Description
A small area beside the main road, Vernon Square was laid out as a garden in the late 1950s. Already part of an enclosure leased by the New River Company to Finsbury Borough Council, in 1957 the MPGA negotiated that the site be provided as a public garden. It opened to the public in 1960, a paved area with some seating, with short flights of steps from Vernon Rise and the main road, shrub beds at the corners, and trees along the main road boundary and across the centre of the garden. Re-landscaping has taken place and the garden is now enclosed by railings.
Practical Information
| Site location | Vernon Rise, Finsbury |
|---|---|
| Postcode | WC1 |
| What3Words | ///logs.firmly.trial |
| Type of Site | Public Gardens |
| Borough | Islington |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | unrestricted |
| Public Transport | Tube: Angel (Northern), King's Cross (Northern, Metropolitan, Hammersmith & City; Circle, Victoria, Piccadilly). Bus: 30, 73, 214 |
| Research Updated | 1 September 2013 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
Much of the land in this area was within the Clerkenwell estate of the New River Company, which had its headquarters at New River Head (q.v.). Vernon Square was on part of an enclosure the Company let to Finsbury Borough Council for a public convenience. It was described in the Schedule to the London Squares Preservation Act 1931 as 'an enclosure bounded on the north-east and south-east by the roadway of Vernon Square, on the south by Vernon Street and on the north-west by Penton Place'.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ308829 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 0.05 |
| Site Ownership | LB Islington |
| Site Management | Greenspace |
| Dates | 1957-60 |
| Designers | Borough Council/MPGA |
| 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 | Yes |
| Local Authority | Islington |
| In Conservation Area | Yes |
| Conservation Area Name | New River |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
| Other LA Designation | Local/strategic view corridor |
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
Percy Circus was laid out and designed by William Chadwell Mylne for the New River Estate. It is named for Robert Percy Smith, a director of the New River Company and brother of Sydney Smith, the English clergyman and essayist and one of the founders of the Edinburgh Review in 1802. The circular garden is on a sloping site with paths, raised beds around the centre and mature trees, shrubs and the original C19th railings.
Holford Gardens is on the site of the last square to be built in Clerkenwell. Holford Square was part of the New River Estate, laid out as an ornamental garden square. Among its residents was Vladimir Lenin, who lived at No. 30 in 1902/3. In 1934 the railed garden had a public bowling green and in WWII it was used as a balloon site, but much of the square was destroyed by a landmine in 1941. The site was levelled and Bevin Court was built by 1954, a Y-shaped block of flats set in landscaped areas. Now called Holford Gardens, the public gardens overlooked by the housing consists of lawn with rose beds, perimeter path and trees.
The site used to be the burial ground of Pentonville Chapel, later known as St James's Episcopal Chapel, an additional burial ground for Clerkenwell parish church of St James. In the late C19th the burial ground was transformed into a public garden and later extended. Many of the headstones remain stacked against the north boundary wall of the old burial ground. It takes its name from the famous clown Joseph Grimaldi buried here in 1837 and whose railed grave remains in the park.