Excellent new exhibition of vanished parks, squares and gardens at the museum in Lambeth.
Curated by landscape architect and historian Dr Todd Longstaffe-Gowan, Lost Gardens of London is an eclectic collection of paintings, photographs and prints depicting disappeared gardens and parks from the 17th to the 21st centuries. It offers historic insights, surprising curiosities and some artistic delights.
Walks available for booking
For a schedule of forthcoming London On The Ground guided walks, please click here.
The Garden Musuem is in the former church of St Mary-at-Lambeth, which stands on the south bank of the River Thames adajacent to Lambeth Palace (the London home of the Archbishop of Canterbury). The church has origins in the late 11th century, with the current building dating mainly from the 14th and 19th centuries. It was deconsecrated in 1972 and the museum opened in 1977.
The museum has a fascinating permanent exhibition on the art, history and design of gardens and also holds temporary exhibitions, talks and other events. What's more, it offers fabulous views over Westminster, the City and much else from the top of the church tower.
The Lost Gardens of London exhibition embraces a diverse range of private and public spaces, both large and small, and includes pleasure grounds, botanical gardens, allotments, squares, animal menageries and ecological parks. The only thing they have in common is that they no longer exist!
I had an opportunity to attend a preview of the fascinating exhibition and thoroughly enjoyed its wide variety of images.
Below is my selection of some of the highlights, photographed with my humble smartphone (and no substitute for visiting the exhibition if you can!).
The image at the top of this post is William Curtis's Nursery Ground in Lambeth Marsh, a pencil and watercolour work by James Sowerby from 1787.
William Curtis was an apothecary and botanist, who held a senior position at the Chelsea Physic Garden from 1771 to 1777 (read here for my post on that garden). Curtis established his own botanic garden at Lambeth in 1779. When the lease expired in 1789 he rebuilt it in Brompton. He moved it again in c.1807 to Cadogan Place.
The photograph reproduced below, by John May in 1986, is of a temporary park called William Curtis Ecological Park, named in honour of the 18th century botanist. One of the first urban ecological parks, it was on the south bank of the Thames near Tower Bridge from 1976 to 1985. City Hall was later built on the formerly derelict site, which also now includes Potters Fields.
A series of images in the exhibition evokes the Surrey Zoological Gardens, which were laid out in the grounds of the Manor House in Walworth, Southwark. It often held temporary installations, which recreated famous historical events in spectacular model form.
In 1837, it staged a reconstruction of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, made of painted wood and canvas. The exhibition's vibrant illuminated lithograph facsimile of the scene (below), as captured by a contemporary artist, can be seen reflected in the above photo of the William Curtis Ecological Park.
The image below shows the Surrey Zoological Gardens in 1844, with its lake, gardens, conservatory, elephants and exotic pavilions. A display of summer fashions of the day dominates the foreground.
In 1847 the Surrey Gardens staged a reproduction of the late 18th century siege of Gibraltar, modelled in paper, canvas, plaster and timber.
A highlight of the Lost Gardens of London exhibition is an 18th century oil painting of Somerset House by Canaletto, the great Venetian artist.
The two photos below are of the highly idiosyncratic Chelsea house and garden of a man called Dr Phené, captured in the early 20th century. Click on any picture to enlarge.
Above left: Dr Phené's House, Chelsea, unknown photographer, 1910
Above right: Statues in Dr Phené's garden, Daily Mirror, 1912
Mornington Crescent in Camden, laid out in the 1820s, originally enclosed a garden within its arc. A century later, the Carreras Cigarette Company built its Egyptian Art Deco factory over the garden. The painting and photograph below portray different views of the garden. Click to enlarge.
Above left: Mornington Crescent, oil on canvas, Spencer Gore, 1911
Above right: Mornington Crescent, unknown photographer, 1924
The Peerless Pool, below, opened in 1743 off the City Road in Finsbury and was London's first open air public swimming pool. It was closed in the mid 19th century and the only sign of it now are the street names Peerless Street and Bath Street, which meet at the former site of the pool.
The etching shown below is of Bagnigge Wells, a spa resort created in 1756 from marshland in the King's Cross/Clerkenwell area. The site was once the summer residence of Nell Gwynne, actress and mistress of Charles II. It closed in 1841.
Below is one of six watercolours in the exhibition of a mystery house and its curious garden, by Thomas Hosmer Shepherd. The location is unknown, but thought to be in the London area. The garden included a stone pedestal supporting a vase, possibly from Old London Bridge.
The Hospital of Bethlem, or Bethlehem, a psychiatric hospital once also known as Bedlam, was founded where Liverpool Street Station now stands. It moved to Moorfields in 1676, where it enjoyed substantial courts, yards and gardens (see the image below). It moved to St George's Fields, Southwark, in 1815 and the Moorfields premises were demolished, but today's Finsbury Circus preserves at least part of the space as a garden.
The exhibition's curator told me that the picture below is one of his favourites, for pure curiosity value. Elizabeth Holland ran one of England's most famous brothels in the early 17th century near the Globe Theatre on Bankisde. Known as Holland's Leaguer, it occupied a former manor house in Old Paris Garden and was surrounded by a moat. This woodcut image was only made as a result of its attempted suppresssion in 1631-32.
Three pictures created in the 19th century show the villa and garden in Earl's Court that belonged to Dr John Hunter, a renowned 18th century surgeon. The site also included an animal menagerie and an institute of anatomy and physiology. It was written that "nobody of common curiosity could have passed this original cottage without being obliged to enquire to whom it belonged". It featured a crocodile over the front door and a 'Lion's Den' in the garden. The three images below capture views of his property. Click on any picture to enlarge.
Above left: The garden of Dr Hunter's House in Earl's Court, watercolour, Jess Foot, c.1822
Above centre: Front view of John Hunter's House Earl's Court, watercolour, F. Shepherd, c.1875
Above right: den in which John Hunter kept his lions, watercolour, F. Shepherd, 1874
For me, one of the most striking items in the exhibition was a water colour of the Great Dust Heap at Battle Bridge, where King's Cross Station now stands. Not gardens at all, dust heaps contained ash, cinders and other household waste and were common around London. Dustmen gathered and transported the waste to the heaps, where it was sifted and much of it sold. Some said the dust heap at Battle Bridge had occupied the same spot since the Great Fire of London of 1666. It was sold to the Russians to make bricks to rebuild Moscow after the war with Napoleon.
The Lost Gardens of London exhibition continues at the Garden Museum until 2 March 2025. For more information and booking, please click here.
Walks available for booking
For a schedule of forthcoming London On The Ground guided walks, please click here.
What a lovely post! I must try to get along before March 2025.