Brockwell Park is a 50.8 hectare[1] (125.53 acres) park located south of Brixton, in Herne Hill and Tulse Hill in south London. It is bordered by the roads Brixton Water Lane, Norwood Road, Tulse Hill and Dulwich Road.
The park commands views of the skyline of the city and Central London, and hosts almost 4 million annual visits.[2] At the top of the hill within the park stands Brockwell Hall.
Whilst competing against multiple demands from a broad range of other interests, the entirety of Brockwell Park is a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC) of Borough Importance (Grade I), with mature trees including ancient oaks, substantial lawn areas set to meadow, and a series of lakes.[3] As well as adding to the landscape value, these support a variety of birds, and bats including Pipistrelles, with frequent visits from rarer species like Daubentons, Noctule, Leisler's and Serotine bat.[4]
The park is listed for its heritage value on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens, Grade II. Noted for its nineteenth-century layout as a gracious public park, the clocktower, water garden, JJ Sexby-designed walled garden and other monuments, the park provides a pleasant exploration with links to its eighteenth-century agricultural past in the hedge lines, and mature oak trees.[5] The model village houses outside the walled garden were originally donated to London County Council by Edgar Wilson in 1943.[6][7]
The Brockwell Lido, a Grade II listed art deco building near the north of the park, is an open-air swimming pool popular with swimmers and bathers.[8] Its attached café/restaurant is also popular. Other amenities in Brockwell Park include tennis courts, a bowling green, a BMX track and a miniature railway.[9]
Brockwell Park is open from 7.30am to 15 minutes before sunset every day.[10]
History
Brockwell Hall in 2012
The Grade II* listed Brockwell Hall[11] was built between 1811 and 1813 when the area was part of Surrey and was the country seat of glass merchant John Blades Esq. The land and house were acquired by the London County Council (LCC) in March 1891 and opened to the public on 2 June in the following summer, led by the local MP Thomas Lynn Bristowe. At the unveiling, Bristowe died of a heart attack on the steps of the hall.
In 1901, the LCC acquired a further 43 acres (17ha) of land north of the original park.[12] In the 1920s, there were 13 cricket pitches in the park, which attracted crowds of up to 1,500. Brockwell Park was home to the Galton Institute.
During World War I it is recorded that Brockwell Park grazed a large flock of sheep.[13] During World War II, three sites in the park were set aside for wartime food production in the form of 'Pig Clubs', built of timber and bricks salvaged from bombed houses. Pig swill for this purpose was collected from local homes.[14]
A bust of Thomas Bristowe was returned to the park and unveiled on its 120th birthday, 2012.
The park is home to the free Lambeth Country Show, which usually takes place over two days in July, attracting crowds of up to 150,000 people.[16][17] A ticketed annual fireworks display, attracting 30,000 people, also takes place around November 5.[18][19]
Paid-for music events have been taking place in Brockwell Park for a number of years, including Found Festival in 2016[20] and Sunfall Festival in 2017.[21] As far back as 1913, it was said that, "On the whole probably the people in Brockwell Park, like those in Hyde Park and the other parks, would refuse the weaker Italian stuff and demand the Wagner over and over again".[22]
There is local opposition of monetizing the park and the erection of a 12 foot high steel fence around the pay to enter large festivals.[23] The park has previously hosted large-scale free to attend un-fenced music events, including an estimated crowd of 150,000 in attendance at a Rock Against Racism carnival in September 1978, headlined by Elvis Costello and The Attractions, and with "people in trees, on the roofs of the flats and on the lido wall".[24][25] Costello ended his Brockwell Park performance with the song '(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding'.[26][27] A further Rock Against Racism event including performances by Aswad and Stiff Little Fingers was also held in the park in September 1979.[28]
