The lich gate is a British invention, a roofed gateway at the entrance to a churchyard, used in the Middle Ages as a temporary resting place for the dead before interment. Over time, they became appropriate for garden entrances as well. In Tudor City, these entrances were a match for the parks' English scheme, a sedate mix of lawns, privet hedges, and graveled walks.
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| North Park lich gate, 1935, photographed by the Wurts Bros. View looks west across Prospect Place (now Tudor City Place). |
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| South Park lich gate, 1949, photographed by resident C.F. Davis. |
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| 1930s ads picturing the gates. |
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| Looking down at the North Park from a window in The Cloister. Lich gate at upper left, opening onto a graveled oval with a fountain as its centerpiece. |
The gates were removed in 1949 when the parks were narrowed and redesigned as part of the neighborhood upgrades pending the arrival of the United Nations.
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