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Inventory Site Record

Sussex Square Gardens (Westminster)

Brief Description

Sussex Square was laid out as a garden square as part of George Gutch's 'Final Plan for Tyburnia' (1838) as the south-eastern point of a great axis of gardens, including Gloucester Square, Cambridge and Oxford Squares, and Norfolk Crescent. The garden remained in the ownership of the Paddington Estate Trustees and was provided for the private use of occupiers of the surrounding houses, maintenance out of proportionate expenses levied on the occupants. In 1928 it was described out as a 'circular area surrounded by a thick hedge and shrubbery. Laid out as a lawn and contains some well-grown trees'. The surrounding buildings are now of 1933 or later. The plan of the garden remains circular, the lawn has a circuit walk, and it contains notable London plane trees; the boundary is hedge with wire mesh fencing.

Practical Information
Site location:
Sussex Square/Stanhope Terrace, Paddington
Postcode:
W2
What 3 Words:
snaps.axed.soon
Type of site:
Garden Square
Borough:
Westminster
Open to public?
No
Opening times:
private
Special conditions:
Facilities:
Events:
Public transport:
Tube: Lancaster Gate (Central)
Research updated:
01/11/2019
Last minor changes:
19/07/2023

Please check with the site owner or manager for latest news. www.hydeparkestate.com

Full Site Description

Land to the north of Hyde Park was for centuries farmland owned by the Church of England, the area known as Tyburnia after the river Tyburn that flows underground. It was at Tyburn Gallows at Marble Arch that public executions were held until 1783. The development of the Bishop of London's large Paddington Estate began after that, with an early masterplan drawn up by Samuel Pepys Cockerell (1754-1827), the estate surveyor, possibly begun in 1805 although little was built until the 1820s. Cockerell was succeeded as estate surveyor by George Gutch (c.1790-1874), who modified and intensified the layout, and drew up his 'Final Plan of Tyburnia' in 1838. Norfolk Crescent, Oxford Square and Cambridge Square (q.q.v.) were created on the site of the much larger Stanhope Square, which was laid out pre-1834.

In 1954 a 90-acre area of land within the Church Commissioners estate containing C19th terraces south of Sussex Gardens was consolidated as the Hyde Park Estate. The cost of maintenance of the gardens is through an annual service charge to lessees who have exclusive rights to use the gardens. Until January 2011 a Gardens Committee managed the gardens, but since then management reverted to the freeholder, the Church Commissioners

Sources consulted:

Halsey, Some London Squares MS 1961 (WCA); Bridget Cherry and Nikolaus Pevsner, 'The Buildings of England London 3: North West' (1991, reprinted 1999); Report of the Royal Commission on London Squares, 1928

Further Information (Planning and Conservation)
Grid ref:
TQ268800 (526854,180936)
Size in hectares:
0.32
Site ownership:
Church Commissioners
Site management:
Estate Management Scheme; landscape contract maintained by Conceptual Gardens
Date(s):
1840s
Designer(s):
George Gutch
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:

Yes

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
Nature Conservation Area:
No
Green Belt:
No
Metropolitan Open Land:
No
Special Policy Area:
No
Other LA designation:
London Square
Photos

Sussex Square Gardens

Sussex Square - Photo: Colin Wing
Date taken: 12/05/21 14:10

Photo: Pamela Paterson (1995)
1995
Sussex Square - Pamela Paterson (1995)
1995

Click a photo to enlarge.

More photos

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