular site, with grass, rose beds and a few mature trees, a playground area and an extensive semi-circular pergola Ownership remained with the church, and it was leased to Camden Council. . The garden was designated as a site of local importance for nature conservation.
In June 2017 St James's Gardens was closed to make way for the new HS2 railway, and the expansion of Euston Station. The initial work involved exhuming all bodies buried here, and the removal of monuments and trees from the site. Extensive archaeological work was undertaken as a result of which over 40,000 burials have been discovered, including the remains of Captain Matthew Flinders, buried here in 1814. A Royal Navy explorer, Flinders led the first circumnavigation of Australia and is credited with giving the country its name. His remains will be reinterred in Donington, near Spalding, Lincolnshire, at St Mary and the Holy Rood Church where he was baptised, and where members of his family are buried.
The HS2 archaeological team have stated that: "The scientific study of human remains from St James burial ground will better our understanding of life and death in London’s 18th and 19th centuries, shedding light on health and disease, social status and lifestyle. Those buried in the long since demolished chapel and burial ground include individuals from all walks of life: paupers and nobility, artists and musicians, soldiers and sailors, inventors and industrialists, as well as victims of accidents, disease, suicide and murder. Additionally, in 2017, two Victorian time capsules were uncovered, marking the opening of the UK’s first “sober” hospital." It was agreed that remains discovered at St James's Gardens would be reinterred at Brookwood Cemetery, Surrey where a memorial monument has been erected within a new landscaped garden. The design of the monument takes inspiration from the form of the gravestones and ledgers found at St. James’s Gardens. Since that time the site has been cleared, for further information contact hs2.org.uk.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ293826 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 1.0732 |
| Site Ownership | Formerly: Church (St Pancras), leased to LB Camden |
| Dates | 1788; 1887; 2017 |
| Listed Structures | LBII: Monument to Christie Family, obelisk to Baron Southampton, C19th drinking fountain |
| 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 | Camden |
| In Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | Yes Area of Special Character: Central London Area |
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
Euston Square does not currently exist as a garden square, temporarily built over as part of the Government's HS2 rail scheme of which Euston Station is the London Terminus. The garden square was laid out in the early C19th on the site of the Bedford Nursery Ground. It formed two rectangular strips either side of New Road, built as a cattle route to Smithfield Market and later renamed Euston Road. The southern side of Euston Square became Endsleigh Gardens in 1880 and only the northern part survives as a garden, enclosed by railings, with grass and mature London plane trees. Euston Station opened in 1837 and was enlarged over the next decades. The two lodges, inscribed with names of stations served by the London and North Western Railway, date from c.1870 and were once at the station entrance. They are now the only survivors of the formal 1870 layout, which was replaced by the new station in 1968. Following completion of HS2, the historic gardens are due to be reinstated.
The market was originally planned by John Nash in the 1820s as a third market for hay to serve Regent's Park. In 1834 it was known as Regent's Park Haymarket, and the modern plan preserves the outlines of this layout. It was established close to the Cumberland Basin, which was fed by an arm of Regent's Canal but eventually infilled in 1942/3. Cumberland Market Playground opened to the public in 1923. The market closed in 1926; an ice-house beneath was filled in during the 1930s. Now overlooked by modern low-rise council blocks and the Crown Estate's Windsor House, the gardens have been refurbished and part of the cobbled surfaces of the former market restored.
Clarence Gardens together with Munster Square was originally part of John Nash's plan of 1820 to provide a second market to complement Cumberland Market, but neither were built. The centre of the site was used as a nursery ground in the C19th. The land, owned by the Crown, was later leased to the LCC for a public garden, which opened in May 1907. It was laid out with walks and seats, an attractive garden surrounded by houses, divided into two rectangular enclosures by Osnaburgh Street. Now overlooked by modern housing, the garden was partially re-landscaped in 1972; the shape and its mature plane trees are the only historic features now remaining.
