Park of the week

98. Portsoken Street Garden

In my previous post, I mentioned the King George's Fields Foundation, which created many public gardens in memory of King George V. We’ve visited several, and most of them were the usual sort of “park size”. Recently I visited the smallest in the UK – Portsoken Street Garden, in the City of London near Tower Hill Underground Station. A look at the map below will give an idea of the size.

I went there on my own, but perhaps I will go back with Jack as I noticed another tiny garden near the station, right by a piece of the old London wall, that has one of the big swings he likes. This was on one of my walking trips to several parks and gardens in the area, which took me past Trinity House. Anyone who knows about my interest in lighthouses will understand my fascination with the building.

Portsoken Street Garden has a busy main road to one side and is surrounded by office buildings, but I still found it a calming place. I sat for quite a long time just taking it all in. The garden was landscaped in the nineteen eighties, to include a water feature with a fountain and pools within circular brick walls, a perimeter path, seating and planting of shrubs, bedding displays and trees. It was redesigned in 2010 to add a waterfall and create a new play area, with an emphasis on introducing natural play. There’s a musical instrument set into the ground made from bellows and old railway sleepers.

The garden features a central pond surrounded by a small area of grass with a mix of shrub and herbaceous planting. There are several benches including some with tables as well as play equipment for children to enjoy. A wall on the hotel next door has been covered with plants, extending the greenery beyond ground level, and giving the illusion of a larger space.

It’s popular with local parents and children, and with workers in the local offices at lunchtimes. It won First Prize in the small public garden square category of the London Garden Squares Competition, in 2012.

Judith Field

Portsoken Street Garden, Portsoken Street, City of London, E1 8BZ