Myatt's Fields Park

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Myatt's Fields Park
Myatt's Fields Park in winter.jpg
Myatt's Fields Park in winter
Greater London UK location map 2.svg
Red pog.svg
Location within central London
TypePublic park
Location London, England
Coordinates 51°28′24″N0°06′12″W / 51.473333°N 0.103333°W / 51.473333; -0.103333
StatusOpen year round
Website www.myattsfieldspark.info

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.

Contents

History

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]

Hyperlapse video around the inside and outside of the park
Minet estate in 1841 Minet Estate in 1841.png
Minet estate in 1841

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]

Minet estate in 1885 Minet Estate in 1885.png
Minet estate in 1885

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]

Features

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]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camberwell</span> Area of South London

Camberwell is an area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, 2+34 miles southeast of Charing Cross.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metropolitan Borough of Camberwell</span> Former Metropolitan Borough in England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metropolitan Borough of Lambeth</span> Metropolitan borough of England

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herne Hill</span> Suburb of London

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denmark Hill</span> Area of south London

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Croydon</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Lambeth</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A215 road</span> Road in London, England

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great North Wood</span> Wood in south London

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loughborough Junction</span> Human settlement in England

Loughborough Junction is an area of South London, in the London Borough of Lambeth, which is located equidistant between Brixton, Camberwell and Herne Hill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vassall (ward)</span>

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.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minet Library</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myatt's Fields South Estate</span> Housing estate in south London

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Edward Brooke School</span>

Charles Edward Brooke School was a Church of England secondary school in Camberwell, London, England which operated until 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fanny Wilkinson</span> British landscape gardener and college principal (1855-1951)

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.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red Cross Garden, Southwark</span> Park in Southwark, London

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References

  1. "Extended History". Myatt's Fields Park. Retrieved 19 February 2017.
  2. "Park History - Myatt's Fields Park". Myattsfieldspark.info. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  3. "St James the Apostle, Knatchbull Road" (PDF). southwark.anglican.org. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  4. "Longfield Hall History". longfieldhall.org.uk. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  5. Elizabeth Crawford. "A Woman Professional in Bloomsbury: Fanny Wilkinson, Landscape Gardener" (PDF).
  6. "Myatt's Fields Park: An extended history of Myatt's Fields Park" . Retrieved 21 January 2021.
  7. "Myatt's Fields, Denmark Hill and Herne Hill: Introduction and Myatt's Fields area | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  8. "Myatts Field Park Mulberry, Camberwell, London | International Plant Location Database". Locations.sprouting.org. 15 July 2009. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  9. "Park's £2.6m makeover complete". South London Press. 23 June 2009.
  10. "Myatt's Field Park Project: Who We Are" . Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  11. "National Heritage List Entry No 1000822" . Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  12. "National Heritage List Entry No 1357895" . Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  13. "Florence Welch - My London". Evening Standard. 30 July 2009. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  14. "Extended History - Myatt's Fields Park". Myattsfieldspark.info. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
  15. "Tower Hamlet's Victoria Park voted as the nation's favourite for the second year in a row". Archived from the original on 5 December 2016. Retrieved 19 December 2016.