Special Exhibition to Mark 150 Years of Bedford Park
Displays tell story of disparate groups drawn to the garden suburb
September 1915 by Edmund Blair Leighton who moved to Bedford Park in 1880 . Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle
April 18, 2025
An exhibition on Bedford Park is to be held to mark the garden suburb’s 150th anniversary.
The event titled The Community at Bedford Park 1875-2025 "Ahead of the World in Everything?” is part of the celebration of the founding of Bedford Park in 1875. The exhibition will be launched on Wednesday 7 May at an exclusive preview organised by the Bedford Park Society in the Boston Room of the George IV pub on Chiswick High Road.
The displays were curated by volunteers who painstakingly researched and sourced stories and images which paint a vivid picture of the many different groups attracted to the garden suburb. It reflects on the interactions of the groups with Bedford Park’s architecture and village atmosphere and how these moulded the area with a focus on the community and communities of Bedford Park from its earliest days. It reveals the early community’s enthusiasm for ideas and behaviours which challenged contemporary norms.
Fancy Dress Ball at the Bedford Park Club, Chiswick, London, from the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, 17 July 1880. Engraving by John Jellicoe(left) Wallpaper design designs for textile or wallpaper c1905 by George Charles Haité, an early resident. ©Victoria and Albert (right)
In 1875 Jonathan Thomas Carr (1845-1915) purchased the first part of the 113 acres he would eventually acquire near Turnham Green railway station. He went on to build about 400 houses on this estate, which he called Bedford Park.
The younger, radical and liberal residents of this period included professionals and artists. In their sociability, social campaigning and interior décor they sought to be “ahead of the world” in breaking with the earlier Victorians' social and aesthetic convictions.
Stories and images in the exhibition paint a vivid picture of the many different groups attracted to the garden suburb — whether political, social, professional or recreational. The exhibition reflects on the interactions of the groups with Bedford Park’s architecture and village atmosphere and how these moulded the community.
The exhibition is an opportunity to be the first to discover newly researched details, many rarely seen images and illustrations, plus some recently discovered early photos of the suburb.
The event on Wednesday 7 May runs from 7:30pm to 9:30pm. Tickets cost £35 per person and include drinks and canapés plus a full bar will also be available.
They can be bought online from TicketSource where an administration fee will be payable or picked up from Postmark on Turnham Green Terrace.
Ticket sales for this event contribute to the costs of the exhibition and special publication being produced by the Society for the 150th Anniversary. The Society is extremely grateful to sponsors including Whitman & Co, Savills, Knight Frank and Hounslow Thriving Communities Fund for support in its anniversary projects.
The logo for the Bedford Park 150th anniversary
This page is sponsored by Rocks Lane who support community initiatives in Chiswick.
