This is a guide to sites of landscape architecture and design interest in London. They were selected as places which would be of interest to landscape designers visiting London and to students studying on the Landscape Architecture and Garden Design courses at the University of Greenwich. Both historic and modern sites are included, with a bias towards modern sites. The guide contains a list of the landscape designers whose work is represented. It contains many of the great names in the history of landscape design (eg Lancelot Brown, Humphry Repton, Geoffrey Jellicoe, Brenda Colvin and Sylvia Crowe) though often by relatively minor examples of their work.
Places to visit can be found from the LONDON LANDSCAPE GUIDE - to places of landscape architecture and garden design interest in London. Not all the places were designed by qualified landscape architects - many professions have an interest in the outdoor landscape and landscape architects have a professional interest and concern with what has been achieved and what could be achieved. We take landscape architecture to be the composition of landform, water, vegetation, buildings and paving to achieve the Vitruvian objectives of commodity, firmness and delight.
Please contact us if you would like like to correct an error or supply information on another site of design interest.
The London Landscape Guide began with an invitation from Hal Moggridge to Tom Turner to edit a Landscape Visitors Guide to Britain. Much information was collected but the coverage was geographically uneven, with some branches of the Landscape Institute finding it difficult to prepare the information. Simon Rendel, then Chief Landscape Architect to the Greater London Council (GLC) suggested that a separate guide to London's landscape architecture should be published. With help and support from Robert Holden, then chairman of the South East Chapter of the Landscape Institute, the first edition of London Landscape Guide was edited by Tom Turner and Simon Rendel and published in 1984. Simon died in 1997. In 1999 Tom Turner re-published the material on a University of Greenwich website. There were some additions but it was largely unchanged - partly because the editorial committee was no longer in existence.
A third edition of the London Landscape Guide was published on the Gardenvisit.com website in 2006. It contains new material and has been re-illustrated but the most significant change has been to make the content more critical. The disadvantage is that some will regard the material as 'opinionated' (eg the comments on Barrier Park and Thames Barrier Visitor Centre); the advantage is that opinions can stimulate debate about the future of London's landscape architecture, landscape planning and garden design. Many of the opinions result from discussions with staff (including Tom Turner and Robert Holden), students and visiting critics on the University of Greenwich landscape architecture and garden design programmes. We have been watching the development of London's landscape for over 30 years. Some of the places in the London Landscape Guide also have entries in the Garden Finder, which is written for the general visitor and has less critical comment.
Please note that the Map of Sites of Landscape Design Interest has not been updated and was intended only for the identification of nearby sites - you will need to use a street plan to find your way to the sites in the Guide. The numbers on the map are linked to the site descriptions.
See: Alphabetical list of London landscape architects with links to design projects
See: Suggestions for walks, tours and special interest visits for landscape architects
See also: UK Landscape Institute
The urban landscape of Central London has undergone significant change since first edition of the London Landscape Guide (above) was published in 1984. This is particularly evident on the South Bank of the Thames on the walk from Westminster (below) to Tower Bridge: the landscape of Central London is becoming exotic.
