BELGRAVIA, LONDON
'Once a year, go somewhere you have never been before.'
Dalai Lama
19th June 2016
Today’s walk in London was inspired by a search for some of
London’s ‘secret gardens’. One weekend
per year, the public are allowed into the ‘locked gardens’ of London. The rest of the year, the gardens are open
only to the local residents of the area.
I had been meaning to visit the gardens for the last few years, but
always missed the opening dates.
A few days previously, I had taken a 2 hour London bus tour
from Victoria to the Tower of London, and the guide reminded us that the secret
gardens were open the weekend of 18/19 June.
My walk took me from Victoria Station, a mainline and tube
train stop, through to Knightsbridge, via Chester Square. From the Buckingham Palace Road station exit,
cross the road and take the first right on to Eccleston Street, past Ebury
Street and this will bring you into Chester Square Garden, which is just one of
the secret gardens.
There are two gardens – one on the right and one on the left,
although originally there were 3 separate gardens . The left-hand one (west) was open to the
public and cost £4 to enter, or you can buy a pass for all the gardens for £14
[prices subject to change]. I only had
time to visit one garden but next year I will be better organised! The right-hand one (east) is a
shrubbery.
This area of London is known as Belgravia, and is one of the
wealthiest districts of London, if not the world. The land is primarily owned by the Grosvenor
family. There are many embassies in this
area, and some of the most well-known residents of Chester Square have been
Mick Jagger, Mary Shelley (author of Frankenstein) and Margaret Thatcher.
The gardens were first developed in 1832, and the west-side
has a magnificent view of St Michael’s Church, built in gothic-style. Visit www.stmichaelschurch.org.uk for
further information. Some of the
historic trees from 1867 survive and the rest of the garden speaks for itself.
Continue walking down Ecclestone Street, and it brings you
to Eaton Square which houses another secret garden. Cross the square on to Belgrave Place and
take a left turn on to Pont Street.
Continuing on Pont Street, in the distance you can see a church – this is
St Columba’s Church [Church of Scotland].
One of the magnificent stones has an engraving ‘the Queen laid a stone
here in 1510’. Although my eye-sight
must be playing up because the Church’s website says that Queen Elizabeth the
Second laid the foundation stone in 1950!
Visit www.stcolumbas.org.uk
for more revelations.
Just before the church, if you take a right turn on to Hans
Place, there is a ‘blue plaque’ dedicated to Jane Austen [see my Kensington
blog for more information on the blue plaque scheme].
Walk down Hans Place and around Hans Crescent and it will
bring you out to the famous Harrods store in Knightsbridge. This area has become very developed since I
used to hang out here in my late teens, where all the trendy shops were. There are now cafes and restaurants and an
entrance to Knightsbridge tube station.
I took a bus west [2 stops] to South Kensington to get back
to West London, via South Kensington tube station on the Piccadilly line. However, for those interested in London’s
famous museums, the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Natural History Museum
are right there on the doorstep.
For more information on the secret gardens of London visit www.opensquares.org
Happy wanderings!
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