Metropolitan Board of Works in Spring Gardens 1860 ILN

Spring Gardens is a dead-end street at the south east extreme of

St. James's St James's is a central district in the City of Westminster, London, forming part of the West End. In the 17th century the area developed as a residential location for the British aristocracy, and around the 19th century was the focus of the de ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England, that crosses the east end of The Mall between

Admiralty Arch Admiralty Arch is a landmark building in London providing road and pedestrian access between The Mall, which extends to the southwest, and Trafalgar Square to the northeast. Admiralty Arch, commissioned by King Edward VII in memory of his mo ...

and

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson comm ...

. Part of the old liberty of

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

and the current

City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a city and borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of central Greater London, including most of the West En ...

, it abuts

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Sq ...

Horse Guards Parade Horse Guards Parade is a large parade ground off Whitehall in central London (at grid reference ). It is the site of the annual ceremonies of Trooping the Colour, which commemorates the monarch's official birthday, and the Beating Retreat. H ...

Green Park Green Park, officially The Green Park, is one of the Royal Parks of London. It is in the southern part – the core part – of the City of Westminster, Central London, but before that zone was extended to the north, to take in Marylebo ...

, and the

Charing Cross Charing Cross ( ) is a junction in Westminster, London, England, where six routes meet. Clockwise from north these are: the east side of Trafalgar Square leading to St Martin's Place and then Charing Cross Road; the Strand leading to the City ...

/Strand/Trafalgar Square locality. It is named after the gardens that stood here. These featured a decorative

fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were ori ...

in the time of

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen". Eli ...

that was set in motion by passers-by treading on hidden machinery, knowingly or unknowingly. Mostly Victorian buildings have been built lining the street.

Occupants

The Whig playwright and poet

Susanna Centlivre Susanna Centlivre (c. 1669 (baptised) – 1 December 1723), born Susanna Freeman and also known professionally as Susanna Carroll, was an English poet, actress, and "the most successful female playwright of the eighteenth century". Centlivre's " ...

(c.1669 – 1723), who has been described as "the most successful female playwright of the eighteenth century", spent the end of her life here, and wrote her most famous work ''

A Bold Stroke for a Wife ''A Bold Stroke for a Wife'' is Susanna Centlivre's 18th-century satirical English play first performed in 1718. The plot expresses the author's unabashed support of the British Whig Party: she criticises the Tories, religious hypocrisy, and ...

'' at her home at the corner of Buckingham Court, Spring Gardens, in 1718.''Literary Landmarks of London'', L. Hutton, T.Fischer Unwin, 1885. The 19th-century architect

Decimus Burton Decimus Burton (30 September 1800 – 14 December 1881) was one of the foremost English architects and landscapers of the 19th century. He was the foremost Victorian architect in the Roman revival, Greek revival, Georgian neoclassical and R ...

bought a plot at Spring Gardens, where he constructed Nos. 10, 12, and 14 Spring Gardens as both his townhouse and his own office. The First Meeting of the London County Council in the County Hall Spring Gardens, 1889 - Henry Jamyn Brooks

The First Meeting of the London County Council in the County Hall Spring Gardens, 1889 - Henry Jamyn Brooks

The headquarters of the

Metropolitan Board of Works The Metropolitan Board of Works (MBW) was the principal instrument of local government in a wide area of Middlesex, Surrey, and Kent, defined by the Metropolis Management Act 1855, from December 1855 until the establishment of the London Coun ...

, which had moved from the London Guildhall, was based at Spring Gardens, as was the

London County Council London County Council (LCC) was the principal local government body for the County of London throughout its existence from 1889 to 1965, and the first London-wide general municipal authority to be directly elected. It covered the area today kn ...

, until it moved to County Hall. This building has since been demolished. The area hosted an open-air market for milk, the Milk Fair, from the formation of the Mall; this was closed before

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. The buildings now at Spring Gardens include: *the Trafalgar Hotel *the headquarters of the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

, since 1974 *The

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care in England that publishes guidelines in four areas: * the use of health technologies withi ...

(NICE), London site, since 2013.

References

{{coord, 51.5065, -0.1279, type:landmark_region:GB-WSM, display=title Streets in the City of Westminster London County Council