LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING Eccleston Square is situated c 250m to the south of Victoria station, c 1km north-west of Vauxhall Bridge, and 200m north-west of Warwick Square (registered Grade II). The c 1.2 ha rectangle is bounded by the road, Eccleston Square, which forms the long sides to the north-west and south-east, and the short side to the south-west, and by Belgrave Road to the north-east. The terraces of C19 houses are separated from the garden by the roads and the site’s enclosing iron railings.
ENTRANCES AND APPROACHES The site is accessed by gates in the north-west, south-east and south-west sides; the gate on the north-east side shown on the OS map of 1875 has now gone. The gates lead to the main gravel paths which travel around the perimeter of the site.
PRINCIPAL BUILDINGS The majority of the stucco terrace houses (mostly listed Grade II) for which the garden was made were built by Thomas Cubitt in the 1830s and 1840s, as an integral part of Pimlico’s planned layout. The houses of Eccleston Square overlook the private garden provided for the use of residents.
GARDENS The layout shown on the OS map of 1875, while differing from the Cubitt map of 1863, remains remarkably unchanged today except for the addition of some minor paths. A perimeter path with a wide outer shrub border is connected from side to side in the central area in an hour-glass formation, divided by a central path which has a circular bed at its centre. Several of the original London plane trees survive: ten trees noted on the 2014 tree survey have an estimated date from the girth of the tree of the late C19 or early C20; eight have estimated dates of early-mid C19 and may be original plantings.
The railed rectangular site is enclosed by a wide outer shrub border containing a variety of shrubs and trees, surrounding a gravel perimeter path which encloses a central lawn. A wide gravel path runs across the central lawn to the gate on the south-east side. This path is flanked by four triangular beds bordered by further linking paths. Some of the glazed ropework terracotta edging survives around most of the main paths and beds, although in places brick and stone setts edge the beds, probably placed there in the mid C20.
The four triangular beds were converted to shrub beds in the 1980s and are now filled with a wide variety of plants. Both the central beds and perimeter borders contain mature trees including London planes, acacia, Horse Chestnut, lime, and numerous smaller trees and flowering shrubs including holly, laburnum, laurustinus, lilac, flowering cherry, maples, fatsia, bamboo, mulberry, smokebush, magnolia, wych hazel, mimosa, as well as rarities such as Davidia involucrata, Catalpa bignonioides, Ginkgo biloba, Liquidambar styraciflua, Liriodendron tulipifera, Paulownia tomentosa and many others. There are notable collections of climbing tea roses, camellias and New Zealand exotics. In 2006 a Wollemi pine was donated, a species thought to be extinct until it was discovered in Australia. It was the fourth to be planted in the UK. The garden also holds the National Collection of Ceanothus awarded by the National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens.
A raised brick circular bed containing a tulip tree marks the centre of the central path. Continuing in an anti-clockwise direction around the garden: to the south-west of the entrance is a children’s play area and, adjoining it, a raised brick patio has been laid in different brick patterns with seats and potted plants. The south-west corner is planted as a ‘cottage garden’. The south-west entrance to the garden leads under a wrought-iron arbour erected in the 1980s which supports wisteria. Views across the lawn are enhanced by the numerous mature trees. A garden shed and a rose arbour with brick paths are situated in the south-east corner and a more recent brick platform for a barbecue area has been placed in the centre of the lawn.
On the south-east side of the garden is a greenhouse and an area planted with tree peonies and other shrubs. At the north-east end of the garden a well-screened tennis court, which replaced an earlier croquet lawn in c 1936, and a tennis shed are situated. Nearby is a compost area and a more recent Himalayan birch grove. On the north-east side of the tennis court a box-hedged area has been planted with herbaceous perennials, and on the north-west side of the tennis court, a fern garden has been planted.
The garden has won several prizes from 2008-2011 awarded by the London Gardens Society.