| Bessborough Gardens | Westminster |
Bessborough Gardens was once open fields in the vicinity of the Millbank Penitentiary. It was laid out as a garden for the surrounding terraces between 1841-43, a wedge-shaped enclosure with Holy Trinity Church to the south, now demolished. In 1982 the terraces were demolished for road improvements, replaced by new buildings in C19th style. New gardens were laid out within an irregular rectangle surrounded with modern railings, and contain several mature trees, a lawn crossed by stone and brick paths, seating areas and shrubberies. In the centre is the Queen Mother's Commemorative Fountain (1982), which incorporates a cast of one of George Vulliamy's dolphin lamp standard bases from the Embankment.
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The information below is taken from the relevant Local Authority's planning legislation, which was correct at the time of research but may have been amended in the interim. Please check with the Local Authority for latest planning information.
The square, formerly open fields in the vicinity of the Millbank Penitentiary, was laid out as a garden for the surrounding terraces of stucco houses between 1841-43. The garden was wedge-shaped and was bounded on its south side by Holy Trinity Church, by J L Pearson, which was subsequently demolished. In 1982 the terraces of Bessborough Gardens were destroyed for road improvements and the present gardens, now rectangular, were lined with buildings rebuilt in 1982-3 in C19th style. The new gardens were laid out asymmetrically within an irregular rectangle surrounded with modern railings. They contain several mature trees, a lawn crossed by stone and brick paths, seating areas and shrubberies. In the centre is the Queen Mother's Commemorative Fountain, the work of Sir Peter Shepheard (1982). It is made of aluminium and incorporates a cast of one of George Vulliamy's dolphin lamp standard bases from the Embankment.
Harold Clunn, the Face of London (c1950), p.251; Pevsner, p.635; Ben Weinreb & Christopher Hibbert, 'The London Encyclopaedia' (Macmillan, revised ed. 1993), p.60