London Gardens Online tells me that ‘…Wickham Gardens is a cul-de-sac off Wickham Road, the houses surrounding a garden that was protected under the London Squares and Enclosures (Preservation) Act 1906, which prohibited building on the enclosure. Much of the area, including houses in Wickham Gardens, was damaged by bombing in WWII and rebuilt after…
London Gardens Online tells me that ‘…Ladywell Cemetery, originally called Lewisham Cemetery, was opened by Lewisham Burial Board on a plot of agricultural land purchased from the Trustees of the Earl of Dartmouth. A competition to design the cemetery was won by Messrs Tinkler and Morphew, who were also appointed by Deptford Burial Board who…
Years ago a cemetery would have been an unlikely place to include amongst gardens, but as the years have passed they are increasingly seen to have potential as wild gardens as well as gardens of remembrance. Brockley Cemetery in particular certainly fits this bill. The two cemeteries, Brockley and Ladywell, cover an area of 37…
St Margaret’s Square is a rather odd green space which is recognised and listed by London Gardens Online but not by Lewisham Council.
My Six on Saturday comes from Northern Spain for the last time, and these plantings are in the Park of San Francisco in the city of Oviedo. I enjoyed walking through the park every day and found it was well-used by local people: they strolled there during the day; dressed up and did the paseo in the…
LGO tells me that ‘…The site’s historic interest resides less in its design than in the story of its acquisition. Deptford Common to the north had already been lost to development when the open land of Hilly Fields was leased to builders in the 1880s. It was saved through a campaign that began in 1889…
London Gardens Online tells me that ‘…Brookmill Park originated as a small recreation ground provided from 1880 near the Kent Waterworks’ reservoir by the River Ravensbourne. It was expanded in the 1920s when part of the disused reservoir was infilled, and opened as Brookmill Park. Some evidence of the reservoir remains, much reduced in size, as the small oval lake still found…
Two parks, Broadway Fields and Brookmill Park, lie between Deptford Bridge and Elverson Road and run parallel to Brookmill Road. The Lewisham Council’s website tells me that ‘…The fields used to be known as the Deptford Municipal Playing Fields. They were opened in 1932 on a piece of land next to the Kent Water Works…’. I believe that Broadway…
The Lewisham Council site tells me these gardens have a dog exercice area and a playground, and that the two parts of the gardens are separated by the railway line, while LGO does not list the gardens at all. The Brockley Central Blogspot describes this in 2014 as ‘…Perhaps the most mistreated of the Brockley…
London Gardens Online tells me: ‘…The park is named after Margaret McMillan who with her sister Rachel McMillan were pioneers of nursery education. Margaret McMillan Park opened in 1954 and was originally laid out between Watson’s Street and Glenville Grove with a series of lawns along Douglas Way. In the late 1980s part of the…