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Cleveland Square & Cleveland Gardens

 
  Cleveland Square  
 

Because of its proximity to Hyde Park, and the ease of access to the West End, Bayswater has always been a popular place to live. A fashionable area in Victorian times, Bayswater was a home for the establishment, the literati and empire builders of the era.

The varied architecture of the Bayswater area includes established neighbour-hoods

containing grand stucco terraces, period maisonettes and large Victorian houses.

Quiet leafy streets contain mews houses and the large Squares feature attractive gardens. One of these and perhaps the most picturesque is Cleveland Square.
Cleveland Square is a 'Grand' square of large Georgian terraces bordering a beautiful classic garden space.
Between Gloucester and Porchester terraces there are many tall, tree-shaded rows, stuccoed and with pillared porches, with some discreet infilling.

Cleveland Square, which rivalled Lancaster Gate as the most expensive address in Bayswater has an unusually large private garden to serve the massive range of six storeys on its north side.
 
 
The Garden
 
 

"....the measure of any great civilisation is in its cities and the measure of a city's greatness is to be found in the quality of its public spaces, its parks and squares..."
John Ruskin




The gardens of Cleveland Sqaure are surrounded on 3 sides by magnificant 150 year London Plane trees and grand stucco fronted buildings. On the northside the buildings back directly onto the garden. There are large expanses of lawn dotted with flowerbeds and muture plum and cherry trees..

There is small raised flower bed in the garden with a plaque that commemorates a barrage balloon moored here in WW2. The raised bed actually hides the concrete mooring that were to diificult to remove.

Blossom

 
Cleveland Gardens
Cleveland Gardens was established around 1855, soon after Cleveland Square. Like many London gardens, the original iron railings were removed during the Second World War and were replaced with concrete posts and wire fencing. Along with the loss of the railing Cleveland Gardens lost 14 buildings due to bombing on the north side of the Gardens where the Hallfield Estate now stands.

During the 1970s and 1980s only a handful of houses contributed to the upkeep of the gardens and a few dedicated residents struggled to do their best with limited resources. Then in the mid 1990s the gardens came under the umbrella of CSRA – the gardening hours were increased, the trees were pruned, water was re-instated, and the path was gravelled. 
But in spite of these improvements, it soon became apparent that the only way to make a real difference to the look of the gardens was to replace the dilapidated and unattractive chain-link fencing. The problem was the cost! However, after several years of hard work and perseverance of the CSRA and with the help of our local councillor Robert Davis and John Zamit of SEBRA, grants were sought and planning permission was eventually obtained for traditional cast iron Victorian-style railings. These were installed in 2006, soon followed by a brand new path of self-binding gravel and complete replanting of the borders, designed to give open views into the gardens. 
The cost of the railings, at around £100,000, was jointly funded by CSRA, along with grants from English Heritage and Westminster City Council’s Paddington Social & Community Fund. As part of the grant criteria, CSRA opens the gardens to the public for a minimum of 21 days a year for a period of ten years (currently the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month between approximately 10:00am and 4:00pm). CSRA is, rightly, very proud of what has been achieved – the railings and the gardens look really stunning and have transformed and enriched the local area well beyond expectation.
Garden Key Application
To apply for a key to gain access to the gardens of Cleveland Square and Cleveland Gardens you need to be able to prove eligibility of residency relating to a property in either Cleveland Square or Cleveland Gardens W2. Before downloading the Garden Key application form, please click here to read the requirements necessary for garden key ownership.
 
Garden Key application Form
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