Leader's Gardens is a public

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to resi ...

on the banks of the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the The Isis, River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, se ...

in the

London Borough of Wandsworth Wandsworth () is a London boroughs, London borough in southwest London; it forms part of Inner London and has an estimated population of 329,677 inhabitants. Its main named areas are Battersea, Balham, Putney, Tooting and Wandsworth, Wandsworth ...

, between

Putney Putney () is a district of southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ancient paris ...

and

Barnes Barnes may refer to: People * Barnes (name), a family name and a given name (includes lists of people with that name) Places United Kingdom *Barnes, London, England **Barnes railway station ** Barnes Bridge railway station ** Barnes Railway Bri ...

town centres.

Geography

The park has an area of 1.267

hectare The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...

s, there are entrances from Putney Embankment on the north west, Ashlone Road to the south and Festing Road to the east. The small river Beverley Brook runs along the west side of the park and into the Thames. At the north-west corner there is an old council building, now occupied by the Wandsworth, Chelsea and Fulham

Sea Cadets Sea cadets are members of a sea cadet corps, a formal uniformed youth organisation for young people with an interest in waterborne activities and or the national navy. The organisation may be sponsored in whole or in part by the navy or a naval s ...

and other youth groups. The park is part of Putney Embankment Conservation Area, which includes some of the oldest buildings in Putney.

History

The area was laid out in 1890 on land from the estate of English politician

John Temple Leader John Temple Leader (7 May 1810 – 1 March 1903) was an English politician and connoisseur. Early life Born at his father's house, Putney Hill Villa, on 7 May 1810, he was the younger son of Mary and William Leader, a London merchant, and Whig ...

by Putney Parish and Leader Estate surveyor J C Radford, it was opened in 1903.

Features

The gate at the Putney Embankment entrance is the original from 1903 and is made of cast iron, as are the railings surrounding the park, which have ornamental ball finials topped with tall spikes. The

Putney Sculpture Trail The Putney Sculpture Trail encompasses nine sculptures by the British sculptor Alan Thornhill which are permanently publicly sited along the south side of the River Thames to either side of Putney Bridge, in the London Borough of Wandsworth ...

by sculpturer

Alan Thornhill Alan Thornhill (1921 – March 4, 2020) was a British artist and sculptor whose long association with clay developed from pottery into sculpture. His output includes pottery, small and large scale sculptures, portrait heads, paintings and dr ...

begins in the park, ''Exodus'' is in the centre of the park and was installed in 2008.

Wildlife

The park has mature horse chestnut trees and a bug hotel was added in 2017

Amenities

LooLoo's cafe is in the park and has public toilets The children's playground is for under 7 year olds, new equipment was installed in 2012 with a rubber surface, and there is also skateboard area. In 2017 a new play garden was laid out with logs and stepping stones.

Sports grounds

There are three all weather tennis courts on the south side of the park which can be booked via All Star Tennis.

Transport

The park is served by Transport for London buses 22 and 265 which stop on the Lower Richmond road,

Putney Bridge tube station Putney Bridge is a London Underground station on the branch of the District line. It is between and stations and is in Zone 2. The station is located in the south of Fulham, adjacent to Fulham High Street and New Kings Road ( A308) and is a ...

(District line) and

Putney railway station Putney railway station serves Putney in the London Borough of Wandsworth, in southwest London straddling Travelcard zone 2 and zone 3. It is down the line from . The station and all trains serving it are operated by South Western Railway. ...

(Southwestern Railway) are both a 15 minute walk from the park. The

Santander Cycles Santander Cycles (formerly Barclays Cycle Hire) is a public bicycle hire scheme in London in the United Kingdom. The scheme's bicycles are popularly known as Boris Bikes, after Boris Johnson who was Mayor of London when the scheme began operati ...

Putney Pier docking station is an 8 minute walk from the park.

References

External links

Wandsworth Borough Council page on Leader's Gardens
{{Parks and open spaces in London Urban public parks in the United Kingdom Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Wandsworth 1903 establishments in England Putney