Park of the week

147. Fortune Street Garden

I visited this pocket park, just north of the Barbican, after visiting Charterhouse Square, which I’ll write about another time. The park is named after the street on which it is situated. In pre-war times that street was known as Playhouse Yard, which was in turn named after the old Fortune Theatre that once stood there.
In 1600, the theatre was built for Edward Alleyn and Philip Henslowe, and modelled on Shakespeare’s The Globe to act as a competitor. The wooden structure burnt down in 1621, but it was rebuilt in brick and was mentioned in Samuel Pepys’s diary. Following an ordnance the dismantling of playhouses issued by the Puritans, the building was dismantled in 1649. 

Other buildings were constructed on the same site, but when the Fortune Street area was heavily bombed during the Second World War, it was decided that the area would remain cleared, and it was laid out as a park in the early nineteen sixties.

It was refurbished in 2002, and this included landscaping and re-siting of play equipment. A large wall covered in mosaics was added by local school children. The park won the Green Flag Award in 2006.
There are trees, grassed areas, wildlife areas, benches to sit on, toilets and the Giddy Up café.

On the way back, I decided to get a bus part of the way. This took me through Islington, past some more parks and gardens that I’ve added to our to-visit list. 

Judith Field

Fortune Street Park, Fortune Street, London EC2Y 8DQ