Our neighbours across the road

Above: last year’s Winter Big Tidy Up

Like us, our neighbours in and around Wilton Square are in the Arlingtonian Conservation Area. And like Arlington Square, Wilton was once part of the Clothworkers’ Estate, but became separated from the main estate when the New North Road was built in 1812.

The recently-formed Friends of Wilton Square incorporates com munities in Baring Street and Baring Court. They organise community gardening sessions on the first Sunday of the month at 2pm, and twice a year they organise a Big Tidy Up. In May benches are cleaned and painted, main areas are power-washed, shrubs are cut back and new greenery planted.

This year’s Winter Big Tidy Up is on 4 December from 2pm: the Friends will put the garden to bed, turn on the Christmas lights and share mulled wine and mince pies. They will also carry on their new tradition of Advent Windows in the houses round the Square – a new one for every day of Advent.

Wilton Square around 1960. The Salem Chapel (on the right) was demolished in 1963.

Wilton Square is actually triangular in shape. The houses were first occupied in 1853 with access to the main road via Wilton Street (now Wilton Villas) and an exit to what is now Baring Street. A Welsh Methodist chapel was built in 1857 on the junction with Wilton Street, and in 1863 it was joined by a small Baptist Chapel, moved from Hoxton and known as Salem. This closed in 1913 but was used by the YMCA until it was demolished in 1963. The Methodist chapel was restored in 1955 as a hostel for the Catholic St Vincent’s Housing Association and then replaced in 1986 by what is now St Martin’s. The gardens were replanted in 1970, keeping the mature plane trees and adding shrubs and new railings. And in 1971 the road to Wilton Square from the New North Road was closed to traffic.

You can keep in touch with the Friends of Wilton Square and their events at wiltonsquare.co.uk.