Among the gardens open to the public include three of London’s prisons, HM Prison Holloway; HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs and HM Prison Wandsworth. 

 

One of the highlights of this year’s event is Apartment 1A at Kensington Palace, which was the home of Princess Margaret for many years and will be take part for the first time. Open Garden Squares Weekend are permitted to exclusive access on the morning of Saturday 12th only.  The garden of Apartment 1A Kensington Place boasts a stone terrace which Princess Margaret described as ‘my eighteen feet of Mustique’. This unique stone terrace was given to her soon after her marriage in 1960, and was shortly thereafter enclosed on the south and east sides by brick walls.

 

The half-acre ground, which was laid out from the early 1970s by the Princess - sometimes in collaboration with Roddy Llewellyn, and maintained by Capital Gardens, possesses a number of trees and shrubs planted by Princess Margaret (including a cluster of camellias), a white-painted wrought-iron screen made from components of a former grandstand from Ascot racecourse, a trellis screen, and a wall fountain. The garden still retains its informal character. Tours will be given by Todd Longstaffe-Gowan and James Fox who are involved in the £12 million project to transform the (public) palace gardens and the visitor experience at Kensington Palace for HM The Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012.

 

Also open especially for TfL Open Garden Squares Weekend will be many of the much loved and popular gardens such as the Kensington Roof Gardens; Middle and Inner Temple; Park Square and Park Crescent; Branch Hill Allotments; Fulham Palace Meadows Allotments; Culpeper Community Garden; St Mary’s Secret Garden; The Community Garden at the Tate Modern; Bonnington Square; Eaton Square; Edwardes Square; Arundel and Elgin in Notting Hill and St Michael’s Convent.

 

 

Above: The Grounds Of Stanley Crescent, London