Inventory Site Record

St Paul's Gardens are a vestige of the former grounds of St Paul's School for Boys, initially founded in the City of London in 1509, which was established in Hammersmith in 1884 until it moved to Barnes in 1968. The former boundary walls and a circular garden building remain from its earlier use, and there are a number of fine trees in the garden. On one of the gate piers is a plaque erected by Hammersmith & Fulham Historic Buildings Group in 2009 that relates to the D-Day Landing in June 1944.

Previous / Other name:

St Paul's School; St Paul's Open Space

Site location:

Hammersmith Road, Hammersmith

Postcode:

W6

What 3 Words:

dark.ending.rushed

Type of site:

Public Gardens

Borough:

Hammersmith & Fulham

Open to public?

Yes

Opening times:

7.30am - dusk

Special conditions:

Facilities:

Events:

Public transport:

Tube: Hammersmith (District, Piccadilly, Hammersmith & City). Bus: 9, 10, 27, 391

Citymapper    
Google Map    
streetmap.co.uk

Research updated:

01/04/2004

Last minor changes:

19/07/2023

Please check with the site owner or manager for latest news. www.lbhf.gov.uk

St Paul's School was founded in 1509 by Dean Colet, dean of St Paul's Cathedral (q.v.), on the site that is now New Change. The school moved to Hammersmith when larger premises were needed and the new school was designed by Alfred Waterhouse and built between 1881-85. A statue of Dean Colet by Hamo Thornycroft was erected in the school garden in 1884. The school moved out to new premises in Barnes in 1968 and the land at Hammersmith was then occupied by housing and Hammersmith and West London College. The small public garden was laid out, initially known as St Paul's Open Space. The only remnant of the school grounds are the sandstone boundary walls and a circular garden building with a conical roof. The gardens have mature London plane trees and also sycamore, lime, mulberry, copper beech, cherry, whitebeam, sorbus, silver lime and birch. It is enclosed by fine brick and glazed terracotta walls with railings on the boundary with Hammersmith Road; the railings in Edith Road and Gliddon Road show the extent of the former school grounds, which were mainly used as playing fields.

A plaque on one of the gate piers to the garden, erected by Hammersmith and Fulham Historic Buildings Group in 2009, commemorates the fact that the final invasion plan by General Montgomery and others for the D-Day Normandy landings of 6 June 1944 was presented to General Eisenhower and senior allied commanders in the lecture theatre of St Paul's School on 15 May 1944, in the presence of King George VI and Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

No.153 Hammersmith Road, which overlooks the public garden, was the High Master's House and is now used by voluntary groups including MIND. Adjacent to St Paul's Gardens is a small garden behind the High Master’s House maintained by MIND, which has public access via a gate in the park wall.

Sources consulted:

Bridget Cherry and Nikolaus Pevsner, 'The Buildings of England London 3: North West' (Penguin, 1999 ed) p209; John Archer, Daniel Keech 'Nature Conservation in Hammersmith & Fulham', Ecology Handbook 25, London Ecology Unit, 1993; Ben Weinreb & Christopher Hibbert, 'The London Encyclopaedia' (Macmillan, revised ed. 1993); Warwick H Draper, 'Hammersmith: A Study in Town History', 1913/

Grid ref:

TQ239786 (523950,178640)

Size in hectares:

0.63

Site ownership:

LB Hammersmith & Fulham

Site management:

Environment Department, Parks Service (ground maintenance by Quadron Services); adjacent garden by MIND

Date(s):

1885

Designer(s):

Buildings by Waterhouse

Listed structures:

LBII: High Master’s House and Porter's Lodge to former St. Paul’s School (including boundary walls & circular garden building)

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:

No

In Conservation Area:

No

Tree Preservation Order:

Yes - Plane, Sycamore, Lime, Mulberry, Copper Beech, Cherry, Whitebeam, Sorbus, Silver Lime, Birch

Nature Conservation Area:

Yes - Local Importance

Green Belt:

Metropolitan Open Land:

Special Policy Area:

Other LA designation:

Small Local Park; Open Space of Borough-wide Importance.