Evelyn Gardens is a

garden square A garden square is a type of communal garden in an urban area wholly or substantially surrounded by buildings; commonly, it continues to be applied to public and private parks formed after such a garden becomes accessible to the public at large. T ...

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, London, England.

Location

The square is to the north-west of

Fulham Road Fulham Road is a street in London, England, which comprises the A304 and part of the A308. Overview Fulham Road ( the A219) runs from Putney Bridge as "Fulham High Street" and then eastward to Fulham Broadway, in the London Borough of Hamme ...

, and

Roland Gardens Roland Gardens (foaled 9 May 1975 – after 1993) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire best known for winning the classic 2000 Guineas in 1978. During a racing career which lasted from 1977 until 1979 he ran sixteen times and won f ...

, comes off the north-west corner of the square.

History

The land belonged to Sir Charles James Freake. After his death in 1884, his widow, Lady Freake, and banker

Charles Townshend Murdoch Charles Townshend Murdoch (27 May 1837 – 8 July 1898) was a banker and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1885 and 1898. Murdoch was the son of James Gordon Murdoch, of Ashfold, Sussex and his wife Caroline Penelop ...

, hired C. A. Daw and Son to erect buildings around a garden square. It was named in honour of William John Evelyn. Construction began in 1886, and it was completed in 1896. Philip Norman, an artist, was the first owner of 45 Evelyn Gardens.

Charles Digby Harrod Charles Digby Harrod (25 January 1841 – 15 August 1905)N. Hansen, ‘Harrod, Charles Digby (1841–1905)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200accessed 11 Aug 2014/ref> was an English businessman who expanded ...

, the owner of Harrods, lived at 31 Evelyn Gardens from 1888 to 1894.

Vernon Kell Major General Sir Vernon George Waldegrave Kell, (21 November 1873 – 27 March 1942) was a British Army general and the founder and first Director of the British Security Service, otherwise known as MI5. Known as K, he was described in ...

, who served as the founding Director-General of

MI5 The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), G ...

from 1909 to 1940, lived at 67 Evelyn Gardens.

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

maintains two halls of residence for their students on the square: Fisher Hall at 12-30 Evelyn Gardens and Bernard Sunley Hall at 40-44 Evelyn Gardens.

References

Evelyn Gardens Evelyn Gardens is a garden square in Chelsea, London, England. Location The square is to the north-west of Fulham Road, and Roland Gardens, comes off the north-west corner of the square. History The land belonged to Sir Charles James Freake. ...

1886 establishments in England Streets in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea {{Coord, 51, 29, 18.73, N, 0, 10, 45.87, W, scale:1563_region:GB, display=title