Well done DTT. I thought it might last a bit longer. Over to you.
Hawley Square is recommended for inclusion on the local list of heritage assets for the following principal reasons: Age, rarity and survival: During the late C18, the building of Hawley Square represented an important aspect in the development of Margate as a fashionable seaside resort for the middle and upper classes. The Square was one of the first to be built at a seaside resort, and the first of its kind to be built in Margate with an enclosed pleasure garden forming an integral part of its surrounding Georgian terraced buildings. The majority of the Georgian buildings are, in 2015, listed grade II, and although the garden’s early C19 design was altered in the 1930s, and the iron railings removed in the 1960s, the historic boundary has not altered, and the Square’s survival overall demonstrates high rarity value. Importantly, the reinstatement of the garden’s iron railings is achievable and would help restore historic integrity. Aesthetic value: The distinctive early- C19 design, emulating a prototype by the influential writer and horticulturist John Claudius Loudon and the early C18 planting principles of Thomas Fairchild, was, outside London, particularly innovative, and could form the basis of a contemporary design in any restoration of the garden. Although the garden’s design was radically simplified in the 1930s, it exemplified a municipal plan typical of its time, and is little changed. In 2015, the garden is enhanced by the survival of veteran trees from the 1930s and the oak tree at the centre from the early C19, but diminished by the ubiquitous use of parking meters, dog waste bins and litter bins placed within the garden. Evidential value: Although a specific plan of the C19 garden has not come to light, early C19 maps clearly show the garden’s distinctive design and planting layout. The archaeological potential exists to identify more clearly the location of the serpentine walks of the early design by the use of aerial scanning techniques. Throughout the C19, various guides recording the social and economic significance of the Square provide valuable evidential value; and during the late C19 and early C20 detailed provisions in various Orders and Acts, governing the specific management of the garden, give high evidential value. From the early to mid C20, further evidential value is provided by archive photographs and references to the garden in council minutes. Historic association: in the early C19, important local figures associated with Hawley Square include the solicitor, John Boys, the surgeon, Daniel Jarvis, and the librarian, Samuel Bettison. Also in the early C19, notable visitors during ‘the season’ included Elizabeth Soane, wife of the renowned architect Sir John Soane. In the early C20, the Theatre Royal’s historic associations with national figures include the founder of the Suffragette movement, Emmeline Pankhurst, her daughter Christabel, and the actor Charlie Chaplin. In 1934, the British artist Walter Sickert lectured at the Square’s School of Art. 3 Social, communal and economic value: throughout its history the garden has brought significant social and economic benefits to Margate by helping to attract visitors who stayed in the Square’s fashionable boarding houses and hotels. From the early C19, its significance was reinforced by specific legislative provisions to help ensure the garden’s effective maintenance and preservation. Since that time to the present day, the residents of the Square and the public at large, have placed great value on the garden both as a pleasure ground and an important social amenity.
