Drury lane gardens

Set in a quiet gap between the buildings of Drury lane sits a peaceful seating area, toddler play park and a MUGA, or as the City of Westminster is calling it a “kick-about area” – which is far better!

History of Drury lane gardens:
Drury Lane Gardens

Sir Edwin Chadwick, the sanitary reformer, wrote in the 1843 report of the Sanitary Commission that it would be in the public interest to keep open as public ground the spaces then occupied as burial grounds. Ten years later, the London burial grounds were closed for interments, but it was not until 1877 that the Open Spaces Act – “An Act for affording facilities for the enjoyment by the public of open spaces in the metroplis” was framed, partly to facilitate the acquisition of burial grounds as open spaces. By the passing of the Act it became illegal to build on any ground that had been set aside for interments.

By 1877 seven disused burial grounds in London had already been converted into five public gardens, including this ground belonging to the parish of St Martin’s in the Fields. These conversions occurred as the culmination of a philanthropic campaign to preserve open spaces for public uses. They may therefore be considered the five pioneer London public gardens.

The others were St Botolph’s, Bishopsgate; St George’s in the East, and the Wesleyan graveyard adjoining (forming one ground); St John’s, Waterloo Bridge Rd; and St Pancras old churchyard, with the adjoining graveyard belonging to St Giles’ in the fields (forming one ground).

The Vestry of St Martin’s in the Fields carried out this particular conversion at the suggestion of the philanthropist and social reformer, Octavia Hill. The buildings on the two sides of the entrance were originally a mortuary and a keeper’s lodge.