Last updated on 01 February 12
Do you run this garden?

Riverside Walk Gardens Westminster

Riverside Walk Gardens
The Prison and the site of the gardens on Greenwood's 1827 map
Search for Enlightenment, by Simon Gudgeon Riverside Walk Garden, Millbank, London, next to Tate Britain. The sculpture was exhibited as part of the Westminster City of Sculpture Festival, 2010-2012. "Simon Gudgeon’s Search for Enlightenment, which is about our search for knowledge and the acceptance of our place in the universe, is a fitting new addition to the site. Two large bronze human heads stand next to each other, a male and a female, facing towards the Thames, their faces raised to the sky. The male is slightly before the female. The space within each cranium is hollow, through which the viewer can see the piece from an inside-out perspective, and move around it to view it from all angles, taking in the surrounding landscape and sky. The expressions on these faces are peaceful and accepting; this man and woman are in contemplation, absorbing great knowledge, at a point of realisation about their place in the universe."

Gardenvisit Editorial

Millbank takes its name from Westminster Abbey's mill. The mill was replaced by Millbank Prison, from which convicts were deported to Australia. The Prison was replaced by the Tate Gallery in 1902. Farmer and Dark, imaginatively, picked up the hexagonal shape of the prison to inspire the design of Riverwalk House. Henry Moore's Locking Piece was placed here in 1968. The greenspace was designed by Plincke Landscape in 2004. The layout picks up the flowing lines of the river and the mudbanks. Mostly. It is a place for walking, sunbathing (occasionally!) and viewing the riverscape and skyscape.

Riverside Walk Gardens is on the London Gardens Walk and included in the eBook guide to the London Gardens Walk

Address - Riverside Walk Gardens, Millbank, Westminster, London, Greater London, England
Opening times - Free entry at all times
Website - Visit the Riverside Walk Gardens Westminster website