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Grangewood Park is an extensive woodland area situated in South Norwood, London. It is managed by the London Borough of Croydon. It is bounded by Grange Road, Wharncliffe Road, and Ross Road. It covers an area of 27.7 acres (11.2 hectares). The park is located on the main A212 road (Grange Road) between Thornton Heath and Upper Norwood/Crystal Palace. The nearest stations are Thornton Heath, Selhurst and Norwood Junction.
Facilities include: Woodland, ornamental gardens, cultural garden, bowling green and pavilion, tennis courts, multi-games courts (football only), children's playground, and basketball and kick around facilities.
Originally part of the Manor of Whitehorse, bought in 1787 by John Cator and enclosed in 1797, Grangewood was known as Whitehorse Wood and formed part of the Great North Wood (Norwood). It was 80 acres (32 hectares) in extent and was owned by Bishops of London between 1299 and 1338. It became known as White Horse in 1368 when the manor became owned by Walter Whitehors, who was shield-bearer to Edward III (previously it was known as Benchesham Manor).
When Cator died in 1806, the estate was inherited by his nephew, also John Cator, who sold it to a John Davidson Smith.
In 1800, the wood was surrounded by fields and the nearest dwellings were cottages clustered around the farmhouse. By 1847, a track had been constructed across the wood to connect Beulah Spa (laid out by Davidson Smith) with the road junction at White Horse Farm. This formed the line of Grange Road.
Davidson Smith divided the Whitehorse Estate into smaller plots and sold them for development. The east and west sides of Whitehorse Wood were cleared before 1850 and the remaining 30 acres (12 hectares) to the east of Grange Road were developed as a private estate.
An early edition of the 6" Ordnance Survey Map shows the layout of the private estate. The mansion was in the centre, with stables between it and the main entrance. To the east of the house, there was a nursery and Ross Lodge, and there was a second lodge at the entrance (Wharncliffe Lodge). Heath Lodge, which stands at the southern end of the park, is not shown on the map; it was built at a later date possibly when a second entrance was made at the junction of Grange Road and Ross Road.
The mansion had gardens that ran south from the house. Near Grange Road, there was a pond with a rustic bridge. The northern end remained woodland with trees on each side of the garden.
The Corporation of Croydon bought the Park for the public in 1900. The Council built a bowling green, tennis courts and a bandstand. Concerts were held during the summer but their popularity declined and the stand was subsequently demolished.
The mansion was a two-storey Victorian building with bay windows, a veranda and a conservatory on the south-east corner. Following purchase by the Corporation the mansion was used as a museum housing a collection of corals, shells and local Roman antiquities. One room was set aside as 'the Veterans' Club' where local pensioners could meet and socialise. Visitor refreshments were available from the tea-room in the house.
The Corporation used the nursery for plant production; in the autumn the greenhouses were open to the public. During the Second World War, it was given over to food production. After the war, it was partly demolished to make room for tennis courts, and in the mid-1960s it was closed when the Borough central nursery was opened.
The mansion was used during the First World War for billeting Canadian troops and in the Second World War both the house and grounds were badly damaged.
The mansion was demolished in 1960, having fallen into poor condition. The foundations were laid out as a formal garden with the bay windows as flower beds.
The park is still a popular area for its oak woodland, gardens, sports facilities and playground and in the spring the steep bank beside Grange Road provides a display of daffodils. [1]
Crystal Palace is an area in south London, England, named after the Crystal Palace Exhibition building, which stood in the area from 1854 until it was destroyed by fire in 1936. Approximately 7 miles (11 km) south-east of Charing Cross, it includes one of the highest points in London, at 367 feet (112 m), offering views over the capital. The area has no defined boundaries and straddles five London boroughs and three postal districts, although there is a Crystal Palace electoral ward and Crystal Palace Park in the London Borough of Bromley. It forms a part of the greater area known as Upper Norwood, and is contiguous with the areas of Anerley, Dulwich Wood, Gipsy Hill, Penge, South Norwood and Sydenham.
Thornton Heath is a district of Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is around 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of the town of Croydon, and 7.2 miles (11.6 km) south of Charing Cross. Prior to the creation of Greater London in 1965, Thornton Heath was in the administrative county of Surrey.
West Norwood is a largely residential area of south London within the London Borough of Lambeth, located 5.4 miles (8.7 km) south south-east of Charing Cross. The centre of West Norwood sits in a bowl surrounded by hillsides on its east, west and south sides. From many parts of the area, distant views can be seen, of places such as the City of London, Canary Wharf and Crystal Palace.
Upper Norwood is an area of south London, England, within the London Boroughs of Bromley, Croydon, Lambeth and Southwark. It is north of Croydon and the eastern part of it is better known as the Crystal Palace area.
