Five... Historic London Gardens You Can Explore Next Month

Rewilded cemeteries, antique terracotta, ancient churchyards

Hi and welcome to your weekend newsletter… 🌻

Bunhill Fields. Image by Matt Brown.

This edition’s a handful of historic London gardens that are going to be (temporarily) flinging their doors open to the public for you to snoop around next month. Because it’s that time of year again: Open Gardens has announced their 2024 line-up - running 8-9 June, 2024, it’s a chance to explore behind the scenes at 100+ gardens (a lot of them private, that otherwise don’t have regular public access), often attached to historic buildings.

---

Emery Walker’s House, Hammersmith

View of the river from Emery Walker’s House. Image by Matt Brown.

Any time I do the walk (*pub crawl) from Chiswick to Hammersmith, along Chiswick Mall, this is one of the properties I want to vault the garden walls of and roam inside. And for one weekend you can, no vaulting required. Emery Walker - printer, and close friend of William Morris - lived here for 3 decades in the early 1900s and left behind a garden garlanded with history, including a grapevine descended from the one at Hogarth’s house, and terracotta tiles from the late 1800s. Plus some very nice views of the river.

Emery Walker’s House, Sunday 9 June, 2024, 2-5pm