In May 1981, Aswad and Pete Townshend "swigging Remy Martin brandy"[29] headlined a TUC benefit gig for the 'People's March For Jobs' campaign, with a crowd of 70,000 in attendance.[30][31] In May 1982, Brockwell Park hosted a Cannabis Law Reform Rally, including "a wicked turbo sound rig with Jah Shaka, Coxone, King Sounds and DBC Rebel Radio´s boxes all connected in a huge horseshoe".[32]Madness also headlined a Greater London Council / CND 'Festival for Peace' in Brockwell Park in 1983, compered by John Peel, with a crowd of 30,000 in attendance.[33]Paul Weller's new band The Style Council made only their second public appearance at this festival. Unfortunate scheduling of the support acts, meant that many arriving in Brockwell Park hoping to see The Damned had already missed their 35-minute set, and subsequent support acts, including The Style Council and Hazel O'Connor, were pelted with mud, amid chants of "We want The Damned".[34][35]
In August 1984, the park hosted a GLC free festival, where Leader Ken Livingstone gave a speech, and the increasingly rowdy crowd during performances by The Fall and Spear of Destiny was calmed by poet Benjamin Zephaniah before the headline set by The Damned.[36] One eyewitness recalls The Fall being pelted with cans during their performance, with singer Mark E. Smith narrowly dodging one effort, "about an inch from his face, when he suddenly twitched to the right and let it sail past him".[37]
The park has also hosted reggae festivals,[38] and the London Pride festival in 1993 and 1994. In May 1994, an Anti Nazi League Carnival in Brockwell Park featured performances by The Manic Street Preachers, The Levellers, and Billy Bragg.[39] Between 2000 and 2004, the park even hosted an annual cannabis festival.[40] The cannabis festival was eventually stopped in 2005 by Lambeth Council, after drug dealing at previous events.[41]
In June 2002, Australian band Midnight Oil headlined The Fierce Festival in Brockwell Park in front of a crowd of 20,000 people.[42][43] A dance event called Purple in the Park was held on the preceding day, headlined by Grace Jones, and including performances by Boy George and Yoko Ono.[44][45] The two events, held over the Queen's Golden Jubilee weekend, had a capacity set at 50,000.[46]
The San Francisco band Red House Painters wrote a song about the park, named "Brockwell Park", for their 1995 album Ocean Beach.[54] The Ocean Beach album also features an unlisted hidden track, referred to as "Brockwell Park (Part 2)".
In a 2015 Adele at the BBC TV special, singer and songwriter Adele stated that her song "Million Years Ago" is, "kind of a story about … I drove past Brockwell Park, which is a park in south London I used to live by. It’s where I spent a lot of my youth. It has quite monumental moments of my life that I’ve spent there, and I drove past it and I just literally burst into tears".[55]
Brockwell Park is the setting for the music video of "Do Your Thing" by local band Basement Jaxx.[56]
Brixton is an area of South London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th century as communications with central London improved.
Tulse Hill is a district in the London Borough of Lambeth in South London that sits on Brockwell Park. It is approximately five miles from Charing Cross and is bordered by Brixton, Dulwich, Herne Hill, Streatham and West Norwood.
Lambeth is a London borough in South London, England, which forms part of Inner London. Its name was recorded in 1062 as Lambehitha and in 1255 as Lambeth. The geographical centre of London is at Frazier Street near Lambeth North tube station, though nearby Charing Cross on the other side of the Thames in the City of Westminster is traditionally considered the centre of London.
Lambeth was a civil parish and metropolitan borough in south London, England. It was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. The parish was included in the area of responsibility of the Metropolitan Board of Works in 1855 and became part of the County of London in 1889. The parish of Lambeth became a metropolitan borough in 1900, following the London Government Act 1899, with the parish vestry replaced by a borough council.
Herne Hill is a district in south London, approximately four miles from Charing Cross and bordered by Brixton, Camberwell, Dulwich, and Tulse Hill. It sits to the north and east of Brockwell Park and straddles the boundary between the boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark. There is a road of the same name in the area, as well as a railway station.
Brockwell Lido is a large lido in Brockwell Park, Herne Hill, London. It opened in July 1937, closed in 1990 and after a local campaign was re-opened in 1994. Two ex council employees Paddy and Casey took on the running of the Lido for the community. Lambeth council gave Paddy & Casey a peppercorn lease rate from 1994–2001. Lambeth gave them a one-year extension in 2002 whilst a public consultation was held to decide on the longer term sustainable future of the Lido.
