The official re-opening of the restored St George's Gardens marked by free family day of fun

02/06/09

The official re-opening of the restored St George's Gardens was marked by a free family fun day on Sunday 31 May organised by Tower Hamlets Council’s Community Park Rangers and attended by 300 people. The first ever closed churchyard to be turned into public green space, the gardens provide a beautiful setting for St George in the East, one of six Hawksmoor churches in London.

In a crowded city the Gardens is as much needed now as when it first opened in 1877. St George’s Gardens is managed by the council’s Parks and Open Spaces Team and the works included new benches and bins that were in keeping with the park’s rich heritage, the creation of meadow areas around the church to provide a more interesting and diverse landscape, a new play area and the restoration of historic monuments and walls including the Raine’s Memorial and the War Memorial.

The Rector of St George in the East, Canon Michael Ainsworth commented:

"The re-opening of St George's Gardens is good news for the local community, the Council and the church. It marks a new spirit of partnership, and we're grateful to the Heritage Lottery Fund for making this possible.

"We're also pleased to be able to announce that a funding bid for the restoration of the Nature Study Centre has at long last been put together. This little building, loved and remembered by older East Enders, still stands derelict in the restored Gardens. The plan is to bring it back into use for environmental education."

Tower Hamlets Council’s Lead Member for Cleaner, Safer, Greener, Cllr Abdal Ullah said:

"It was a great day out for the whole family. A lot of hard work has gone into St George's Gardens and we want to make sure everybody knows about the improvements so that they can make the most of the park."

Tree trunks have also been recycled to provide new places to climb and sit, and new trees have been planted throughout the site to provide green features for future generations.

Various historical artefacts were found and recorded while the works took place; these included clay pipes, glass bottles pieces of plates and oyster shells. Items found during the works have been placed in Tower Hamlets History Library.

The restoration works took a year to complete and were funded by Heritage Lottery Fund with support from Tower Hamlets Council and the London Marathon Trust.

A part time Tower Hamlets Council Community Park Ranger is now based in the gardens. Visitors will be able to meet the ranger along with the other people involved in the project at the family fun day.

The church is also beginning its celebration of the 150th anniversary of another well-known piece of local history, the Ritualism riots of 1859-60, which saw the church and churchyard packed with protesters every week. We are now putting St George-in-the-East back on the map - but this time in a positive light, as we engage with the local community. The parish has the fifth-highest percentage of people of other faiths in London.