View source for Kensington Roof Gardens

[[Image:Kensington_roof_gardens1.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Part of the Kensington Roof Gardens]]

'''Kensington Roof Gardens''' (formerly known as '''Derry and Toms Roof Gardens''') is a [[roof garden]] covering 6,000 m&sup2; (1.5 [[acre]]s) of the top of the [[Derry and Toms]] building on [[Kensington High Street]], in central [[London]], near [[Kensington Gardens]].  The gardens, surrounding a large [[restaurant]], are situated 30 metres above street level and provide a panoramic view over west London on a clear day.

[[Image:Kensington-Roof-Gardens.jpg|thumb|The Kensington Roof Gardens are barely visible from [[Kensington High Street]].]]

The gardens were laid out between 1936 and 1938 by [[Ralph Hancock]], a [[landscape architect]], on the instructions of [[Trevor Bowen]] (then [[vice-president]] of [[Barkers]], the Kensington [[department store]] giant that owned the site and had constructed the building in 1932).  The building housed the department store Derry and Toms until [[1973]], and then [[Biba]] until [[1975]].

The garden is split into three parts:  

[[Image:Kensington_roof_gardens_tent.jpg|thumb|right|A tent in the Spanish garden]]
[[Image:Kensington_roof_gardens_flamingo.jpg|thumb|right|One of the many pink flamingos that live in the roof gardens]]

*a formal [[Spain|Spanish]] garden, in a [[Moors|Moorish]] style, with [[fountain]]s, [[vine]]-covered walkways and [[Chusan palm]]s;
*a [[Tudor style]] garden, with [[wisteria]] and roses;
*an English woodland garden, with over 100 species of trees, a stream, and a [[garden pond]] that is the home to some [[duck]]s and [[flamingo]]s.  Despite being on a rooftop, the trees were made the subject of [[tree preservation order]]s in 1976.

The gardens are not very widely known because they are not a [[tourist attraction]], but are run as a restaurant and nightclub.  The Roof Gardens have been owned by Sir [[Richard Branson]] since 1981, and, with [[Necker Island (British Virgin Islands)|Necker Island]] and two properties in Africa, they form part of the [[Virgin]] "Limited Edition".

==The Roof Gardens in fiction==
The ''Derry and Toms Roof Gardens'' are a significant and recurrent location in the [[Jerry Cornelius]] stories written by [[Michael Moorcock]]. They are the setting for the opening scenes of the second Cornelius novel, [[A Cure for Cancer]] ([[1971]]), where Jerry encounters a [[Westland Whirlwind (rotary wing)|Westland Whirlwind]] helicopter firing on a party of [[tea]]-drinking old ladies in a [[satire]] on the (then contemporary) [[Vietnam war]].
It is also the opening location in Moorcock's comic novel ''[[The Chinese Agent]]'', featuring Jerry Cornell.

==External links==
*[http://maps.google.com/?t=k&om=1&ll=51.501073,-0.191858&spn=0.000972,0.00192 Google Maps aerial picture of the gardens] (added 9 May 2006)
*[http://www.geocities.com/londondestruction/faveroof.html Kensington Roof Gardens photos] (checked 9 May 2006)
*[http://www.greenroofs.com/archives/sg_jan-apr04.htm Website with pictures of this and other roof gardens in London] (added 8 May 2006)
*[http://www.roofgardens.com The Roof Garden's website] (checked 9 May 2006)
*[http://www.limitededitionbyvirgin.com  Virgin Limited Edition website] (checked 9 May 2006)
*[http://www.feneo.com/links/Kensington_Roof_Gardens.html Kensington Roof Gardens Reviews]

[[Category:Roof Gardens]]