Much of the Pimlico area was used for market gardening from the early C17 and was known as the Neat House gardens after the nearby sub-manor of Neat. Owned by the Grosvenor family from 1677 it remained in use for market gardening until the 1820s when Thomas Cubitt (1788-1855) leased the land for development. His patron was Robert Grosvenor, later first Marquess of Westminster, whose major building initiative of Grosvenor Estate in Belgravia and Pimlico had a profound effect on the future development of London.   The development of Pimlico was due to Cubitt, who, following his successful developments in Belgravia, and together with three other major landowners, put together a very large estate which he called South Belgravia but which was nicknamed ‘Mr Cubitt's District’ and later became known as Pimlico.   Cubitt was one of the most respected and influential builders in London in the first half of the C19. He was approached by Prince Albert to design Osborne House, on the Isle of Wight, a scheme on which Cubitt collaborated with the prince. He not only built the mansion but also the considerable Italianate gardens and terraces which surround it, and he was given the government contract to build the extensions to Buckingham Palace. He also restored the grounds at his house Denbies near Dorking (Surrey) where Prince Albert visited him to plant a symbolic tree and Cubitt was instrumental in persuading Prince Albert to become patron of the Great Exhibition of 1851.   Cubitt was an astute and enterprising builder who was attuned to the aesthetic and practical benefits of inserting garden squares into new developments, which he often created, before the houses were built. He took a great interest in the layout and the planted character of squares and he also supplied gardens with trees and shrubs from his own nursery. He built three squares within the new district of Pimlico; Eccleston from March 1828 (List entry 1000802, Grade II), Warwick in 1842 (List entry 1000848, Grade II) and St George’s Square in 1844.   Unusually, St George's Square Garden extended down to the River Thames where the residents could board boats and steamers. It was laid out in 1839 as two parallel streets running north-south but by 1843 had been developed into a formal square lined on two long sides and two sides of an angle in the north. Residents did not move into the adjoining houses until 1854.   Around 1874, the section south of Grovesnor Road was transferred to local authority ownership, becoming Pimlico Gardens. Based on the Ordnance Survey (OS) map of 1876, the gardens appear to have had a single entrance (opposite the pier) and to have been informally laid out without paths and with shrubbery beds to the east and west boundaries. A drinking fountain is also shown at the western end along with access to Pimlico Pier.   The 1916 OS map shows the newly built gardener's hut and the gardens laid out to a more formal arrangement. Paths are evident around the boundary, as well as running north to south, conforming to the current (2020) layout. It is probable that the railings were also installed at this time and it is known that a commemorative statue of William Huskisson, sculpted by John Gibson and dated 1836 (List entry 1431794, listed at Grade II) was relocated to Pimlico Gardens around 1915. Huskisson served as President of the Board of Trade and is remembered as the first person to be killed in an accident involving a steam train.   In the later C20 a bronze statue of 1996 by Andrew Wallace entitled The Helmsman was installed to the western side of the garden and a new building (Westminster Boating Base) was constructed adjacent to the south-western corner of the garden and three, artificial climbing rocks have been added to the north-west corner. The C19 drinking fountain is disassembled (2020).