Victoria Tower Gardens

London, United Kingdom, United Kingdom

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Victoria Tower Gardens is a small public park located in Westminster, London, situated between the Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament) and the River Thames, and is partly within the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Palace of Westminster.

Created in the 1860s-1870s as part of Joseph Bazalgette's new sewer system and embankment of the Thames, the Grade II-listed gardens were later extended around 1914 and are managed by The Royal Parks Charity, offering a quiet peaceful oasis for parliamentarians, local residents, and tourists with iconic views to the Houses of Parliament and Victoria Tower through two rows of mature plane trees.

The park is the only green space in central London that directly overlooks the River Thames and is home to three famous listed memorials: the Buxton Memorial Fountain commemorating the abolition of slavery in the British Empire (moved here from Parliament Square in 1879), Auguste Rodin's sculpture The Burghers of Calais celebrating heroism, and the Pankhurst Memorial honoring Emmeline Pankhurst and the female suffrage campaign in the UK.

Open daily from 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM for pedestrian gates with free entry, the garden has been used for over 150 years for public events, political demonstrations, and art installations, though its future is currently threatened by a proposed UK Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre that activists say would divide the site despite existing laws forbidding construction in the park.