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43
the ground that the Board had set apart several pieces of ground
within a very short distance of the prisons as sites for improved
dwellings for the working classes. The letter proceeded as
follows:—
"There is one suggestion, however, which the Board takes
the present opportunity of offering for the consideration of
the Secretary of State. The neighbourhood of Clerkenwell
is thickly populated, and it would be a benefit to the inhabitants
if, when the prison buildings are pulled down, a portion
of the ground could be set apart and preserved as an open
space. This course was taken by the Surrey Magistrates
when Horsemonger-lane Gaol was closed, and the open
ground is of great value, particularly to the children of the
poor inhabitants of the neighbourhood."
"The Vestry of Clerkenwell is strongly of opinion that
some portion of the ground should be preserved as an open
space, and the Board ventures to ask the Secretary of State
to give to this suggestion his favourable consideration."
At the date of this letter, the provisions in the 1877 Act
directed the Secretary of State to sell, applying the surplus (if
any) to the ratepayers' relief.
No reply was sent to the suggestion as to the dedication of the
land as an open space, and no further action seems to have been
taken by the present Home Secretary till February 1887, after a
petition had been presented on the 14th January, 1887, to the
late Metropolitan Board of Works by the Vestry of St. James and
St. John, Clerkenwell. The necessity for securing an open space
is thus stated in the memorial:-
"The parish of Clerkenwell, containing nearly 70,000
inhabitants, consists of 880 acres, showing an average of
about 785 per acre, whilst in St. George's, Hanover Square,
the population per acre is about 85, or Paddington 91,
Kensington 74, Hampstead 20, and Hackney 47."
“That Clerkenwell is therefore, and from its situation,
must always continue to be, a densely populated parish, and
is surrrounded by other crowded parishes, for instance,
St. Luke's, Holborn, and St. Pancras."
“That there are at the present time a great number of
model dwellings in the parish, containing over 1,200
tenements, providing accommodation for a population of
between 6,000 and 7,000, with no provision for open playgrounds
for children, except in the Peabody Buildings."
“That other parts of London have their open spaces,
whilst the crowded district of Clerkenwell is absolutely