St Paul's Gardens is a

urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a city park, municipal park (North America), public park, public open space, or municipal gardens (United Kingdom, UK), is a park or botanical garden in cities, densely populated suburbia and oth ...

in the

London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham The London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham () is a London boroughs, London borough in West London and which also forms part of Inner London. The borough was formed in 1965 as the London Borough of Hammersmith from the merger of the former Metr ...

, near

Kensington Olympia Kensington (Olympia) is an interchange station between the Mildmay line of the London Overground and National Rail services operated by Southern, located in Kensington, West London. Limited services on the District line of the London Undergr ...

. St Paul's Gardens are located on the site of the former St Paul's School in

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

, which became the Supreme Allied Headquarters for the

21st Army Group The 21st Army Group was a British headquarters formation formed during the Second World War. It controlled two field armies and other supporting units, consisting primarily of the British Second Army and the First Canadian Army. Established ...

, commanded by St Paul's alumnus

Field Marshal Montgomery Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein (; 17 November 1887 – 24 March 1976), nicknamed "Monty", was a senior British Army officer who served in the First World War, the Irish War of Independence and the ...

. On 15 May 1944, the final decision to invade Normandy was taken at the site.

History

World War II

St Paul's School was initially founded in the

City of London The City of London, also known as ''the City'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and Districts of England, local government district with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in England. It is the Old town, his ...

in 1509. The school was relocated to

in 1884. The Gothic

school A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the Educational architecture, building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most co ...

and the

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

bothy A bothy is a basic shelter, usually left unlocked and available for anyone to use free of charge. It was also a term for basic accommodation, usually for gardeners or other workers on an estate. Bothies are found in remote mountainous areas of Sco ...

building were designed by architect

Alfred Waterhouse Alfred Waterhouse (19 July 1830 – 22 August 1905) was an English architect, particularly associated with Gothic Revival architecture, although he designed using other architectural styles as well. He is perhaps best known for his designs ...

. In 1939, the school was evacuated to

Easthampstead Park Easthampstead Park is a Victorian architecture, Victorian mansion in the civil parish of Bracknell in the English county of Berkshire. It is now a Convention center, conference centre. Location Since the demise of Easthampstead parish, the ho ...

, near

Crowthorne Crowthorne is a village, and civil parish, in the Bracknell Forest district of southeastern Berkshire, England. It had a population of 7,806 at the United Kingdom Census 2021, 2021 census. Crowthorne is the location of Wellington College, Be ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

. In July 1940, its buildings became the headquarters for the

, commanded by former pupil

. It was in the school's boardroom that Montgomery made plans for the

D-Day landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

. On 15 May 1944, the final decision to invade

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

was taken at the site at a conference with 145 present in the Lecture Theatre, including,

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of In ...

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

and Generals Montgomery and

Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

Operation Overload Operation Overload was a forced resettlement operation conducted by the Rhodesian Army that took place over six weeks starting on 27 July 1974. It aimed to separate civilians from the guerrillas whom they typically supported. Resettlement Op ...

started on the beaches of

on 6 June 1944. During the War, three ' gun-ports' were added to the

for defence of the

. The map used in the planning is still in the possession of St Paul's School and is on display in the Montgomery room of the new building just across the river.

Conversion to gardens

In 1968, St Paul's School was relocated across the river to

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 High Stree ...

and main school buildings were demolished. Today, the boundary wall and railings, small circular

Bothy A bothy is a basic shelter, usually left unlocked and available for anyone to use free of charge. It was also a term for basic accommodation, usually for gardeners or other workers on an estate. Bothies are found in remote mountainous areas of Sco ...

(garden store), High Master's Lodge (now St Paul's Hotel) and Porter's Lodge are all that remain of the site and are

Grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

listed. In 2009, a plaque was erected by Hammersmith & Fulham Historic Buildings Group commemorating the D-Day Landing in June 1944. On 6 June 2019, a plaque was funded by the Old Pauline Trust and unveiled by Major James Kelly to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the

, describing the site and its importance in the planning of the

. In 2023, a full refurbishment of the bothy, listed on

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

's risk register, was approved as part of Hammersmith & Fulham's Heritage and Conservation. On 15 May 2024, the

held a special event at the gardens commemorating the 80th anniversary of the

References

{{reflist Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Urban public parks in the United Kingdom