Mount Street / Gardens
Mount Street Gardens
A lawn of plane trees and benches tucked behind the shops of Mount Street, and one of the quietest public spaces in Mayfair.
Where it is
The gardens sit just south of the middle stretch of Mount Street. Buildings enclose them, with Farm Street Church on one side and the Grosvenor Chapel on South Audley Street on the other. The entrance from South Audley Street has Portland stone gate piers with lamps.
From burial ground to garden
In 1723 Sir Richard Grosvenor sold the land to the Commission for Building Fifty New Churches, to serve as a burial ground for St George's, Hanover Square. The Grosvenor Chapel was planned alongside it but not built until 1730. The parish workhouse stood in front, on the Mount Street side.
The burial ground closed in the 1850s under the Burial Acts, which shut central London's churchyards on health grounds. The workhouse was pulled down in 1886, and the gardens were laid out in 1889. The footpaths still follow that first layout. The gravestones were moved to the gardens' tool shed. When that was demolished in 1931 to make way for the Mayfair telephone exchange, the City Engineer's office copied their inscriptions, which are now held at the City of Westminster Archives Centre.
What to look for
- The fountain. A bronze drinking fountain with a rearing horse, designed in 1891 by Ernest George and Harold Peto for the local estate agent Henry Lofts. George also designed 104–111 Mount Street.
- Listed details. The fountain, two cisterns, two K2 telephone kiosks and the South Audley Street gate piers are all Grade II listed.
- The benches. Many were given by American families who used the gardens while based at the US embassy and other American institutions nearby.
- The trees. Mostly London planes, with less expected company: a Canary Islands date palm, a Chusan palm, an Australian silver wattle, three dawn redwoods and a twisted willow.
Next door
The Church of the Immaculate Conception on Farm Street, known as Farm Street Church, backs onto the gardens. It was built in 1844–49 to a Gothic design by Joseph John Scoles, with a high altar by A. W. N. Pugin, and is Grade II* listed. The Grosvenor Chapel on the other side dates from 1730.
Next: Landmarks on Mount Street