Dulwich and West Norwood is a constituency in South London created in 1997. It has been represented by Helen Hayes of Labour since her election in 2015.
Streatham is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Bell Ribeiro-Addy of the Labour Party.
The London Borough of Lambeth, in spite of being close to the centre of London has over 64 areas of parks and open spaces, in addition to 34 play areas and eight paddling pools, within its boundaries. In common with all the London boroughs these green spaces provide "lungs" for the leisure pursuits of the inhabitants.
Lambeth London Borough Council is elected every four years.
London Buses route 3 is a Transport for London contracted bus route in London, England. Running between Crystal Palace and Victoria bus stations, it is operated by Transport UK London Bus.
West Dulwich is a neighbourhood in South London on the southern boundary of Brockwell Park, which straddles the London Borough of Lambeth and the London Borough of Southwark. Croxted Road and South Croxted Road mark the boundary between Southwark to the east and Lambeth to the west. The suburb of West Dulwich dates back to the 17th century when the often flooded land known as Dulwich Common was acquired and drained by Edward Alleyn's estate.
The A215 is an A road in south London, starting at Elephant and Castle and finishing around Shirley. It runs through the London Boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark and Croydon.
Loughborough Junction is an area of South London, in the London Borough of Lambeth, which is located equidistant between Brixton, Camberwell and Herne Hill.
East Brixton railway station was a railway station in Brixton, south London. It was opened as Loughborough Park by the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway in 1866. Regular passenger service was the South London line from London Victoria to London Bridge terminal stations in central London. Initially provided with a steam passenger service, competition from electric trams caused a conversion to overhead line electric operation in 1909. The station became part of the Southern Railway in 1923 and overhead line electrification was swapped for third rail in 1928. The station lost patronage after the opening of Brixton Underground station in 1971. There was a fire at the station in 1975 and it was closed by British Rail in January 1976. The station was located next to the rail bridge over Barrington Road, near Coldharbour Lane. Since 2012 London Overground trains pass through the site of the former station without stopping and there has been some campaigning to reopen it.
Thomas Lynn Bristowe was an English stockbroker and Conservative Party politician
Herne Hill was an administrative division of the London Borough of Lambeth, England from 1965 to 2022. It was located in Herne Hill and contained Brockwell Park, Ruskin Park and Herne Hill railway station. Loughborough Junction railway station and King's College Hospital were also partially located within the ward. At the 2011 Census the population of the ward was 15,107.
Myatt's Fields Park is a 14-acre Victorian park in Camberwell in the London Borough of Lambeth in South London, England, 2.9 miles south-east of Charing Cross.
The 2018 Lambeth London Borough Council election took place on 3 May 2018 alongside other local elections in London, to elect members of Lambeth London Borough Council in England. The election saw Labour remain in control of Lambeth Council with a slightly reduced majority, winning over 90% of the seats. The Green Party achieved its best-ever result in the borough, winning five seats and becoming the official opposition and the largest Green group in London.
The 2022 Lambeth London Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2022. All 63 members of Lambeth London Borough Council were elected. The elections took place alongside local elections in the other London boroughs and elections to local authorities across the United Kingdom.
References
↑ "Archived copy"(PDF). Archived from the original(PDF) on 20 November 2008. Retrieved 26 September 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) page 4
↑ Cook, John Douglas; Harwood, Philip; Herries Pollock, Walter; Harris, Frank; Hodge, Harold (1913). "Carlisles Gift Lady". The Saturday Review of Politics, Literature, Science and Art. 116: 168.
↑ Rachel, Daniel (2016). Walls Come Tumbling Down: The Music and Politics of Rock Against Racism, 2 Tone and Red Wedge. Pan Macmillan. pp.171–172. ISBN978-1447272700.
↑ Sullivan, Steve (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings, Volume 1. Rowman & Littlefield. p.869. ISBN978-0810882966.
↑ Thomson, Graham (2013). Complicated Shadows: The Life And Music Of Elvis Costello. Canongate Books. ISBN978-1782111634.
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