Inventory Site Record

The garden was created on the former churchyard of St John, one of the four Waterloo Churches, and built in 1824. The churchyard's conversion to a public garden in 1877 is associated with Octavia Hill, and its early facilities were provided through the MPGA. It has been re-landscaped through the efforts of the Friends of St John's Churchyard working with St Mungo's Putting Down Roots gardening training scheme for homeless people, including a Parterre Garden that was formally opened in December 2006.

Site location:

Waterloo Road/ Secker Street/ Exton Street

Postcode:

SE1 8TY

What 3 Words:

caked.sketch.gross

Type of site:

Public Gardens

Borough:

Lambeth

Open to public?

Yes

Opening times:

7.30am - 15 minutes before sunset. Church open daily

Special conditions:

Facilities:

playground

Events:

Church open for Open House; regular concerts and recitals; annual Waterloo Festival;

Public transport:

Rail: Waterloo. Tube: Waterloo (Northern, Waterloo and City, Jubilee, Bakerloo). Bus: 1, 4, 26, 59, 68, 168, 171, 172, 188.

Citymapper    
Google Map    
streetmap.co.uk

Research updated:

05/09/2023

Last minor changes:

05/09/2023

Please check with the site owner or manager for latest news. https://stjohnswaterloo.org/community/churchyard-garden/; https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/parks/st-johns-church-gardens 

The church of St John the Evangelist by Francis Bedford is a simple Greek revival building built in 1822-24, one of the Waterloo churches built in celebration of the victory over Napoleon following the Battle of Waterloo. It was also a time of social upheaval and political unrest, with a growing population and unemployment, increased by demobilised solders. The Church Commissioners desired to build new churches to counteract 'godless mob violence' and the spread of non-conformism, and in 1818 an Act of Parliament approved a sum of money for the new churches, with £64,000 allocated to Lambeth in 1822. The new parish of St John's was originally within the old Parish of Lambeth served by St Mary's (q.v.). It has an C18th font and frescoes by Hans Freibusch who came to England in 1933, fleeing Nazi Germany. The church was badly bombed in WWII and in 1951 was restored and opened to serve as the parish church of the Festival of Britain. It was restored once more in the 1990s, and most recently was refurbished by Eric Parry Architects, reopening in October 2022. In 1984 the Crypt had been converted for community use and as a Day Centre for homeless people, now run by the St Mungo Trust, London's leading charity for the homeless.

The churchyard is much used by those with nowhere else to go. It had been transformed into a garden in 1877 when, through the instigation of Octavia Hill, one of the founders of the National Trust, the gravestones were removed and it was opened as a garden for the urban poor. Hill described it as “more like a country garden … than any other I have seen”. Part of the garden was set aside as a children's playground and the Chairman of the MPGA gave a swing and giant stride in 1883; the MPGA provided parallel bars, a seesaw and six seats. During the 1990s, during a crisis of homelessness, the garden was covered in tents when the South Bank had become home to Cardboard City. In more recent years the garden, which had become neglected, has been transformed and is well-used. In the early 2000s, Jonathan Trustram and a team of volunteers relandscaped the garden creating an undulating lawn and much of the present planting. A small railed garden of remembrance was created in 2000 in the north corner with raised and circular beds, paving and seating. The St John's Churchyard Friends Group, working with St Mungo's gardening training scheme Putting Down Roots, set up in 2001, then began the creation of a community knot garden with box, yew and holly, hoggin paths and planted with herbaceous perennial plants, bulbs, herbs and small compact shrubs. Nearby is a mosaic bench produced with Southbank Mosaics, a social enterprise group based in the Crypt at St John. The project received funding from the Big Lottery Fund in 2005 and the new Parterre Garden, which was also conceived as a sculpture garden, was formally opened in December 2006. 

In 2017 a bench was installed to celebrate the 200th anniversary of nearby Waterloo Bridge. Designed by Carles Dedeu of MSMR Architects, it echoes the arches of Waterloo Bridge and is carved with a quote by the Anglican poet and priest George Herbert: 'Those who cannot forgive break the bridge over which they themselves must pass".

The garden has won the Green Flag Award, a Gold Award and Churchyard of the Year in 2021 and 2022 from London in Bloom. Future Plans include rejuvenating the parterre garden on the north side of the church and acquiring a glasshouse or shed that could be used for community and therapeutic gardening. The garden is managed by a team of regular volunteers under Senior Community Gardener Filipa Silva, who also provides work experience to special needs students learning horticultural skills. “We are very aware of global warming and are choosing our plants to be drought tolerant and nectar rich for pollinators.  This has a positive effect on the look and feel of the garden.  You can sit in the shade of our huge walnut trees, or you can wander in our shady topiary garden and see our two beautiful cork trees that we grew from seed. We have fragrant flowering shrubs in season, and a herbaceous border that will be completely replanted when St John’s reopens after its major restoration. Our Garden of Remembrance is tucked amongst borders of interesting exotic shrubs, alongside a wildlife garden which is alive with bees from our apiary.”

Facing onto Waterloo Road to the north of the church is a paved area with a number of fine tombs, including that of the Peache Family, and War Memorial, fronted by fine railings.

Sources consulted:

Open House booklet 2001; Marie Draper 'Lambeth's Open Spaces, An historical account', LB Lambeth 1979

Grid ref:

TQ311800 (531136,180095)

Size in hectares:

0.4

Site ownership:

LB Lambeth

Site management:

Friends of St John's Churchyard Group

Date(s):

1822; 1877

Designer(s):

Listed structures:

LBII*: St John's Church. LBII: Peache Family Tomb; Sharp Family Tomb; Edward Family Tomb; First World War Monument; Georgian Gate Pier Waterloo Road

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:

Yes

Conservation Area name:

Waterloo

Tree Preservation Order:

No

Nature Conservation Area:

No

Green Belt:

No

Metropolitan Open Land:

No

Special Policy Area:

No

Other LA designation:

Park

St John's Churchyard, April 2008. Photograph Sally Williams

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