The embankment was completed to a design by
Joseph Bazalgette and was part of the
Metropolitan Board of Works' grand scheme to provide London with a modern
sewage system. It was opened on 9 May 1874 by
Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh. In 2025, a new section of the embankment, designed by architects
Hawkins\Brown with an installation by Florian Roithmayer, was opened to the public as part of the
Thames Tideway Tunnel project.
Roper's Garden Between
Chelsea Old Church and
Crosby Hall is a small
public park, Roper's Garden. In the
Tudor period, the site was an orchard belonging to Sir
Thomas More who gave it to his daughter,
Margaret as part of her settlement on her marriage to
William Roper, from whom the garden's name derives. Heavily built up in the 19th century, the majority of buildings on the site were destroyed by a
parachute mine dropped by the
Luftwaffe in April 1941. In the post-war period, it was determined to redevelop the site as a small park. Designs were produced by
Peter Shepheard and the garden opened in 1964. The garden contains two sculptures,
Awakening, an early work by
Gilbert Ledward dating from 1915; and an unfinished nude of 1950 by
Jacob Epstein, who had a studio near the site. The garden is listed at Grade II on the
Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. ==Notable buildings==