Parks and Gardens
Warrior Square Gardens - The site was opened as a subscription garden in 1852. The Council purchased a strip of land at the southernmost tip to erect a statue of Queen Victoria in 1902. All but the uppermost rose garden was acquired by the Council in 1920 with the upper garden being donated to the Council in 1930. Recent improvements include major re-landscaping and wall restoration, completed in 2001. The lower section was completely re-laid following extensive excavation by Southern Water.
St Leonards Gardens - Originally laid out as a private garden for the Burton family, St Leonards Gardens was bought by the town for £9,000 in 1879. The gardens had two ponds and a maze, which proved very popular and gave Maze Hill its name. Gothic-style buildings were built around the wooded valley. The gateway to St Leonards Gardens is an imposing Burton building. The garden was purchased by the Council in 1880 and opened to the public; it consists of trees, shrubs and grass areas with a central pond. The Council applied for a Heritage Lottery Grant for the restoration of this garden and work is now complete.
Gensing Gardens - The garden was purchased by the Council in 1872 and landscaped by the then Borough Surveyor, William Andrews. Little is recorded of the history of the site, although the name comes from the original farm. The garden has been subject to numerous improvements during the last 10 years, and consists of shrub and flower beds, trees, grass areas, and an equipped playground suitable for up to 14 year old children. It is located within a priority ward and is a rare and valuable open space within its neighbourhood.
Markwick Gardens - The Gardens were formed in the 1860s primarily for the use and pleasure of the residents of Markwick Terrace, which was built in the 1830-40s. At that time, the land was owned by the Eversfield Trust, which no longer exists and the gardens are now owned, privately, by the Eversfield Estates. (Markwick was the surname of one branch of Eversfield family descendants.) Since the war the gardens have been run by a Committee of local residents as the Estate now takes no part in the running. Access to the gardens is by membership of the Markwick Gardens Association.
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Famous quotes containing the words parks and, parks and/or gardens:
“Perhaps our own woods and fields,—in the best wooded towns, where we need not quarrel about the huckleberries,—with the primitive swamps scattered here and there in their midst, but not prevailing over them, are the perfection of parks and groves, gardens, arbors, paths, vistas, and landscapes. They are the natural consequence of what art and refinement we as a people have.... Or, I would rather say, such were our groves twenty years ago.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Perhaps our own woods and fields,—in the best wooded towns, where we need not quarrel about the huckleberries,—with the primitive swamps scattered here and there in their midst, but not prevailing over them, are the perfection of parks and groves, gardens, arbors, paths, vistas, and landscapes. They are the natural consequence of what art and refinement we as a people have.... Or, I would rather say, such were our groves twenty years ago.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Down by the salley gardens my love and I did meet;
She passed the salley gardens with little snow-white feet.
She bid me take love easy, as the leaves grow on the tree;
But I, being young and foolish, with her would not agree.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)