Spencer House is London’s most magnificent
eighteenth-century aristocratic palace
Built between 1756-1766 for John, first Earl Spencer, an ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales (1961-1997) it is London’s finest surviving eighteenth-century town house.
House and Garden Tours
We are delighted to announce the garden will be open again from Sunday 30th April. Following the tour of the house, your guide will take you on to the terrace and provide an overview of the history of the garden as well as our recent improvements to the space. You will then be free to explore the grounds at your leisure.
Originally designed in the eighteenth century by Henry Holland (son-in-law to Lancelot ‘Capability’ Brown), the half-acre garden is among the grandest aristocratic pleasure grounds to survive in the West End. The garden, with a delightful view of the adjacent Royal Park, evokes its original layout and the lawns have recently been enhanced with a display of wildflower circles in Todd Longstaffe-Gowan’s homage to Regency design.
The border displays feature plants and shrubs suggested by early nineteenth-century nursery lists, and these have been supplemented by contemporary cultivars to increase interest throughout the flowering season. In recent years, a concerted effort has been made to increase the wildlife appeal of the garden and the grounds are maintained sensitively, entirely without the use of pesticides.
Appropriate nectar plants have been selected to encourage pollinators and a strong focus on native wildflowers has created perhaps the most native species-rich garden in Central London. In this way, the garden continues to complement the town palace it was designed to adorn whilst simultaneously evolving in a contemporary manner.
