02 SUMMER 2003 Changing London AN HISTORIC CITY FOR A MODERN WORLD ‘Many London squares are neglected, undervalued, hidden… or simply forgotten’ Drew Bennellick Landscape Architect, English Heritage. London is a uniquely green city. An aerial view of the metropolis reveals an extraordinary quilt of open spaces – great inner city parks, outer London woodlands, private gardens large and small, formal squares, sports fields, cemeteries, tiny corners of grass, trees and flowers… London’s green patchwork is an integral part of the home, the workplace and playground of one of the world’s greatest historic cities. Together with its waterways and varied and sophisticated network of streetscapes, London presents a diverse and ever-changing urban environment that is unequalled elsewhere in the world. But is this diversity in harmony? This second issue of Changing London suggests there’s much going on to keep the balance right – but still a great deal more to do. CONTENTS 4 6/7 2/3 Down In The Urban Forest ‘Sweet Thames, run softly…’ Forgotten Oases? 5 Planning the future of London’s London Garden Squares Reviving the Streets river and other waterways 02 SUMMER 2003 ‘MANY SQUARES ARE NEGLECTED UNDERVALUED, HIDDEN OR SIMPLY FORGOTTEN’ Drew Bennellick, English Heritage Landscape Architect. 2/3 FORGOTTEN OASES? LONDON GARDEN SQUARES Brunswick Square: before restoration. Park Square: reinstated railings. WITH OVER 600 SQUARES,THESE URBAN GREEN SPACES PROVIDE A CRUCIAL LINK BETWEEN PRIVATE DOMESTIC GARDENS AND LARGE URBAN PARKS The London square is one of the capital’s has created great interest.Technical (following the original designs), has greatest green assets and yet often the advice has been offered to many garden transformed one of London’s greatest INFORMATION POINT most taken for granted. With over 600 managers on planting, design, garden architectural set-pieces. A Campaign for London Squares (product code XH squares, these urban green spaces provide archaeology, suitable path surfaces, railing Later this year will see the completion 20153) can be obtained from a crucial link between private domestic repair or reinstatement.We also advise of works to restore Brunswick and English Heritage Customer gardens and large urban parks. But many on ways to reduce vandalism. Bloomsbury Squares. Both are included Services on 0870 333 1181 are neglected, undervalued, hidden or The last year has seen some impressive within the English Heritage Register of London Garden Squares Day simply forgotten.These oases provide improvement projects to some of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic For the fifth year running, on crucial wild life havens, safe play spaces, London’s most important squares.The Interest and both have been awarded Sunday 8th June the London Historic Parks and Gardens tranquil gardens and the setting for restoration of Russell Square, by Camden grants.The works will include new Trust with support from thousands of listed buildings. Although Council with support from the Heritage planting, path repairs, new furniture and English Heritage presents over 400 are protected by the London Lottery Fund, included the redevelopment at Brunswick Square, the reinstatement London Garden Squares Day. Squares Preservation Act of 1931, a of the café, the replacement of the of the impressive perimeter railings and This is a unique opportunity unique piece of legislation designed to to explore many of the capitals perimeter planting, the provision of gates.The works will complement the most hidden squares with over prevent their loss to development, many new furniture and most notably the landscape works recently completed at 70 private and public squares are uncared for and actually detract from reinstatement of the perimeter railings, the adjoining Coram’s Fields to restore and gardens taking part this year. their surroundings. which were removed during the Second elements of the historic landscape and Details and ticket information English Heritage is working hard to World War. provide new play facilities. from www.opensquares.org.uk promote the importance of the urban Many London squares were stripped of John Ruskin wrote,‘The measure of a city’s garden square. Our brochure, A Campaign their historic railings in 1941 and are still greatness is to be found in the quality of for London Squares, sets out our mission enclosed by ugly chain link fencing.The its public spaces, its parks and squares.’ to encourage investment in their care and Crown Estate’s superb reinstatement of We are working in partnership to restore management, to raise their profile and to the railings to Park Square East and West, that quality throughout the capital. ensure their conservation.The campaign plus the new gates to Regent’s Park 02 SUMMER 2003 The West End benefits from the generous Metropolitan Public Gardens Association open spaces of the inner Royal Parks. many were laid out as public gardens. Richmond, Bushy and Greenwich Parks Formal urbanity gave way in the C19 and add greatly to the amenities of south early C20 to more picturesque residential London.The Royal Parks were originally developments with both private gardens enclosed for hunting and later embellished and shared open space for informal and gradually made accessible to the recreation and organized sports, as public. In Bushy Park and Richmond Park exemplified by Hampstead Garden field boundaries and ridge-and–furrow Suburb and the “cottage estates” built by ploughing patterns survive as evidence the London County Council. Post-World of the earlier agricultural landscapes. War II redevelopment included the Epping Forest is a fragment of the formation of Burgess Park in south mediaeval royal hunting forest, and Trent London and Mile End Park in east Chris Sumner, Regional Parks Park, planted as a landscape park around London, and the creation of the Alton & Gardens Adviser. a grand house, was once part of Enfield Estates at Roehampton, where blocks of Chase. Other mansions and great houses flats of modern design were built by the survive as the centrepieces of parks, LCC in a landscaped setting provided by notably Osterley, Syon, Ham, Kenwood the grounds of a number of large C18 DOWN IN THE URBAN and Chiswick.The Royal Botanic Gardens, villas that were retained. Kew and the Chelsea Physic Garden In the City of London an area largely combine pleasure gardens with scientific destroyed by bombing was rebuilt by the institutions. Corporation of London as The Barbican, Cattle still graze at Osterley and Syon and a development of medium- and high-rise on Petersham Meadows, whilst farmland flats, a school and Arts Centre with survives around the fringes of London as lakes, fountains, lawns and trees which part of the Green Belt. At Totteridge and incorporates remains of the City’s FOREST at Harefield the historic pattern of small Roman wall. ‘LONDON IS ONE OF THE GREENEST hedged fields remains essentially The last few years have seen the unchanged. CITIES IN THE WORLD’ restoration of a number of public parks Land that was too poor to be cultivated in London using Heritage Lottery Fund The Forestry Commission calls London “the largest urban forest in the economically formed the basis of the money and at least one important new world” – about one twentieth of its surface is covered by trees.When metropolitan commons and heaths, such public park has been created – Barrier the royal and public parks, public and private gardens, playing fields, as Hampstead Heath, which were the Park at the north end of the Thames squares and cemeteries are added, the statistics start to bear out what subjects of some of the earliest campaigns Barrier. to protect London’s open spaces from the Londoner knows and the visitor rapidly perceives: London is one Our aim is to help tend the diverse ‘urban development. London’s expansion was of the greenest cities in the world. forest’ that is London so that future accompanied by the creation in the mid generations can enjoy what our forebears C19 of a number of large public parks, have bequeathed us. such as Battersea,Victoria and Finsbury, intended to provide physical and spiritual recreation and moral improvement for Londoners, especially those who did not have easy access to the Royal Parks or to private gardens and squares. The construction of Victoria Embankment INFORMATION POINT in the 1860s by Bazalgette led to the English Heritage’s Register formation of Embankment Gardens, of Parks and Gardens includes stretching for more than a kilometre descriptions of over 140 sites considered to be of special along the Thames. Some thirty years historic interest. It can be earlier, the scandal of overcrowded and obtained from Customer insanitary churchyards led to the creation Services (T: 0870 333 1181) of large cemeteries on cheap land away The Inventory of Parks and Gardens, prepared by the from the city centre. Kensal Green London Parks and Gardens Trust (1833), West Norwood (1838), and with financial assistance from Highgate (1839), are the earliest of the English Heritage and others was launched at the Trust’s Spring large metropolitan cemeteries, laid out as Conference in April 2003.It privately financed burial grounds adorned describes sites across London, with public walks, park planting and fine most of which are accessible to the public and all of which buildings and monuments. At much the contribute to London’s same period, the inner city churchyards greenery. Details from the were closed for burials, and with support London Parks and Gardens Trust (T: 020 7839 3969) from organizations such as the ‘Green all over’: Cricklewood typifies London’s suburban landscape. 4/5 ‘Integrated townscape management will bring order and clarity to London’s streets REVIVING THE STREETS to a minimum and signs preferably Lottery funding and also to Trinity House treatments on streets, cameras, cabinets located at the back edge of the Square which Tower Hamlets and the and signs have all required English pavement, ideally mounted on the Corporation of London have been Heritage to work closely with Transport buildings.