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About Amwell Gardens
The New River Head is the most important historical site in the Amwell area, marking the end of the New River, which opened in 1613. It brought fresh water to London in a canal 40 miles long, from a series of springs in Great Amwell in Hertfordshire. From there it flowed over a rambling route, to end in a reservoir known as the round pond at New River Head in Islington.
Hugh Myddelton, a goldsmith, banker and friend of Sir Walter Raleigh, undertook the project but soon ran out of money. He persuaded King James 1 to step in and finance half of the costs in return for half of the profit. Water was taken from the reservoir into the city in pipes made from hollowed elm logs and into individual houses through lead pipes. By 1670, up to two-thirds of houses in central London had running water from the New River.
Lloyd Square was once part of lands owned by the Knights Hospitallers. In the reign of James 11 it passed to Dr William Lloyd, Bishop of St Asaph’s. Originally three large fields, it was part of the dowry of his great-granddaughter when she married William Baker in 1775. From 1819 Rev’d Baker and his son Thomas Lloyd Baker began to develop the fields for housing.
Lloyd Square was enclosed in 1834, and the layout has not changed greatly over the years. The lime trees planted around the square add to its tranquillity; these are interspersed with cherry, plum and lilac. In its time the lower lawn has been used as a tennis court and a playground for a children’s nursery, now it has been integrated back into the garden.
Features include a pergola, planted with climbing roses, and an arbour. A Magnolia Soulangeana Nigra was planted in 1966 by Olive Lloyd Baker to commemorate the golden jubilee of her inheritance after the death of her father in World War 1. A residents committee looks after the square and in the last 10 years have completed major renovations to the railings, paths and hedges.
Myddelton Square and its surrounding roads was developed by the New River Company in 1824 – 27. The public square was the central feature of the New River Estate, with St Mark’s Church designed by William Chadwell Mylne, surveyor to the New River Company from 1811.The gardens behind the houses on the east side were shortened in the 1960s to make a car park.
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