Angela Burdett-Coutts was a prolific giver and there are lots of lasting legacies to her generosity. There’s the elaborate drinking fountain in Victoria Park in London’s East End – where several streets are also named after her. St Stephen’s in Whitehall is one of the churches she provided the funds for. She also paid for Burdett-Coutts Primary School in Westminster. And then there’s Holly Village. She had a sumptuous home in Piccadilly and a country house in Highgate which is now part of built up North London. Just beside her grand house, in 1865, she commissioned and built Holly Village. Judi Herman meets Ralph Bowmaker one of today’s residents who has researched the history of its development.
