Berkeley Square Gardens is a green space in Mayfair, London, which dates back to the 1740’s. It houses different sculptures which are rotated to different pieces yearly. The garden has come quite a way from its hey-day.
In 1727, Berkeley Square Garden was built as an enclosed space. It had a water meadow that ran off the River Tyburn which was situated just south of the square. The Vestry minutes referred to meadow as the “the Common Sewer”.
Arrangements were made through an agreement between the 4th Lord Berkeley, his son and two carpenters Cook and Hilliard, who developed the square. 3 ½ acres were enclosed on the south and west end by “dwarf wall and wooden rails and pallisadoes set thereon.”
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| Emily Young - Earth/Cassandra II (2014) |
There was no upkeeping of the garden of laying it out and keeping the garden tidy, as no one took responsibility of the garden. It was then enclosed for strict access during the mid-1740s.
During the 1760s, the railings and walls of the garden were taken down and by 1766, the garden “had gone to ruin”. An Act of Parliament was granted to enclose and adorn the square as proposed by residents who took it into their own hands to plan for fencing and laying of the garden. In the same year of 1766, the act gave residents the power to “raise money to pave, light and adorn the space”, which caused the rates to rise for the maintenance of the square.
“The plan approved at Gwynn’s Tavern in Berkeley Square. There is a grass plot in the middle, a gravel walk around, and iron pallisadoes; but there is no statue or bason in the middle. The undertaker of the work has engaged to finish it completely for £7,000.”
The following year, fences were up and the grounds laid with the layout kept to the original. A report from 1767 says that the square became “a handsome green walk next the railing, then a terras walk, and the rest laid out as a grass plot”. London Plane trees were later planted in 1789 by Edward Bourverie and is said to be the oldest Plane trees in London.
A statue of George III was erected but was taken down and replaced by a pump house/gazebo, which still stands there today. The statue was an equestrian sculpture cast in lead made by French sculptor Beaupre. But due to weather conditions and the weight of the rider, the legs of the horse snapped off, consequently causing it to be removed in 1827.
31 years later, Henry (3rd Marquess of Lansdowne) commissioned a nympy statue created by Alexander Munro in 1858, which was created of Carrara marble. It was located on the south side outside of the park offering water to any passer-by. It was later relocated inside the square when a path was laid leading up to the pump house. The water feature was restored in 1994.
During the World War II in 1941, the railings were removed and the square used for armaments manufacture for the units of the US army. After the war, the City Council reinstated it back as a garden, removing any air-raid shelters and replanting the lawns.
In 1977, the Berkeley Square Ball was held in commemoration of the Queen Silvere Jubilee, which ran through the 1980’s and raised £800,000. The square is reference in Eric Maschwitz’s wartime ballad A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square.
