Space to Visit

Set in an area of rich maritime history, adjacent to Trinity House and the old Port of London Authority building, this memorial garden with great views of the Tower of London contains lawns, ornamental planting, shrub beds (designed for interest every day of the year), and mature trees. The main focus, however, are the memorials: to those executed on the former Tower Hill scaffold, and to the Merchant Seamen who died in both world wars, and the Falklands conflict. The Gardens, designed by Samuel Wyatt as a setting for Trinity House, were created by special Act of Parliament in 1797. In a small, railed area of the garden there is a stone set in the paving that indicates the site of the former scaffold where at least 125 people were beheaded outside the walls of the Tower of London. Two War Memorials together make up the Merchant Navy Memorial: The First World War section, Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, and unveiled in December 1928 to commemorate those of the Merchant Navy and the Fishing Fleet who died in WWI; and the Second World War section, designed by Sir Edward Maufe, and added in 1955. The First World War section is in the form of a white stone classical pavilion, inside which are metal plaques inscribed with names of the dead. From this area, steps flanked by over life-size figures of an officer and a merchant seaman lead down to a sunken garden that is the Second World War section. The sunken garden is surrounded by 8ft Portland stone walls set with bronze plaques, seven allegorical figures representing the seven seas by sculptor Charles Wheeler are at intervals along the walls and at the centre is a Mariner’s compass in the form of a bronze pool. The garden also holds a memorial to mearchant seamen who lost their lives in the Falklands conflict.