SE24 Herne Hill, Herne Hill
Shaw's folly, our joyby Brian Cuthbertson |
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For many people in the Sunray Estate of Herne Hill, the local amenity to give us most pleasure is Sunray Gardens. |
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How many know the strange story of the creation of these gardens? They were laid out by the great landscape gardener Humphrey Repton for his client John Shaw, a lawyer. They were just part of the huge gardens belonging to the house which Shaw built for himself. |
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How could a lawyer make so much money? Lawyers may often be rich, but not that rich - and he would not have been, but for his most famous client, Warren Hastings, the Governor-General of India impeached at the behest of his enemies in Parliament, including Pitt the Younger and Edmund Burke. Hastings was acquitted after a trial in Westminster Hall which lasted years - by which time Shaw had siphoned off all his money and retired with the proceeds. |
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Later the grounds were built over by Lloyd George's government with 'homes for heroes' for WW1 veterans, with the gardens now a park at their centre. What goes around comes around - the people won out at last. |
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