Inventory Site Record

Seething Lane Gardens is important for its associations with Samuel Pepys and it forms a green square in this part of the City. This was the site of the Navy Office, founded in 1656, in the garden of which Pepys and Sir William Penn reputedly buried their wine and parmesan cheese for safety from the Fire of London on 4 September 1666. A new Navy Office was built in 1682-3 but was demolished in 1788 when warehouses were built, replaced in 1910 by the Port of London Building. In the 1950s, a simple rectangular public garden was created here, bounded by railings and laid out symmetrically with a central path, well-shaded by trees, with rose beds to commemorate permission given in 1381 to Sir Robert Knollys to construct a bridge across Seething Lane (since vanished) for which the City annually charged him one red rose. In 1983 a bronze bust of Pepys was erected in the garden by the Samuel Pepys Club with funds raised by public subscription. In 2018 the gardens were completely redesigned when 10 Trinity Square was redeveloped as a luxury hotel.

Previous / Other name:

Pepys Garden; PLA Gardens

Site location:

Seething Lane/Muscovy Street

Postcode:

EC3N 4AT

What 3 Words:

atoms.vouch.darker

Type of site:

Public Gardens

Borough:

City of London

Open to public?

Yes

Opening times:

unrestricted

Special conditions:

Facilities:

Events:

Public transport:

Rail: Fenchurch Street. Tube: Tower Hill (District, Circle). DLR: Tower Gateway.

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Research updated:

05/08/2021

Last minor changes:

29/03/2026

Please check with the site owner or manager for latest news. www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/openspaces

This was the site of the Navy Office founded in 1656, in the garden of which Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) and Sir William Penn reputedly buried their wine and parmesan cheese for safety on 4 September 1666 during the Great Fire and sat here 'discoursing upon the great tragedy' (Cleary). The original building was destroyed by fire in 1673 and a new Navy Office was built in 1682-3 designed by Christopher Wren, itself later demolished in 1788 when warehouses were built for the East and West India Docks Company. In 1910 the Port of London Authority Building was built to replace the East and West India Docks Company warehouses. The PLA moved out in 1971 and its base is now in Gravesend in Kent.

The word 'Seething' may originate from a medieval word 'sifethen' meaning 'full of chaff', so-called after the Corn Market nearby on Fenchurch Street. Muscovy Street refers to the Russian colony in the area in the C16th. Close by is St Olave's Church (q.v.) which served the Navy Office, including Pepys, who was buried there and to whom there is a memorial tablet erected in 1884. A doorway led to the gallery of the church from Seething Lane.

A public garden was created here after WWII in the 1950s, a simple rectangular space bounded by railings and laid out symmetrically with a central path, planted with grass, flower beds, shrubs, a good variety of trees including cypress and robinia. It featured a bronze bust of Pepys by the Anglo-Swedish sculptor Karin Jonzen, erected by the Samuel Pepys Club with funds raised by public subscription; it was presented to the garden in 1983 by the late Frederick Cleary, Chairman of the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association. Either side of the gate were beds of red roses to commemorate the date in 1381 when Sir Robert Knollys was permitted to construct a bridge across Seething Lane (since vanished) for which the City charged him one red rose annually; this is marked by an annual ceremony arranged by the Company of Watermen and Lightermen of the River Thames. 

In 2012 the public gardens were closed when the adjacent 10 Trinity Square was being redeveloped as a luxury Four Seasons Hotel by the China-based Reignwood Group. As part of the scheme, the gardens were also redesigned, and reopened in 2018. The new garden has a mix of raised beds with dramatic planting, an area of lawn and serpentine paths wind through the site. Some of the paving stones depict episodes from Pepys' life such as the parmesan cheese he buried during the Fire of London, and another showing surgeon's forceps used to remove Pepys' bladder stone when he underwent an operation. The bust of Pepys remains in the garden, now set on a new plinth. Pavilions at each end of the garden provide vehicle access for the hotel’s underground car park and the external walls of the southern pavilion are clad in fragrant climbing plants.

Sources consulted:

B Plummer and D Shewan, 'City Gardens', London, 1992; F E Cleary, 'The Flowering City', The City Press, 1969; Simon Bradley & Nikolaus Pevsner, 'The Buildings of England, London 1: The City of London', 1997 (1999 ed.); City Gardens Walks leaflet, Corporation of London, 2007; information from EC3 website http://www.ec3london.uk/.

Grid ref:

TQ333807 (533400,180790)

Size in hectares:

0.0861

Site ownership:

City of London Corporation

Site management:

Open Spaces Dept.

Date(s):

c.1950; 2018

Designer(s):

Listed structures:

LBII: No. 2 Seething Lane

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:

Trinity Square

Tree Preservation Order:

No

Nature Conservation Area:

No

Green Belt:

No

Metropolitan Open Land:

No

Special Policy Area:

Yes - Thames Policy Area

Other LA designation:

Trinity Square Conservation Area is within the Tower of London World Heritage Site Local Setting.

Seething Lane Gardens, April 2010. Photo S Williams

Click a photo to enlarge.