A beautiful green space that nurtures a sense of community
The area is believed to have been named after William Bolton (or Boulton) who bought the land in 1795.
Twelve years later, Bolton sold the land between the Old Brompton Road and the Fulham Road to the confectioner James Gunter. Gunter died in 1819 and his son Robert, a wealthy Breconshire landowner, inherited the estate.
Up until the mid 19th century, the site of the enclosures and the surrounding area was a farm with the grounds used as market gardens.
When Robert Gunter inherited the estate, he added lands and soon began to lease parcels for housebuilding, eventually redeveloping the site where The Boltons Gardens Enclosures sits between 1850-1860.
The gardens were laid out in May 1849 when an unusual vesica-shaped layout of houses in facing crescents, now known as The Boltons, was designed by architect and surveyor George Godwin Jr, as the centrepiece of the Gunter estate. The land in the centre of the crescents was donated by Gunter and was intended to be a ‘plantation’, bisected in the middle by a church.
Unique character in the most sought after neighbourhood
Back at the turn of the century, one could buy a full house in The Boltons for £3,200,000. So, only 8 times more expensive now then!
Over the last two years, the average price for a property here is £1,984 per sq ft and the best price achieved was £3,395 per sq ft – not much bigger than your computer screen!
Pop in for a coffee and a chat with Eloise Williams, our sales manager, to run through all the latest and greatest stats for your square or book a valuation.
The design and planting of the garden enclosures has gradually evolved over time.
Initially, the two halves were designed to be matching and symmetrical, with two central paths running towards the church from the far ends of the vesica.
Later records, from the 1860s, have shown more ornate layouts which generally consisted of an open lawn with central paths and triangular flower beds, bordered by trees and shrubberies.
Plans from the 1890s differed again, with the South Garden retaining a similar layout but the configuration of the lawns of the North Garden had changed with the removal of the central path.
In 1850, the church of St Mary was the first building to be erected in The Boltons, followed by the 28 houses that make up the crescent.
The gardens adjacent to the church were promoted as a valuable added amenity for the local residents.
A sale advertisement from the late 1850s, for a ‘villa residence’ in The Boltons, touted the privilege of admission to the 'select Promenade and Ornamental Pleasure Grounds' to the North and South of the church, for which the ground landlord added £2 to the ground rent.
No sorry, no dogs here, plenty of squirrels and birds though.
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