Tower Gardens Estate

Tower Gardens in North Tottenham is a distinctive semi-circular estate bounded by Lordship Lane and the Roundway. Constructed between 1904 and 1928 in the arts and crafts style.

It was one of the first municipal "cottage estates" and foremost housing design of its type in the world. Tower Gardens was the largest of the four original LCC cottage estates and the first estate to be built outside the LCC administrative area.

The LCC purchased the land in 1901 for £90,225, and started building in 1904. In 1899, Samuel Montagu, 1st Baron Swaythling of the 4% Dwelling Company & Montague Bank had offered the Council a piece of land in Edmonton. When difficulties arose about accepting the land, he made an alternative off of £10,000 towards the cost of development with the condition that "all houses erected thereunder shall be offered in the first instance, and from time to time as vacancies occur, to residents of three-years' standing and upwards in the Whitechapel division on Tower Hamlets, without distinction of race or creed". The donation enabled the building of the central park, originally referred to as "Tower Garden", and was such that the houses could have baths and built-in cupboards, etc.

The estate was originally known as the White Hart Lane Estate, and the land it covered was larger, including land that was later sold off and land that was built north of the Roundway, as seen in the plan for the estate from 1920. The section that benefitted from the donation was known as the Tower Gardens Section, as seen in the plan from 1915. Over time this name was used for the whole area south of the Roundway and the original name was forgotten. The conservation plan refers to "Tower Garden Estate".

The architects William Edward Riley (until 1919) and George Topham Forest (1919–1924) were the Chief Architects of the LCC when the estate was built, and the drawing all bear their names. The examining officers' initials that appear on the drawings of the pre-war section of the estate are those of E.P. Wheeler, A. Floyd and E. Parkes, which were probably working under the general supervision of A.M. Philips.

The estate is now an Article 4 conservation area, which protects original front facing architectural and design features, including the privet hedges. The council with English Heritage published Special Planning guidance to protect its quality Arts and Crafts architectural features. Article 4 is and has been enforced by the council.