Philbeach Gardens is a communal

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. ...

in the

Earl's Court Earl's Court is a district of Kensington in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London, bordering the rail tracks of the West London line and District line that separate it from the ancient borough of Fulham to the west, the ...

district of the

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea is an Inner London borough with royal status. It is the smallest borough in London and the second smallest district in England; it is one of the most densely populated administrative regions in the ...

. The

communal garden A communal garden (often used in the plural as communal gardens) is a (normally formal) garden for shared use by a number of local residents, typically in an urban setting. The term is especially used in the United Kingdom. The centre of many cit ...

at the centre of the development is in size and was previously the site of tennis club and courts. The square was developed on the site of the 190 acre Earl's Court Farm, which had been farmed by the descendants of Samuel Hutchins since 1720. The development is named after Philbeach, a village in the

Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; cy, Sir Benfro ) is a Local government in Wales#Principal areas, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and the rest by sea. The count ...

parish of

Marloes Marloes is a village and parish in Pembrokeshire, Wales, on the Marloes Peninsula west of Milford Haven and forms the western tip of the southern shore of St Brides Bay. It is within part of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park. The parish ...

on the west coast of Wales. The 1st Baron Kensington, William Edwardes, had married Elizabeth Warren of Longbridge, Pembrokeshire and their only son became the 2nd Baron Kensington. The precarious finances of the 2nd and 3rd Baron Kensington precluded the development of the estate until the late 19th century. In 1875 an application was made to 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 County ...

by Martin Stutely the surveyor of Lord Kensington's estates, to create the roadway of Philbeach Gardens. The builder George Mineard began building by 1876. Mineard's previous developments had included Cluny Mews and parts of Warwick Road. 1-31, 64-73 and 89-110 Philbeach Gardens had been built by 1882, in the Italianate style. 88 Philbeach Gardens was built in the red-brick Domestic Revival style which was used for the rest of the development. It is the only double fronted house in Philbeach Gardens. The average price of a property in Philbeach Gardens was £720,000 in 2020. The musician

Michael Howard Michael Howard, Baron Howard of Lympne (born Michael Hecht; 7 July 1941) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Conservative Party and Leader of the Opposition from November 2003 to December 2005. He previously held cabinet posi ...

rented a maisonette in a "decayed terrace" in Philbeach Gardens in the late 1940s.

Mario Vargas Llosa Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquess of Vargas Llosa (born 28 March 1936), more commonly known as Mario Vargas Llosa (, ), is a Peruvian novelist, journalist, essayist and former politician, who also holds Spanish citizenship. Vargas Ll ...

lived in Philbeach Gardens in 1967. St Cuthbert's, Earls Court is located at No. 50 Philbeach Gardens. Michael McNay, writing in his ''Hidden Treasures of London'' describes Philbeach Gardens as a "big crescent embracing impressive parkland". The civil servant and inventor

Henry Cole Sir Henry Cole FRSA (15 July 1808 – 18 April 1882) was a British civil servant and inventor who facilitated many innovations in commerce and education in the 19th century in the United Kingdom. Cole is credited with devising the concept of ...

first rented in Philbeach Gardens and then later bought a property there. Cole was attracted to the area because of his concern with the danger of

sewer gas Sewer gas is a complex, generally obnoxious smelling mixture of toxic and nontoxic gases produced and collected in sewage systems by the decomposition of organic household or industrial wastes, typical components of sewage. Sewer gases may inc ...

, having been impressed by builder George Mineard's ventilation system to mitigate the dangers of gas. Mineard and Cole established the "Fifth of November Club" which held firework displays from the gardens. An armed siege took place on Philbeach Gardens between 20 and 22 March 1985. The perpetrator, James Alexander Baigrie, had escaped from prison in Edinburgh where he was serving a life sentence for murder. Baigrie killed himself with a sawn off shotgun in the van after a siege lasting 44 hours.

References

{{coord, 51.4911, N, 0.1989, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title 1876 establishments in England Streets in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Earls Court Communal gardens Garden squares in London