West Smithfield Garden

The site was originally part of the 'Smoothfield' outside the City walls where jousts, executions and markets took place in the C14th and C15th. There were gallows here until the C15th when they were moved to Tyburn, near the present day Marble Arch (q.v.). Among those executed at this site were the Scottish hero William Wallace, who was hanged, drawn and quartered in 1305, having been dragged to the spot behind a horse, and Wat Tyler, who led the Peasants' Revolt. Tyler was beheaded in 1381, after he had sought assistance at St Bartholomew's Church following his stabbing by the Mayor of London. Although the gallows had moved from here, religious martyrs continued to be despatched, notably in the 1550s when over 200 Protestants were burnt at the stake. A livestock market was recorded here from 1638 until this moved to Caledonian Market (q.v.) in Islington in 1855. St Bartholomew's Fair was held here annually until 1855, after which the site was closed as a public meeting place because of 'nuisance', a common reason for banning the public use of open space.

It became waste ground when Smithfield Market first opened in 1868 but under the Metropolitan Meat and Poultry Market Act of 1860 it was later 'for ever reserved and appropriated as an open public space'. It was laid out as gardens and opened by the Corporation in 1872. In the centre of the gardens is a drinking fountain with bronze figure of Peace sculpted by John Birnie Philip, which was completed in 1873. It was designed by architect Francis Butler and originally had a Gothic stone canopy but only the lower part of the latter remains. It was commissioned by the Corporation of London's Market Improvement Committee when the new Meat and Poultry Market at Smithfield was completed, the design chosen following a competition held in 1870. Beneath the garden was an underground station for the Metropolitan Railway and the ramp that led down to this partially surrounds the site.

In 1928 the garden was described as a 'circular area enclosed by a wall with iron railings on top, attractively laid out as an ornamental garden with a shrubbery and trees around the border'. On 6 December 2006 a new sculpted stone seat was unveiled by the Rt Hon the Lord Mayor John Boothman Stuttard in the garden. Designed by Sam Dawkins and Donna Walker it is inscribed with text relating to the history of the area. Located near the drinking fountain, the new seat was made by apprentices and masons of CWO Ltd, the company that sponsored the bench along with the City of London Corporation and Albion Stone Plc. Outside the gardens is a double Cattle Trough.

In 2010 the City of London and British Land collaborated in 'Beyond the Hive', an architectural competition to celebrate the International Year of Biodiversity. The design brief called for proposals for 'Insect Hotels': ecologically sustainable and creative insect habitats, and resulted in five finalists. The winning entries were built during June 2010 in 5 public gardens in the City: Bunhill Fields, Cleary Garden, Postman's Park, St Dunstan-in-the-East (q.q.v.) and here in West Smithfield Garden.