Inventory Site Record

Ridgmount Gardens is an elongated private garden for the use of residents of the imposing Ridgmount Mansions apartment building that overlooks it, built in the 1890s. Stretching from Chenies Street to Tavistock Place, the garden has a path that leads alongside a series of miniature lawns interspersed by shrubbery borders. At either end of the garden are ornamental bird baths set off by lavender and wisteria.

Site location:

Ridgmount Gardens

Postcode:

WC1E 7AU

What 3 Words:

runner.golf.hotels

Type of site:

Private Garden

Borough:

Camden

Open to public?

Occasionally

Opening times:

Has opened for OGSW. Otherwise private, for keyholders only
Has taken part in Open Garden Squares Weekend 13 times, most recently in 2019.

Special conditions:

Facilities:

Events:

Public transport:

Tube: Goodge Street (Northern). Bus: 10, 24, 29, 73, 134, 390

Citymapper    
Google Map    
streetmap.co.uk

Research updated:

01/06/2008

Last minor changes:

19/07/2023

Please check with the site owner or manager for latest news. www.bedfordestates.com; www.ridgmountgardens.co.uk

This elongated residential garden sits opposite the imposing Ridgmount Mansions, a Victorian-era red-brick mansion block built in the 1890s, which comprises 149 apartments. In 1972 Bob Marley was a resident of Flat 34 Ridgmount Gardens, for whom a Blue Plaque was unveiled in 2006. Prior to the 1890s this was Chenies Mews, developed in the late C18th, but when leases fell in in the 1880s the street was redeveloped. The narrow strip of private gardens presumably created at the same time, remains for the private use of residents of Ridgmount Mansions. Stretching from Chenies Street to Tavistock Place, the garden has a path that leads alongside a series of miniature lawns interspersed by shrubbery borders. Robins are frequent visitors to the garden, thriving amongst the ivy that adorns the border wall. At either end of the garden sit ornamental bird baths set off by lavender and wisteria.

Sources consulted:

F Peter Woodford ed., 'Streets of Bloomsbury & Fitzrovia' (Camden History Society, 1997); Open Garden Squares Weekend booklet, 2009

Grid ref:

TQ296819 (529660,181960)

Size in hectares:

Site ownership:

The Bedford Estate

Site management:

The Bedford Estate

Date(s):

1890s

Designer(s):

Listed structures:

None

On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens:

No

Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965:

No

Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931:

No

Local Authority Data

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.

On Local List:

Yes

In Conservation Area:

Yes

Conservation Area name:

Tree Preservation Order:

No

Nature Conservation Area:

No

Green Belt:

No

Metropolitan Open Land:

No

Special Policy Area:

Yes - Central London Area (Clear Zone Region)

Other LA designation:

Private Open Space

Ridgmount Gardens, June 2008. Photo: S Williams

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