Victoria Tower Gardens

Victoria Tower Gardens is a public park along the north bank of the River Thames in London. As its name suggests, is adjacent to the Victoria Tower, the south-western corner of the Palace of Westminster. The park, which extends southwards from the Palace to Lambeth Bridge, sandwiched between Millbank and the river, also forms part of the Thames Embankment.

Victoria Tower Gardens, 2011, with the Buxton Memorial Fountain and the Palace of Westminster in the background

Victoria Tower Gardens is a Grade II* listed park created in 1864–1870, following the embankment of the Thames. It is in a Conservation Area, is partly within the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Westminster, and is designated a zone of Monument Saturation.[1]

History
The site of Victoria Tower Gardens in 1865.

The Gardens were created during the 1870s by Joseph Bazalgette, and was part of a project for the Metropolitan Board of Works to provide London with a modern sewerage system.

The gardens were later expanded. This expansion was discussed in parliament in 1898 in the 'Victoria Embankment extension and St John's improvement bill'.[2] A number of wharves were compulsorily purchased, including Dorset Wharf (shown on 1885 map)[3] which was purchased from George Taverner Miller, son of Taverner John Miller, from where he ran a "Sperm Oil Merchants and Spermaceti refining" business. The effects from this business and others were sold in 1905.[4]

Features

The park features:

UK Holocaust Memorial

In January 2015 David Cameron announced on behalf of the Holocaust Memorial Foundation that there was to be a new UK Holocaust Memorial and associated Learning Centre built in central London. At that stage three particular sites were proposed: the Imperial War Museum, Potter's Field near London City Hall, and on Millbank, south of the Houses of Parliament in Westminster.[5] However, in July 2016 it was announced that Victoria Tower Gardens had been chosen for both the memorial and underground learning centre. A design competition was launched, and in October 2017 the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation jury announced their chosen design.[6] The proposed construction will be submitted for planning permission to Westminster City Council who will have to consider breaching their own rules on new monuments in this zone and the effect on heritage views of the Palace of Westminster. The memorial plans attracted strong opposition to the use of this small park, both from the grassroots campaign of local residents through the 'Save Victoria Tower Gardens' [7] and international organisations like the UNESCO advisor ICOMOS.[8]

Transport

The nearest London Underground stations are Westminster and Pimlico.

References
  1. Westminster City Council, Statues and Monuments in Westminster: Guidance for the Erection of New Monuments Supplementary Planning Document (PDF), pp. 21 and 23, archived from the original (PDF) on 5 October 2013, retrieved 8 February 2014
  2. "VICTORIA EMBANKMENT EXTENSION AND ST. JOHN'S IMPROVEMENT BILL". Hansard Millbank. Retrieved 14 September 2008.
  3. "Corporation of London". The National Archive. Archived from the original on 10 August 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2008.
  4. "Westminster changes in 1905". Oxford Journals. 7 April 1906. Retrieved 10 July 2017.
  5. Hope, Christopher (14 April 2017). "Row over new £50m holocaust memorial as MPs say it will ruin Victoria Tower Garden". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  6. "Adjaye Associates and Ron Arad Architects win UK Holocaust Memorial international design competition". UK Government website. Retrieved 24 October 2017.
  7. "Save Victoria Tower Gardens". Save Victoria Tower Gardens. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
  8. "UNESCO Advisor Objects to Memorial". Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 25 June 2019.

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