Meath Gardens is a 4.1642 hectares (10.290 acres) park in Bethnal Green in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London, England, and opened to the public in 1894. Before it became a park, it was the Victoria Park Cemetery.
Meath Gardens is a 4.1642 hectares (10.290 acres) park in Bethnal Green in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London, England, and opened to the public in 1894. Before it became a park, it was the Victoria Park Cemetery.
Land for Victoria Park Cemetery was purchased in 1840, by Charles Butler, who would later (1852–68) be MP for Tower Hamlets. [1] Butler then transferred the land to create a privately owned burial ground, which was opened in 1842. [2] The cemetery was never consecrated. [3] There were two chapels in the cemetery, designed by the architect Arthur Ashpitel, [4] both of which have since been demolished. [5] The surviving Gothic arch gateway (with the inscription 'VPC 1845') was restored in 2017. [6]
One of the burials in the cemetery was Bripumyarrimin, known as King Cole, who was a member of the Australian Aboriginal cricket team in England in 1868, the first representative cricket team to tour England from Australia. Bripumyarrimin died on the tour from tuberculosis and pneumonia and was buried in an unmarked grave in the cemetery. [7] A commemorative plaque was set into the ground by the Aboriginal Cricket Association in 1988, and a further commemoration occurred in 2018 on the 150th anniversary of the tour. [8] Bripumyarrimin's grave was the inspiration for the 2010 novel The Clay Dreaming by Ed Hillyer, better known as the graphic artist ILYA. [9]
Although well-managed initially, the cemetery was a poor financial venture, becoming insolvent in 1853, and eventually ceased trading. [10] It closed to burials in 1876, with some 300,000 bodies interred. [11] It was allowed to fall into ruin: Lt-Col JJ Sexby, the first Chief Officer for Parks for the newly formed London County Council, described its state as 'a disgrace and a scandal'. [12]
The cemetery records are held at the London Metropolitan Archives. [13]
Lord Brabazon established the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association in 1882, partly for the purpose of converting disused burial grounds into parks and gardens for public recreation. The Disused Burial Grounds Act 1884, by preventing construction on former burial grounds, destroyed the development value of the former cemetery. As early as 1885, the MPGA attempted to acquire the cemetery from Butler's surviving son and trustee, the Rev John Banks Meek Butler, but without success. [14] After protracted negotiations, the MPGA raised funds for the London County Council to acquire it in 1891, with work commencing in 1893. It was one of the largest burial grounds that the MPGA's landscape gardener Fanny Wilkinson converted into a public garden. She was assisted by 30 unemployed men, the work taking a year as the ground proved hard to dig. The garden was opened by the Duke of York in 1894, and renamed after the Earl of Meath, Lord Brabazon having inherited the earldom in 1887. [15] The laid out gardens included playgrounds and gymnastic equipment. [16]
The park was poorly maintained during the 20th-century. A chemical plant was built on part of the park in the 1950s. [17] Parts along the eastern boundary were lost to development in the 1960s, and parts along the southern boundary were lost to housing in the 1990s. Originally 11 1/2 acres in size, the park is now only 10 acres. [18] [19]
Facilities include children's play equipment and basketball and football facilities. [20] From 2000 to 2008, the park was home to Bethnal Green FC (later renamed Tower Hamlets FC). [21]
The park has held a Green Flag Award since 2016. [22]
A Friends of Meath Gardens group was established in 2015. [23]
Bethnal Green is an area in the East End of London, England, 3 miles (4.8 km) northeast of Charing Cross. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the Green, much of which survives today as Bethnal Green Gardens, beside Cambridge Heath Road. By the 16th century the term applied to a wider rural area, the Hamlet of Bethnal Green, which subsequently became a Parish, then a Metropolitan Borough before merging with neighbouring areas to become the north-western part of the new London Borough of Tower Hamlets.
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a borough of London, England. Situated on the north bank of the River Thames and immediately east of the City of London, the borough spans much of the traditional East End of London and includes much of the regenerated London Docklands area. The 2019 mid-year population for the borough is estimated at 324,745.
Bethnal Green was a civil parish and a metropolitan borough in the East End of London, England.
Victoria Park is a park in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in East London, England.
Mile End is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London, England, 4.2 miles (6.8 km) east-northeast of Charing Cross. It is situated on the part of the London-to-Colchester road called Mile End Road., it was one of the earliest suburbs of London.
Bow is an area of East London within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is primarily a built-up and mostly residential area and is 4.6 miles (7.4 km) east of Charing Cross.
Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park is a local nature reserve and historic cemetery in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets within the East End of London. It is regarded as one of the seven great cemeteries of the Victorian era.
Cambridge Heath is an urban area of Bethnal Green in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, approximately 5.7 km (3.5 mi) north east of Charing Cross. It is named after a former heath in the East End of London. The northern boundary is formed by the Regent's Canal and the area includes Vyner Street, best known for its street art and galleries.
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in spite of being close to the centre of London and perhaps retaining the idea of it being the docklands area, has over 100 areas of parks and open spaces within its boundaries. These range from the huge to small gardens and squares. In common with all the London boroughs, these green spaces provide "lungs" for the leisure pursuits of the inhabitants.
The London Borough of Hackney, one of the inner London boroughs, has 62 parks, gardens and open spaces within its boundaries, totalling 330 ha. These provide the "green lungs" for leisure activities. Hackney Marshes contain the largest concentration of football pitches in Europe.
The London Borough of Islington is short of large parks and open spaces, given its status in recent decades as a desirable place of residence. In fact, Islington has the lowest ratio of open space to built-up areas of any London borough. The largest continuous open space in the borough, at 11.75 hectares, is Highbury Fields.
Old Ford is an area in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets that is named after the natural ford which provided a crossing of the River Lea.
There are many parks and open spaces in Greater London, England.
Reginald Brabazon, 12th Earl of Meath, was an Irish politician and philanthropist.
Tower Hamlets London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in Greater London, England. The council is unusual in that its executive function is controlled by a directly elected mayor of Tower Hamlets, currently Lutfur Rahman.
Tower Hamlets Football Club is a football club based in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. They are currently members of the Eastern Counties League Division One South and play at the Phoenix Sports Ground in Barnehurst.
The two Camberwell cemeteries are close to one another in Honor Oak, south London, England. Both have noteworthy burials and architecture, and they are an important source of socioeconomic data in recording the historical growth and changing demography in the community for the Southwark area since 1855.
Roman Road, is a road in East London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets entirely on the B119 on the B roads network, and lies on the old Roman road in the Roman Empire called the Pye Road running from the capital of the Iceni at Venta Icenorum to Londinium and today hosts a street market. Beginning in Old Ford at its eastern end, it passes into Globe Town and then enters into Bethnal Green to its western end.
The Metropolitan Public Gardens Association is a charity in London for the purposes of the preservation of public parks and gardens, established in 1882. It facilitated the creation of new public open spaces, including from philanthropic landowners within its membership. The MPGA was involved in the formation and development of other amenity organisations. The charity still exists; in recent decades its emphasis has changed to smaller parcels of land and smaller projects within larger spaces, as well as to themed projects. The MPGA was the starting point for the careers of the ground-breaking female landscape gardeners Fanny Wilkinson and Madeline Agar.
