Kingston town centre gardens set to get revamp including play area, paths and benches

Charlotte Lillywhite & Charlotte Lillywhite

19 June 2024 at 11:54 am·2-min read

The current condition of Memorial Gardens in Kingston town centre — -Credit: (Image: Kingston Council)

Memorial gardens that date back 200 years near Surrey could be transformed with new paths, trees, benches and play equipment. The plans for Memorial Gardens in Kingston, part of a wider revamp of the town centre, aim to provide a 'welcoming space for quiet reflection for the whole community'.

New benches and plants would be installed around the Grade II* World War I memorial in the garden to create the feeling of a square under the plans from Kingston Council, while new plants would be added around the gravestones to protect them better. The Anne Frank and Holocaust memorial trees would be kept and improved with fresh plants, and their plaques would be cleaned and remounted.

Different walking routes would be created through the garden to improve connections to the town centre and more benches would be added, while a small shed would be installed as a hub for a proposed new group of volunteers focussed on looking after the garden. Play equipment would also be added for children, including a carved hollow log in three short sections and a living willow pod, which has been designed to suit the main function of the garden as a place for quiet reflection.

A report by Davies White Landscape Architects said the work would improve Memorial Gardens as a 'place of reflection, commemoration, and ceremony'. It said: "The proposed design of Memorial Gardens provides a welcoming space for quiet reflection for the whole community including families and children."

"The design is respectful of its use as a place of memorial for those who have lost their lives in war as well as its former use as a graveyard. The scheme aims to improve connectivity around the town centre and provide an enhanced place for nature."

The garden was set up as an overflow burial ground for All Saints Church in 1826, before shutting in 1855 when Kingston Cemetery opened. It was then turned into a public garden and the war memorial was installed in 1923. Kingston's annual Remembrance Day service takes place in the garden.

The plans form part of a pipeline of projects being brought forward by the council to improve Kingston's riverside and town centre. The report said: "The riverside and town centre is undergoing transformation to improve active travel means, accessibility, inclusivity, cultural offer and increased biodiversity."

"Recently completed key projects include Queen's Promenade, segregated cycle lanes along Portsmouth Road, and affordable culture and work spaces at John Lewis Riverside." Kingston Council will decide on the application in due course.

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