Bruce K.
Yelp
A beautiful, if small, park near Baker Street station. Very dense with trees and grass, it's quite an amazing postage stamp in the middle of one of the densest parts of London. All sorts of lovely stuff growing here, it felt quite heavenly as a stop with my sandwich and crisps ("chips" in American).
According to the signs and the online information, Paddington Street Gardens were formed during the 18th century as an additional burial ground for the old St Marylebone Parish Church that is not far away. The park still has some 80,000 graves present (ew?) and is considered consecrated ground. In 1885 the gardens became a recreational ground which was officially opened by HRH Princess Louise on 6 July 1886. Most of the tombstones have been removed but the mausoleum in the south garden was left because of its exceptionally fine design.
There are benches and a playground area for the little one. Outside the park on Paddington Street is a public loo ("toilet" in American) that is quite proud to have won the award "public loo of the year" according to their signage.