NEWS!
New
Edition of Newsletter for January 2012 - see Events page for
current and old newsletters
links, as well as events for the coming months.
Stable Block Fire, see Here
for a report and news on Mansion management tender and the
park management
tender process.
Sensory Garden construction well under
way. The Rose Garden will be
improved with sensory features, disabled access and planting while
retaining the overall layout character. see the newsletter for
progress report.
Park
Features:
- Childrens
play area,
- Ornamental gardens
- Ancient
Woodland
- Picnic and Meadow areas,
- Nature Trail and Riverside Walk
- Green Chain and Capital Ring
Walks,
- Pay and Play 18 hole public
golf course
- Visitor
Centre (Sunday afternoons)
- Historic
Buildings
- A wide variety of
flora and fauna.
The 'first time' or occasional
visitor to BPP may not appreciate its
true extent. The Park lies on the Lewisham/Bromley border strictly
speaking between Downham, Bellingham, Beckenham and Shortlands.
It
was
acquired from the Cator Estate by the LCC circa 1927, passed through
the hands of the GLC and then on to the London Borough of Lewisham. A
'well kept secret' from many Londoners, the park has been thought of as
a private golf course or private house and grounds as it is not widely
publicised. It does lie on the Green Chain Walk and Capital Ring. A
railway bisects the park and the only routes joining both parts are the
bridge north of woodland called the Ash Plantation or by leaving and
re-entering the park in the viscinity of Ravensbourne Railway Station.
Hence the railway effectively divides the park into West and East.
Beckenham Place Park is
the surviving nucleus of what was once a large
estate.
The history of the park and its
environs is extensive and is
covered in other Friends publications. Information is available in the
Friends of BPP Visitor Centre (see navigation hyperlink).
The park's life as a public
recreation area began around 1927/29 when the park was purchased by the
London County Council and London Borough of Lewisham to satisfy a need
for public open space in the area as the large housing estates of
Bellingham and Downham were being developed.
The
historic and 'listed'
buildings in the park include The Mansion, The Stables and Homesteads
(and Garden Cottage), Southend Lodge (gatehouse).
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