Description
The original chapel was built in 1814, replaced in 1883 by a new church that was destroyed by WWII bombing on 18 June 1944. It was not until 1961 that St Mary's Church was rebuilt to a traditional form. When the churchyard became a public garden the graves were cleared, with headstones set along the walls. There are a number of old London plane trees, and numerous shrubs and flowers, and some of the trees along Hammersmith Road have survived.
Practical Information
| Previously known as | St Mary West Kensington |
|---|---|
| Site location | 2 Edith Road/Hammersmith Road |
| Postcode | W14 9BA |
| What3Words | ///accent.pass.ranges |
| Type of Site | Public Gardens |
| Borough | Hammersmith & Fulham |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | 7.30am - dusk |
| Public Transport | Tube: Hammersmith (District, Piccadilly, Hammersmith & City) then bus. Bus: 9, 10, 27, 391 |
| Research Updated | 1 November 2011 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
St Mary's Chapel was built by land-owner Richard Hunt in order to serve parishioners of All Saints, Fulham (q.v.) as this hitherto rural part of Fulham was becoming more populated. The red-brick chapel was consecrated in 1813 and the building was later replaced by a larger church with a tall spire. St Mary's opened a school opposite the church that initially catered for 30 boys and 30 girls, which later moved elsewhere and the building is now offices. Numerous burials took place, and the church vaults were also used for many burials, so much so that at one time the smell of decaying corpses caused 'a fetid odour to constantly pervade the church'. In 1838 the bodies beneath the church were reinterred in the churchyard in one grave. The churchyard was closed for burial and converted to a public garden.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ240786 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 0.11 |
| Site Ownership | Church of England |
| Site Management | Churchyard: LBHF Environment Department, Parks Service |
| Dates | 1814, 1883/4, 1960/1 |
| Designers | Church: Seely & Paget |
| 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 | Hammersmith & Fulham |
| In Conservation Area | No |
| Tree Preservation Order | Yes - see note below |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
| Other LA Designation | TPO 35/12/71 London Plane (3), Acer, Poplar, Horse Chestnut (3) |
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
St Paul's Gardens are a vestige of the former grounds of St Paul's School for Boys, initially founded in the City of London in 1509, which was established in Hammersmith in 1884 until it moved to Barnes in 1968. The former boundary walls and a circular garden building remain from its earlier use, and there are a number of fine trees in the garden. On one of the gate piers is a plaque erected by Hammersmith & Fulham Historic Buildings Group in 2009 that relates to the D-Day Landing in June 1944.
Barons Keep is situated on the western edge of what was the Gunter Estate, the land purchased piecemeal by James Gunter from 1799 and mainly used as market gardens until it was developed for housing from the latter C19th onwards. Barons Keep was built in 1937, a U-shaped range of apartment blocks designed in ocean-liner style overlooking a private garden. The orientation of the buildings was to provide each apartment with a view over the open land on the other side of Gliddon Road, formerly St Paul's School playing fields, but now occupied by Hammersmith & Fulham West London College. The site is surrounded by a low brick wall with modern wrought-iron fencing and gates and low hedges, and a number of mature trees. At each end of the gardens are two circular beds planted with flowers and grass, linked by a rectangular grassed bed with one tree. The access roads are private and now used for car parking.
North End House consists of two cruciform mansion blocks built in 1937/8 on the site of the late C18th house from which they take their name. Until development began in the C19th the area was mainly orchards and market gardens, with a number of grand houses built along main roads. One such was North End Villa, later House, which had extensive wooded grounds. The western part of the grounds began to be built over in the late C19th and the house was demolished in 1928 following a fire. Behind the blocks is a modern garden designed around a number of mature trees, for the private use of residents.