Description
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.
Practical Information
| Previously known as | St Paul's School; St Paul's Open Space |
|---|---|
| Site location | Hammersmith Road, Hammersmith |
| Postcode | W6 |
| What3Words | ///dark.ending.rushed |
| 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). Bus: 9, 10, 27, 391 |
| Research Updated | 1 April 2004 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
St Paul's School was founded in 1509 by Dean Colet, dean of St Paul's Cathedral (q.v.), on the site that is now New Change. The school moved to Hammersmith when larger premises were needed and the new school was designed by Alfred Waterhouse and built between 1881-85. A statue of Dean Colet by Hamo Thornycroft was erected in the school garden in 1884. The school moved out to new premises in Barnes in 1968 and the land at Hammersmith was then occupied by housing and Hammersmith and West London College. The small public garden was laid out, initially known as St Paul's Open Space. The only remnant of the school grounds are the sandstone boundary walls and a circular garden building with a conical roof. The gardens have mature London plane trees and also sycamore, lime, mulberry, copper beech, cherry, whitebeam, sorbus, silver lime and birch. It is enclosed by fine brick and glazed terracotta walls with railings on the boundary with Hammersmith Road; the railings in Edith Road and Gliddon Road show the extent of the former school grounds, which were mainly used as playing fields.
A plaque on one of the gate piers to the garden, erected by Hammersmith and Fulham Historic Buildings Group in 2009, commemorates the fact that the final invasion plan by General Montgomery and others for the D-Day Normandy landings of 6 June 1944 was presented to General Eisenhower and senior allied commanders in the lecture theatre of St Paul's School on 15 May 1944, in the presence of King George VI and Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
No.153 Hammersmith Road, which overlooks the public garden, was the High Master's House and is now used by voluntary groups including MIND. Adjacent to St Paul's Gardens is a small garden behind the High Master's House maintained by MIND, which has public access via a gate in the park wall.
A plaque on one of the gate piers to the garden, erected by Hammersmith and Fulham Historic Buildings Group in 2009, commemorates the fact that the final invasion plan by General Montgomery and others for the D-Day Normandy landings of 6 June 1944 was presented to General Eisenhower and senior allied commanders in the lecture theatre of St Paul's School on 15 May 1944, in the presence of King George VI and Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
No.153 Hammersmith Road, which overlooks the public garden, was the High Master's House and is now used by voluntary groups including MIND. Adjacent to St Paul's Gardens is a small garden behind the High Master's House maintained by MIND, which has public access via a gate in the park wall.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ239786 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 0.63 |
| Site Ownership | LB Hammersmith & Fulham |
| Site Management | Environment Department, Parks Service (ground maintenance by Quadron Services); adjacent garden by MIND |
| Dates | 1885 |
| Designers | Buildings by Waterhouse |
| Listed Structures | LBII: High Master’s House and Porter's Lodge to former St. Paul’s School (including boundary walls & circular garden building) |
| 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 - Plane, Sycamore, Lime, Mulberry, Copper Beech, Cherry, Whitebeam, Sorbus, Silver Lime, Birch |
| Nature Conservation Area | Yes - Local Importance |
| Other LA Designation | Small Local Park; Open Space of Borough-wide Importance. |
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 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.
Hammersmith Flyover was constructed in the 1960s, designed by B Rawlinson of the LCC. As it is only four lanes wide it was possible to cantilever it from a single support. Its construction involved the demolition of a number of buildings including St Paul's National School in Waterloo Street. The land remaining after the construction has been laid down to grass and planted with trees. The open space and the grace of the design of the flyover result in a remarkably open feeling to the area.
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.
