London's Pocket Parks: Jubilee Gardens, Mortlake, SW14

Jubilee Gardens is a large rectangular pocket park beside the riverside in Mortlake, located about halfway between Chiswick and Barnes bridges. The site was once the private garden of Castelnau House, built in the 1840s by Major Charles Lestock Boileau, named after his family’s former estate in France. The house lost its setting when a neighbor was cleared for an early electricity-generating plant that operated from 1901 to 1959. Castelnau House was demolished in the early 1960s, and the land became a coal bunker before the council later laid out about two-thirds as public garden. The remaining third retained elements of the electricity plant as a hidden substation. The park is busy on Boat Race day and provides step-free riverside access on other days.

"The park was once the private garden of Castelnau House, built here in the 1840s by Major Charles Lestock Boileau, who named it after his family's former estate, Castelnau de la Garde, near Nîmes in France. The name was chosen because Boileau's parents were originally Huguenots who had fled to England to escape religious persecution and later settled in Mortlake."

"It's likely the house lost some of its charm when the neighbour was cleared to make way for an early electricity-generating plant, which operated between 1901 and 1959. Castelnau House itself was demolished in the early 1960s, and, fitting for the thinking of the time, the land was requisitioned by the council for their depot yard. The plot where the house stood became the new coal bunker, which seemed a bit of an ignoble end for it."

"The council vacated the site barely a decade later, and about two-thirds of it was laid out as a public garden. Various names were suggested, but the public opted for Jubilee Gardens for the Queen's Jubilee in 1977. The remaining third was retained by the surviving elements of the old electricity plant, as a substation hidden behind brick walls."

"Most of the year, Jubilee Gardens are a fairly average rectangle of grass and trees in Mortlake, but one day, it gets very busy. That's because it offers a decent vantage point for the annual Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. On less boaty days, the park is also one of the few step-free points of access to the riverside in the area, as a concrete slope was added when the park was first laid out."

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