Plaque

Spicer Memorial Playground

Erection date: 1923

Inscription

{On the back, north, face of the screen wall, inscribed on the stone:}
Erected for the children through the generosity of Mr and Mrs Henry Gage Spicer. AD 1923.

Our photo shows one of three drinking fountains attached to the Spicer screen wall. The weather has not been kind to the sculpture in the soft stone but the fishy design - different on each fountain - is still rather fine. Not surprisingly these fountains don't work but there is one modern one in the playground that does, donated by Tiffany.

An animal group sits at each end of the screen wall. Each shows a nanny goat with a kid snuggling close. The Royal Parks report has a good photo of one of them.

The magnificent "Public Sculpture of Historic Westminster" by Philip Ward-Jackson gives the sculptor as 'Miss Harris assisted by Charles Sargeant Jagger" but gives no clue as to who Miss Harris was and raises some doubts about the extent of her involvement. There we also learnt that Tilden was the architect and that Spicer lived nearby.

Site: Spicer Memorial Playground (2 memorials)

SW1, Millbank, Victoria Tower Gardens

In the 1870s, at the same time that the Houses of Parliament were rebuilt, Victoria Park Gardens was created. The 1895 map shows that the garden used to be much smaller, only extending as far south as what is now Great Peter Street. The gardens, funded by W. H. Smith, opened in 1881. From there down to Lambeth Bridge, was all wharves, cement works, etc.

Some of this garden was lost when Millbank was widened, but the garden was also extended south as far as Lambeth Bridge and was also widened as part of the 1898 Victoria Embankment extension. The new land was laid out as a garden in 1913-14 and opened to the public on 30 June 1914. Then in 1923 a section of this garden was given over to create the Spicer sandpit. Only 5 years later the 1928 flood arrived.

This Royal Parks report contains photos of children playing in the sandpit in 1927/8 and says "The Playground’s first incarnation took the form of a large sandpit that proved to be very popular with local residents. In later years this was supplemented with, and eventually replaced {by} play equipment more traditionally associated with a municipal play area, namely swings and a small slide."

Google Street View goes back to 2008 where you can see that this screen wall with the sculptures used to be at the southern end of the garden, with the playground between it and the garden, whereas now the wall separates the playground from the rest of the Gardens. 

The 2014 renovation moved the screen wall and remade the playground, once again including a sandpit.

Westminster's 2019 Victoria Tower Gardens Conservation and Significance Statement is very informative with some historic photos, drawings, etc.

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:
Spicer Memorial Playground

Subjects commemorated i

Henry Gage Spicer

Chairman of the paper manufacturers Spicers, Ltd, and Associated Companies. 1...

Read More

Mrs Henry Gage Spicer

Gertrude Maud Emms was born on 1 October 1885 in Bermondsey, the fourth of th...

Read More

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Spicer Memorial Playground

Created by i

Miss Harris

Sculptor active in 1923.

Read More

Charles Sargeant Jagger

Sculptor.  Born Yorkshire.  Started as an apprentice metal engraver for Mappi...

Read More

Philip Tilden

Architect. In the Wikipedia list of his works none are in London.

Read More

This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Spicer Memorial Playground

Also at this site i

Horseferry Playground renovation

Horseferry Playground renovation

The inscription text comes from a modern, long and thin, serpentine section o...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Haberdashers Place - 1952

Haberdashers Place - 1952

N1, Pitfield Street

The 1802 stone has clearly been saved from the ruin, and the 1952 plaque modelled on it. Nicely done. The close-up picture was taken fr...

5 subjects commemorated, 2 creators
King's Wardrobe

King's Wardrobe

EC4, Wardrobe Place, 5

This must be the most surreal street in London. It has pavements and kerbs, and a cobbled road-way. So far, so good, but the pavement is ...

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Watch House

Watch House

NW3, Holly Place, 9

British History Online points out that this plaque incorrectly names the Hampstead Police Force since, by the time they moved into this b...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Old Church Garden - Alfred Coucher

Old Church Garden - Alfred Coucher

W1, Marylebone High Street

On the curved wall at the entrance to the garden.

4 subjects commemorated
PP - 4L - Simonds

PP - 4L - Simonds

EC1, Edward Street

This garden acquired its name due to its popularity as a lunchtime garden with workers from the nearby General Post Office (long gone). ...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators