Other

Bedford Park panel

Erection date: 21/6/2014

Inscription

{The text on the front of the panel reads:}
You are standing at the heart of Bedford Park, described by John Betjeman in 1960 as "the most significant suburb built in the last century, probably the most significant in the Western world". To your right is St Michael and All Angels church, behind you the Tabard Inn and the former local Stores. Ahead of you in The Avenue is the building that housed the Social Club. These amenities formed the focus of the community that grew up here from 1875, when visionary developer Johnathan Carr started to build the distinctive homes that make up Bedford Park. He planned a new kind of estate, in which aesthetically acceptable houses at inexpensive rents would be set in an informal, village-like layout. The houses were designed in the Queen Anne style : the first by E. W. Godwin, the bulk by R. Norman Shaw - the most successful architect of his day.

Bedford Park pioneered concepts later used and formalised by the designers of the Garden City movement. It represents a turning point in the architecture and layout of suburban housing which flowered in the first half of the 20th century. After some of the finest houses were demolished, the Bedford Park Society was founded in 1963 with Betjeman as its first patron, to protect the amenity of the area. In 1967 356 houses were listed Grade 2, protecting their historic features internally and externally for future generations.

This sign is in memory of Leonard and Freda Darke, founding members of the Bedford Park Society.

On the back of the panel 8 Bedford Park men are featured, each with a paragraph of text, and, for some, a small portrait image. We’ve created a page for each of these in our Subjects commemorated list and, since the panel text is good, we’ve copied it onto the appropriate pages.

Since the panel fails to quote it we must give the Ballad of Bedford Park from St James Gazette of 1881:
Thus was a village builded
For all who are aesthete
Whose precious souls it fill did
With utter joy complete.

Site: Bedford Park panel (1 memorial)

W4, The Avenue, St Michael & All Angels Church

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Bedford Park panel

Subjects commemorated i

Bedford Park Society

Conservation group. Co-founded by two local residents, architect Tom Affleck ...

Read More

Leonard and Freda Darke

At Arts and Humanities Research Council we found a brief biography of Leonard...

Read More

Maurice Adams

Architect. Born Maurice Bingham Adams. He was instrumental in the founding of...

Read More

Sir John Betjeman

Poet Laureate 1972 - 1984. Conservation campaigner. Credited with saving the ...

Read More

Jonathan Carr

Jonathan Thomas Carr. Founder of Bedford Park, the first garden suburb, in 18...

Read More

Show all 11

Nearby Memorials

Turret from St Olave Church

Turret from St Olave Church

SE1, Tanner Street Park, Tanner Street

We do find ourselves taking photos of the most unlikely subjects. Our close-up photo would win a "dull picture" prize. It would have be...

1 subject commemorated
Homeopathic doctors in Trident crash

Homeopathic doctors in Trident crash

WC1, Queen Square

There are two identical benches placed near each other.

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Salisbury Snooker Club

Salisbury Snooker Club

E11, Aylmer Road

This unusual and rather pleasing sign must surely be a recent creation.  We think the panels around the edge may be rescued from a vintag...

1 subject commemorated
Anglo-Swiss friendship

Anglo-Swiss friendship

W1, Coventry Street

Until 2007 the north-east corner of this junction was occupied by the 1968 Swiss Centre. The facade of the building was adorned with an a...

4 subjects commemorated, 4 creators
General Post Office capital

General Post Office capital

E17, Vestry Road, Vestry House Museum

185cm high x 160cm wide x 160cm deep and over 5 tons.

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator

Previously viewed

Eric Coates - NW1

Eric Coates - NW1

NW1, Baker Street, Chiltern Court

Telemark on the left, Coates on the right. At the far right of our picture you can see London Transport's Lost Property Office. Useful t...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator