| Deptford Park | |
|---|---|
 London Planes at Deptford Park photo: Stephen Craven | |
 | |
| Type | public park |
| Location | London, England |
| Coordinates | 51°29′11″N0°02′21″W / 51.4865146°N 0.0392245°W |
| Area | 7.07 hectares (17 acres) |
| Status | Open year round |
| Website | lewisham |
Deptford Park is a public park in Deptford south-east London. It is owned by London Borough of Lewisham.
The closest local stations are Deptford and Surrey Quays.
Deptford Park was originally a market garden belonging to the estate of the Evelyn family. Located near the River Thames, it was renowned for its onions, celery and asparagus. [1] In 1884, London County Council bought the land for the creation of a public park. It was designed by the chief parks officer Lt Col JJ Sexby and opened to the public in 1897. [1] [2]
The park covers an area of 7.07 hectares (17 acres) and is accessed from Evelyn Street, with the entrance retaining traditional iron gates and railings and a small avenue of London planes. The original structure of the park is largely intact, with a perimeter pathway lined with further mature London planes. [1]
Facilities include a football pitch and play area. Recent regeneration of the park has included installation of a new children’s playground and ‘The Avenue’, a redesigned entrance way leading to a formal paved area with seating. [2] [3] There is also now a small community orchard. [4]
In 2008, a steel sculpture, Blue Iridescence, by the artist Heather Burrell, was installed in the park. [5]
In 2015, a consultation [6] was announced to put in an astroturf pitch in the South West corner of the park. This would have replaced the existing football pitch, covered up the old athletics tracks and reduced the natural green space in this mid-sized park, with associated risks to local wildlife. A growing and increasingly vocal residents' community opposed the installation, and the Council listened to the residents by rejecting the application. [7]
The south-west corner of the park is in close proximity to railway tracks, which separate it from the small 1970s park Folkestone Gardens, approximately 0.1 miles (0 km) away. In connection with the proposed development Neptune Wharf, there are plans in place to open up the connection between Deptford Park and Folkestone Gardens, with a pedestrian walkway and cycle path underneath one of the railway arches currently blocked up, enabling safe and easy access between these two much-used green spaces where there is today only a narrow pavement through a tunnel shared between pedestrians, cyclists and cars. [8]
Sayes Court Park, an historic garden also built on land belonging to the Evelyn family, is around 0.5 miles (1 km) away and provides access to the Thames Path. There is today no direct access from Deptford Park to the Thames Path, however Neptune Wharf developers are proposing to renovate parts of the path. [8] Local community groups are supporting the increased use of the area to enable access between the different green spaces and the Thames Path, and working with the developers to enable a clear through route in future.
Brockley is a district and an electoral ward of south London, England, in the London Borough of Lewisham 5 miles (8 km) south-east of Charing Cross.
Catford is a district in south east London, England, and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Lewisham. It is southwest of Lewisham itself, mostly in the Rushey Green and Catford South wards. The population of Catford, including Bellingham, was 44,905 in 2011.
Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home to Deptford Dockyard, the first of the Royal Dockyards. This was a major shipbuilding dock and attracted Peter the Great to come and study shipbuilding. Deptford and the docks are associated with the knighting of Sir Francis Drake by Queen Elizabeth I aboard the Golden Hind, the legend of Sir Walter Raleigh laying down his cape for Elizabeth, Captain James Cook's third voyage aboard HMS Resolution, and the mysterious apparent murder of Christopher Marlowe in a house along Deptford Strand.
Rotherhithe is a district of South London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse on the north bank, with the Isle of Dogs to the east. It borders Bermondsey to the west and Deptford to the south-east. The district is a part of the Docklands area.
Lewisham is a London borough in south-east London, England. It forms part of Inner London. The principal settlement of the borough is Lewisham. The local authority is Lewisham London Borough Council, based in Catford. The Prime Meridian passes through Lewisham. Blackheath, Goldsmiths, University of London and Millwall F.C. are located within the borough.
Lewisham Deptford was a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons.
