Arundel & Ladbroke Gardens

About Arundel & Ladbroke Gardens

Arundel & Ladbroke garden was one of the last of the Pleasure Grounds on the Ladbroke Estate. It was laid out in the 1860s in the fashionable “gardenesque” style that has largely survived to this day: a wide gravel path with flowering borders encircling three lawns separated by smaller figure-of-eight paths and shrubberies. In the 1890s the residents decided to develop the garden into a more natural woodland. The formal round flowerbeds in the centre of two lawns were removed and forest trees planted, including the parade of planes around the east lawn. In the 1920s and 30s flowering shrubs and a catalpa were added. 1938 marked the beginning of a 50 year decline in the garden. The Council was instructed to build a public air raid shelter under the east lawn and the paths were concreted over. During the post war years the whole neighbourhood deteriorated: with the “making down” of houses into multi-occupation, the garden became increasingly overgrown and neglected. With the re-gentrification of the area from the 1990s, the paths were re-gravelled and new borders and shrubs planted. Each year we re-landscape a section: introducing unusual shrubs such as a stachyurus chinensis, open new vistas and let in more light to allow year round colour and interest without compromising the garden’s magical woodland character.

Live music on the lawn. Playground for small children.