Albion Place Gardens, Ramsgate, England

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.

HISTORIC DEVELOPMENT

The land occupied by Albion Place Gardens, known as Crow Hill and later as Mount Albion, was open, unenclosed cliff top until the late 18th century. In 1789, the development of the East Cliff began, with Albion House, on the east corner of the gardens, being built that year by a Mr Simmons, an alderman of Canterbury. Further houses were gradually added to form the present L-shaped terraces, six properties being available by 1792. The desirability of Albion Place as a residence was confirmed by the frequent visits of Jane Austen and by Princess Victoria staying at Albion House in 1830 (guide leaflet). Albion Place remained unenclosed until the early 19th century when a plan of 1822 (Collard and Hurst) shows the gardens, which were referred to as being open to the public in 1840 (Mirams 1984). A cliff-top walk along the south side of the gardens provided the link between Ramsgate's East and West Cliffs until 1891 when, following the passing of the Improvement Act of 1878, the Corporation began construction (under the direction of the Borough Engineer, Mr Valon) of the present main road, Madeira Walk. The Walk, with its massive retaining walls of Pulhamite rockwork (begun in 1893), was designed to take both pedestrian and vehicle traffic and, in 1901, a tram route. Several properties on both terraces of Albion Place were destroyed during the Second World War; the gaps are now (1997) laid out as car parks. The gardens were replanted in 1984 to celebrate the centenary of the granting of the Charter of Incorporation of Ramsgate by Queen Victoria in 1884; they remain (1997) in the care of the local council.