The PhoenixGarden

The Phoenix Garden occupies a strip of land off Stacey Street that was cleared by wartime bombing, used afterwards as a car park, and reclaimed by local residents from 1981 onward. It opened to the public in 1986 and is the last survivor of seven community gardens created on vacant Covent Garden lots during the 1970s and 1980s, the others lost to redevelopment. A pond, wildflower beds and mature trees are maintained entirely by a committee of local residents and workers rather than any council parks department, with wildlife recording and composting central to its upkeep. Entry is free and the gate is usually open through daylight hours, offering a patch of uncultivated green a short walk from the traffic on Charing Cross Road.