|
Our Garden
 This award-winning garden was originally laid out as part of the Edwardes Estate in the 1870s, and was well managed with an almost full
-time gardener until 1939. However, in the Second World War the original cast iron railings were removed and five emergency water
tanks filled the southern half of the garden. From 1945 until the early 1970s it was neglected and overgrown, surrounded by green wire
netting. In the mid 1970s the newly-formed Residents’ Association, spearheaded by life-long Earl’s Court Square resident, campaigner and bonne viveuse Jennifer Ware (1932-2019), brought the garden under the 1851 Kensington Improvement Act. Landscape gardener
and resident Christopher Fair designed the present layout. The established London plane trees were pruned and maintained properly but
one on the south side was blown down in the October 1987 ‘hurricaine’. We have several other mature varieties, including a rare elm and
sycamore. The standard of our garden maintenance and improvement in recent decades led to a first prize in the Brighter Kensington &
Chelsea Scheme competition. A children’s play area was added in 1980. In recent times the garden has been host to many neighbourhood social events, including a very
popular annual summer BBQ, a Christmas tree lighting party, and several soirées musicales during the summer months.
 The grand stuccoed terraces in the late Italianate-style on three sides of the Square are complemented by the Grade II*
listed Dutch-style red brick houses on the south side. In the early 1970s part of the Square was in danger of being torn
down and replaced with still higher density housing. However this was averted when the Square was designated a
Conservation Area. Since 1997, the last remaining hostels, from the time when Earl’s Court was known as ‘Kangaroo
Valley’ as home to arriving young Australians such as Germaine Greer and Clive James, have been converted into flats.
Watch a report on Deutsche Welle television from June 2017 on our garden by clicking here
|