Coombe is a place in the London Borough of Croydon, situated south-east of central Croydon, between Addiscombe, Selsdon and Upper Shirley. It is located in the historic county of Surrey. Formerly a hamlet, since the growth of suburban development the area has become swallowed into the London conurbation and often does not appear on modern map.
South Norwood is a district of south-east London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon and the historic county of Surrey. It is located 7.8 miles (12.5 km) south-east of Charing Cross, north of Woodside and Addiscombe, east of Selhurst and Thornton Heath, south of Crystal Palace/Upper Norwood and Anerley, and west of Elmers End and Penge.
Norbury is an area of south London. It shares the postcode London SW16 with neighbouring areas Streatham and Croydon. Norbury is 6.7 miles (10.8 km) south of Charing Cross.
The London Borough of Bexley owns and maintains over 100 parks and open spaces within its boundaries, with a total of 638 hectares. They include small gardens, river and woodland areas, and large parks with many sporting and other facilities.
The London Borough of Croydon has over 120 parks and open spaces within its boundaries, ranging from the 200 acre (80ha) Selsdon Wood Nature Reserve to many recreation grounds and sports fields scattered throughout the Borough. Croydon covers an area of 86.52 km², the 256th largest district in England. Croydon's physical features consist of many hills and rivers that are spread out across the borough and into the North Downs, Surrey and the rest of South London. Some of the open spaces in Croydon form part of the well-known London LOOP walks where the first section was opened on 3 May 1996 with a ceremony on Farthing Downs in Coulsdon. As a borough in Outer London it also contains some open countryside in the form of country parks. Croydon Council is associated with several other boroughs who are taking part in the Downlands Countryside Management Project. These boroughs are Sutton; and by Surrey County Council; the City of London Corporation; the Surrey districts of Reigate and Banstead and Tandridge; and the Countryside Agency. An additional partner is Natural Britain.
Cassiobury Park is the principal public park in Watford, Hertfordshire, in England. It was created in 1909 from the purchase by Watford Borough Council of part of the estate of the Earls of Essex around Cassiobury House which was subsequently demolished in 1927. It comprises over 190 acres (77 ha) and extends from the A412 Rickmansworth Road in the east to the Grand Union Canal in the west, and lies to the south of the Watford suburb of Cassiobury, which was also created from the estate. The western part is a 62-acre (25.1 ha) Local Nature Reserve managed by the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust. The park hosts the free, weekly timed parkrun 5 km event every Saturday morning at 9 am, starting near the Shepherds Road entrance to the park.
Kingswood or Kingswood with Burgh Heath is a residential area on the North Downs in the Borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. Part of the London commuter belt, Kingswood is just to the east of the A217 separating it from Tadworth and has a railway station. Burgh Heath in its north is combined with it to form a ward. Reigate is 3.6 miles (5.8 km) south of its centre and London is 15.5 miles (24.9 km) to the north northeast. Kingswood with Burgh Heath had a population of 6,891 in 2011.
Solihull is a large market town that is the administrative centre and seat of the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in the south of the West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 123,187 at the 2011 Census. Historically in Warwickshire, Solihull is situated on the River Blythe in the Forest of Arden area. It is the largest town in the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull which has a population of 214,909.
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.
The Great North Wood was a natural oak woodland that started three miles (4.8 km) south-east of central London and scaled the Norwood Ridge. At its full extent, the wood's boundaries stretched almost as far as Croydon and as far north as Camberwell. It had occasional landownings as large clearings, well-established by the Middle Ages such as the hamlets of Penge and Dulwich.
Coombe Wood is a small woodland and garden area in the old village of Coombe, South Croydon near the junction of Coombe Lane and Conduit Lane. The Coombe Wood Gardens are divided into a series of rooms which together give an all-year-round display of shrubs and plants set against a woodland backdrop.
Hayes Common is a 79-Hectare area of public open land in Hayes in the London Borough of Bromley. It is owned and managed by Bromley Council. It is Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation, and a small area is part of the Keston and Hayes Commons Site of Special Scientific Interest. The common is an area of woodland and heath, crossed by bridleways and footpaths. Hayes Common is one of the largest areas of common land in Greater London, with 91.1 hectares of protected commons.
Spa Wood is an area of ancient woodland in the London Borough of Croydon that was once a part of The Great North Wood. In 2017, the London Wildlife Trust began a four-year project based around the Great North Wood, working with Croydon Council and the Friends of Spa Wood to improve the site for wildlife, as a part of The Great North Wood Project. The 15.5 acres (6.3 ha) site, also known as The Lawns, is owned by the Borough of Croydon and includes the woods, a multi-games court and playground.
