Leader's Gardens ⁷⁸⁹¹

Brief Description

Leader's Gardens is a small public park lying along Putney Embankment between the towpath to the Thames and the surrounding late-19th century/early-20th century housing. At the towpath entrance to the park the original cast iron gate and piers are in good condition, as are the original railings along the riverside, which feature very dynamic finials.

History

The Putney riverside was used by boatmen and for boat building from at least the 17th century, and for rowing from around 1830. Although there was a towpath by the late-18th century, the Embankment as it exists today was laid out around 1890 as a recreational area by the Putney parish surveyor, J C Radford, who was also responsible for the slipway serving various rowing clubs, the bridge over the Beverley Brook and Leader's Gardens, which opened to the public in 1903. Radford was also surveyor to the Leader Estate in west Putney. The residential development came a little later than the layout of the Embankment and gardens.

Visitor Facilities