City oasis faces the bulldozer to make way for Crossrail

Ruth Bloomfield13 April 2012

ONE of the "hidden gems" of the City is to be bulldozed for Crossrail.

A planning application has been lodged to dig up Finsbury Circus Gardens as part of works on Liverpool Street Station, which will be one of the stops on the new rail link.

The Grade-II listed garden is one of the few green spaces in the Square Mile, and is home to a wine bar and the City of London Bowling Club.

The garden pavilion, which is almost 100 years old, will have to be demolished, and the formal flower beds and bowling green torn up. A shaft will be dug in the gardens and spoil from the new tunnel brought to the surface and removed by lorry.

City planners are due to rule on the application next month.

Jo Caunter, manager of the Jamies Pavilion wine bar and restaurant which is based in the gardens, said she was horrified: "There are not many open spaces in the City.

"This really is a hidden gem. It is always packed with people who want to escape from work, and it is only five minutes from all the offices.

"It is very dear to everyone around here and people don't want to lose it.

"Surely there must be somewhere else? It is just such a shame." Richard Gascoigne, captain of the City of London Bowling Club, said he had been told work would start next September: "It is an absolute nightmare. We are being closed down after 86 years, and we are not being offered any alternative premises."

Allan Hudson, senior partner of law firm Devonshires, which is based in a Grade-II listed building beside the gardens, said businesses were bracing themselves for several years of noise and nuisance.

"All local businesses will be affected," he said. "We don't want the gardens to disappear. They are a real oasis in the summer, and the restaurant is very popular. We are looking at a sustained period of noise, traffic and dirt."

There has been an open space at the site since 1606, making the gardens one of London's oldest public parks. The bowling green was laid in 1904.

A spokeswoman for Crossrail said the gardens and bowling green would be restored after the works.

A spokeswoman for the City of London said it was working with Crossrail "to make sure work is carried out in the least disruptive way possible".

English Heritage said it was "satisfied" with the proposals and would not object to them.

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