Betts Park (also known as King George's Field [1] ) is a public park in Anerley, London Borough of Bromley, in southeast London, England. [2] It is approximately 13 acres (5 hectares) and has a number of attractions, including part of the old Croydon Canal. The current park was opened in December 1928 and extended throughout the 1930s, [3] with the final addition of "new fields" by the King George V Memorial Trust in 1937. The boundaries of the park mirror the outline of an ancient copse dating back over 1000 years.
Betts Park is in the Anerley area of Penge and is publicly owned. [4] The park's main entrances are from Anerley Road. There are other entrances from Weighton Road, Seymour Villas, Croydon Road, and Betts Way. [5]
The land where Betts Park now stands originally contained a semi-enclosed coppice on Penge Common known as Clay Copse. In 957 the entire common was given by King Eadwig to thane Lyfing, for services rendered, and became an exclave of the Manor and Parish of Battersea. In 1066 the Manor of Battersea was confiscated by King William I and handed to Westminster Abbey. After the dissolution of the monasteries it was sold first to the Viscount Grandison, then later to the Earl Spencer. In 1806 the Croydon Canal was built, the last remnant of which still forms the northwest boundary of Betts Park. In 1827 the entire common was inclosed and auctioned with lots sold for development. [6] Residential houses and a church were erected encircling the coppice with the woodland divided into gardens, with the exception of a small area in the southeast corner believed to have contained the waggon home of Betty Saville, [7] the last tenant of Penge Common, and an area in the southwest where tennis courts were built.
The public park was initially created from a house and land on the north side of the park donated by Mr. Frederick Betts, a local property owner. The house, a Victorian villa known as Oak Lawn, became a public library and the gardens became recreation grounds. Betts Park was opened in December 1928 and named in memory of Frederick's late mother, Sarah Betts. [8] Within a few years, Penge Urban District Council purchased additional land and the remains of the Croydon Canal. In June 1936 the park was further increased in size with the addition of land to the southeastern side by the King George's Fields Foundation memorial trust as one of their bequests in England, and later incorporated into the National Playing Fields Association. The park is now legally protected from development by Deeds of Dedication [9] from Fields in Trust. [10]
Betts Park contains one of the last remnants of the short-lived Croydon Canal, [11] a Millennium Rock (a boulder of Lewisian Gneiss gifted by the people of Lochinver in Scotland) and veteran holm oak believed to be a survivor of Penge Common.
In the extreme heatwave of July 2022, the grass to the north of the park discoloured to reveal a ghost image of Oak Lawn villa, which had been demolished in the late 1960s. [12]
On 2 November 2017, Michael Jonas, a 17-year-old boy, was stabbed and killed in the park. [13] In October 2022, six people were charged with his murder, [14] and all found guilty at trial in October 2023. [15]
On 12 July 2020, Dean Edwards was shot and killed at the Croydon Road entrance to the park, [16] in an apparent case of mistaken identity. A man was charged with murder the following month, but was found not guilty in May 2022. [17]
Facilities in the park include a football pitch, an outdoor gym, basketball court, goal posts, skateboard area and children's play area. [18] There is also a pre-school daycare centre for children in the former tennis pavilion building. [19]
London Borough of Bromley offers a scheme for locals to become a part of a friend group for the many parks. [20] These groups are made up of volunteers who want to help discuss how the local parks are maintained, used, and developed. Friends of Betts Park [21] is part of this scheme. [22]
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Penge is a suburb of South East London, England, now in the London Borough of Bromley, 3.5 miles (5.6 km) west of Bromley, 3.7 miles (6.0 km) north east of Croydon and 7.1 miles (11.4 km) south east of Charing Cross.
Sydenham is a district of south-east London, England, which is shared between the London boroughs of Lewisham, Bromley and Southwark. Prior to the creation of the County of London in 1889, Sydenham was located in Kent, bordering Surrey. Historically, the area was very affluent, with the Crystal Palace being relocated to Sydenham Hill in 1854. Today, Sydenham is a diverse area, with a population of 28,378 and borders Forest Hill, Dulwich, Crystal Palace, Penge, Beckenham, Catford and Bellingham.
The London Borough of Bromley is the largest and southeasternmost of the London boroughs that make up Greater London, bordering the ceremonial county of Kent, which most of Bromley was part of before 1965. The borough's population is an estimated 332,336. It is named after Bromley, its principal town; other major towns are Penge, Hayes, West Wickham, Chislehurst, Beckenham and Orpington. The local authority is Bromley London Borough Council.
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Penge was a civil parish and a local government district located to the southeast of London, England. It included the settlements of Penge, Anerley and part of Crystal Palace. It was part of the London postal district, Metropolitan Police District and, from 1933, the London Passenger Transport Area. In 1965 the urban district was abolished by the London Government Act 1963 and it became part of Greater London, being combined with other districts to form the London Borough of Bromley.
Anerley is an area of south east London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. It is located 7 miles (11 km) south south-east of Charing Cross, to the south of Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, west of Penge, north of Elmers End and South Norwood.
Lewisham West and Penge is a constituency in Greater London created in 2010 and represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2017 by Ellie Reeves of the Labour Party.
Penge Common was an area of north east Surrey and north west Kent which now forms part of London, England; covering most of Penge, all of Anerley, and parts of surrounding suburbs including South Norwood. It abutted the Great North Wood and John Rocque's 1745 map of London and its environs showed that Penge Common now included part of that wood.
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Elmers End is an area of south-east London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley, Greater London and formerly part of the historic county of Kent. It is located south of Beckenham, west of Eden Park, north of Monks Orchard and east of Anerley.
Anerley Town Hall is a municipal building in Anerley Road, Anerley, London. It is a locally listed building.
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