| Myatt's Fields Park | |
|---|---|
 Myatt's Fields Park in winter | |
  Location within central London | |
| Type | Public park |
| Location | London, England |
| Coordinates | 51°28′24″N0°06′12″W / 51.473333°N 0.103333°W |
| Status | Open year round |
| Website | www |
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 majority of the area of Myatt's Fields belonged to the estate of Sir Hughes Minet, who in 1770 bought 118 acres of land from Sir Edward Knatchbull on the border of Camberwell and Lambeth. Minet was a third generation descendant of Isaac Minet, a French Huguenot refugee who had fled France following the 1685 Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The names of some of the streets around the park, such as Calais Street and Cormont Road, refer to Minet's French connection. [1]
In 1889, Hughes Minet's descendant William Minet gave 14½ acres of land then in the parish of Camberwell to the London County Council to be used for a public park. Initially to be called Camberwell Park, the name Myatt’s Fields was settled on in 1889. In 1900 the irregular Lambeth/Camberwell boundary was tidied up, transferring the park from Camberwell to Lambeth. The Metropolitan Public Gardens Association then spent some £10,000 on the layout of the park, and it was opened on 13 April 1889. [2] In 1935, William Minet's daughter, Susan Minet, gave a further quarter of an acre of land near the junction of Knatchbull Road and Calais Street to the park. Minet family philanthropy also resulted in the construction on the adjacent Knatchbull Road of the neighbouring St James the Apostle church (now converted to flats), [3] the Minet Library, and Longfield Hall, a community hall. [4]
The park was designed by Fanny Wilkinson, Britain's first professional woman landscape gardener. [5] Wilkinson was assisted by Emmeline Sieveking, the daughter of Queen Victoria's physician, Sir Edward Sieveking. [6] It is named after Joseph Myatt, a tenant market gardener, who grew strawberries and rhubarb (for which he was famed) on the land in the 19th century. [7] The park's mulberry tree may date from the land's previous use as a market garden. [8]
In 2009, a £2.6m renovation of the park was completed with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Lambeth Council, as well as £300,000 raised by the Myatt's Fields Park Project Group. The MFPPG is run by local volunteers and was chaired from 2000 until 2011 by Lindsay Avebury (the daughter of Pamela Hansford Johnson and the wife of Eric Lubbock). [9] The current chair is Marjorie Landels. [10]
Both the park itself and the bandstand in it are Grade II listed. [11] [12]
The singer Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine grew up near the park and has said that her earliest memory was of climbing trees in the park. [13]
The park was once described by former Poet Laureate John Betjeman as a "strangely beautiful place." [14]
The Park includes a bandstand, summerhouse, and café. It is also home to tennis courts, a football pitch, basketball court, picnic area, a children's playground and a community greenhouse.
In 2015, Myatt's Field was voted the 9th best park in the UK in a public vote organised by the Green Flag Award. [15]
Camberwell is an area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, 2+3⁄4 miles southeast of Charing Cross.
Camberwell was a civil parish and metropolitan borough in south London, England. Camberwell was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey, governed by an administrative vestry from 1674. 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 Camberwell became a metropolitan borough in 1900, following the London Government Act 1899, with the parish vestry replaced by a borough council. In 1965 the borough was abolished and its former area became part of the London Borough of Southwark in Greater 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.
Denmark Hill is an area and road in Camberwell, in the London Borough of Southwark, London, England. It is a sub-section of the western flank of the Norwood Ridge, centred on the long, curved Ruskin Park slope of the ridge. The road is part of the A215 which north of its main foot, Camberwell Green, becomes Camberwell Road and south of Red Post Hill becomes named Herne Hill, another district.
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.
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.
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.
Loughborough Junction is an area of South London, in the London Borough of Lambeth, which is located equidistant between Brixton, Camberwell and Herne Hill.
Vassall ward was an administrative division of the London Borough of Lambeth, United Kingdom, from 1965 to 2022. It was located in the north of borough bordering Southwark, in the SW9 and SE5 postcode area. The ward was named after Henry Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland who was responsible for the first building development in the area in the 1820s.
Lambeth Archives is an archive in South London, managed by the London Borough of Lambeth. Containing records of Lambeth businesses, organisations and individuals. Until 2023, the Lambeth Archives collections were housed at Minet Library, 52 Knatchbull Road. In February 2024, Lambeth Archives will reopen at its new purpose built facility, 16 Brixton hill. The archive holds various documents for tracing family history, including parish records, electoral registers, civil registers, census returns, poll books, cemetery records, trade and commercial directories, and historic newspapers. The archive is open to the public free of charge.
Ruskin Park is a park in the London Borough of Lambeth, London, England, close to Camberwell, Loughborough Junction and Herne Hill.
The Minet Library is a public library in the London Borough of Lambeth in South London. The library opened in 1890 and currently operates as a self-service library, with limited staff, as a result of cuts to funding.
Myatt's Fields South is a social housing estate located between Brixton Road and Camberwell New Road in South London. It is on land that once formed part of the Lambeth Wick estate.
William Minet (1851–1933) was a British landowner and philanthropist, of Huguenot descent.
Charles Edward Brooke School was a Church of England secondary school in Camberwell, London, England which operated until 2012.
Fanny Wilkinson (1855–1951) was a British landscape designer. She was the first professional female landscape designer in Britain, and responsible for the design and the layout of more than 75 public gardens across London in the late 19th century.
The Metropolitan Public Gardens Association is a charity in London for the purposes of the preservation of public parks and gardens, established in 1882. It facilitated the creation of new public open spaces, including from philanthropic landowners within its membership. The MPGA was involved in the formation and development of other amenity organisations. The charity still exists; in recent decades its emphasis has changed to smaller parcels of land and smaller projects within larger spaces, as well as to themed projects. The MPGA was the starting point for the careers of the ground-breaking female landscape gardeners Fanny Wilkinson and Madeline Agar.
Red Cross Garden is a small park in Southwark, London. It is located on Redcross Way, and named after the street, although the name of the garden is spelt with two words while the street is spelt with one. It is in the London Borough of Southwark. The garden and the associated cottages designed by Elijah Hoole form an early example of one of Octavia Hill’s social housing schemes.