The River Ravensbourne is a tributary of the River Thames in south London, England. It flows into the tidal River Thames at Deptford, where its tidal reach is known as Deptford Creek.
Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of Rotherhithe, west of Cubitt Town, and has a long shoreline along London's Tideway, part of the River Thames. It was part of the County of Middlesex and from 1889 the County of London following the passing of the Local Government Act 1888, it later became part of Greater London in 1965.
The Grand Surrey Canal was a canal constructed in south London, England during the early 19th century. It opened to the Old Kent Road in 1807, to Camberwell in 1810, and to Peckham in 1826. Its main purpose was to transport cargo, primarily timber from the Surrey Commercial Docks.
Walking is a popular recreational activity in London, despite traffic congestion. There are many streets that provide interesting walks, especially within historic central London. In addition there are attractive commons, parks, canals, and disused railway tracks that provide space for walks. This includes Wimbledon Common, Epping Forest, Hampstead Heath, and the eight Royal Parks: Hyde Park, Regent's Park, Richmond Park, etc. In recent years access to canals and rivers, including the Regent's Canal, and the River Thames has been greatly improved, and as well a number of long-distance walking routes have been created that link green spaces.
Lewisham parks and open spaces are part of the "green lung" of London and include a diverse range of sites, from small urban parks and gardens to one of the most historic natural landscapes in Greater London at Blackheath. While overall control rests with London Borough of Lewisham, management of borough-owned parks and their facilities is contracted out to Glendale Grounds Management.
Convoys Wharf in Deptford is a former commercial wharf on the River Thames in London, currently awaiting redevelopment. It includes the site of Deptford Dockyard, built in the reign of King Henry VIII as one of the first Royal Dockyards. Convoys Wharf also covers most of the site of Sayes Court manor house and gardens, one-time home of the diarist John Evelyn.
Squares have long been a feature of London and come in numerous identifiable forms. The landscaping spectrum of squares stretches from those with more hardscape, constituting town squares —to those with communal gardens, for which London is a major international exponent, known as garden squares.
Surrey Canal railway station is a proposed station on the South London Line of the London Overground network. It is on its main line.
Sayes Court was a manor house and garden in Deptford, in the London Borough of Lewisham on the Thames Path and in the former parish of St Nicholas. Sayes Court once attracted throngs to visit its celebrated garden created by the seventeenth century diarist John Evelyn. Now completely buried beneath Convoys Wharf and Sayes Court Park, the area shows little sign of its former glory, despite having been a key factor in the creation of the National Trust.
Folkestone Gardens is a small urban park located in Deptford, south east London. Now part of the London Borough of Lewisham, it was created during the 1970s on an area badly damaged by bombs in World War II. The park was named after a street of railwaymen's houses that once stood on part of the site.
Mayow Park, formerly known as Sydenham Recreation Ground, is a municipal park in London Borough of Lewisham. Located on Mayow Road in Sydenham, south east London, it is the borough's oldest park and its second oldest public open space after Blackheath. The park has a Green Flag Award.
Brookmill Park, formerly known as Ravensbourne Park, is a small public park and nature reserve located in Deptford and is in the London Borough of Lewisham. It runs parallel to Brookmill Road and the River Ravensbourne. It is located between Deptford Bridge and Elverson Road on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR).
Ladywell Fields, originally Ladywell Recreation Ground is a public park in the London Borough of Lewisham created from three historic fields. It is located near Ladywell railway station at the northern end of the park, and Catford Bridge at the southern end.
Horn Park is a 16 acres (6.5 ha) public park within Horn Park in the Eltham area of the Royal Borough of Greenwich, southeast London, United Kingdom. It has a mixture of grassland and woodland, children's playground, football pitch, outdoor gym and the first skate park in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. Historically Horn Park was one of three deer hunting parks belonging to Eltham Palace, over the centuries it was also used as grazing farmland and a fruit orchard. The park today is some of the last remaining open space of the original park, a public park next to the Horn Park housing estate which was completed just after the Second World War.