Inventory Site Record

Wandle Park was laid out on the site of two old meadows purchased by Croydon Corporation in 1888 and 1889. It opened in May 1890, its chief attraction the River Wandle that ran through it and the popular boating lake formed in the south half of the park, both now gone. Other facilities were a bandstand, tennis courts and bowling green. An open air pool opened in 1913 but had closed by 1979. The Borough's Summer Show was held here during the 1930s; there was fishing in the summer and ice-skating in the winter when the lake froze. In 1967 the river was culverted, its original course now marked by willows, and the lake, by now depleted of water, was filled and grassed over.

Previous / Other name:

Frog Mead, Stubbs Mead

Site location:

Cornwall Road, Croydon

Postcode:

CR0 3RD

What 3 Words:

gown.wipes.trips

Type of site:

Public Park

Borough:

Croydon

Open to public?

Yes

Opening times:

8am Mon-Fri/9am weekends - dusk

Special conditions:

Facilities:

Football pitches, skate park, children's playground, toilets, car park.

Events:

Various events organised by Friends Group, bulb planting

Public transport:

Rail/London Overground: West Croydon. Tramlink: Route 3:Wandle Park. Bus: 289, 455

Citymapper    
Google Map    
streetmap.co.uk

Research updated:

01/04/2009

Last minor changes:

19/07/2023

Please check with the site owner or manager for latest news. www.croydon.gov.uk; www.wandlepark.com

Wandle Park is one of the oldest public open spaces in Croydon. In 1888 Croydon Corporation purchased Frog Mead, a 7-acre field once part of the Waddon Estate from the Briton Medical & General Life Association Ltd for £1518 15s. The meadow is mentioned as early as 1543 and its name probably arose from the wetness of the area and the frogs found there. Nearly a year later, in December 1889, the Corporation purchased another meadow of 13 acres from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners called Stubbs Mead, probably once part of Waddon Court Park. The deed of conveyance stated that 'the land shall be forever dedicated and used as an ornamental pleasure ground and place of recreation for the inhabitants of the Borough of Croydon and for no other purpose whatsoever and shall forever with the said intended pathway be maintained in good and neat order and condition'. The pathway referred to was to be from the north west corner of the park running northwards beside the railway to a crossing place to enable people to enter the park. The original fields had been re-shaped in the mid C19th when the railway was cut through them, opening in 1855 and originally worked by G. P. Bidder before it was leased to the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway Company in 1856.

The present fabric of the park is a pale shadow of its former self, but in its time Wandle Park was one of Croydon's great beauty spots. The River Wandle served Croydon as both a water supply and sewer and as a result was blamed for the outbreaks of disease and the high death rate in C19th Croydon. In the early C19th the local Board of Health had tried to provide proper drainage and the first sewage works were built on the eastern border of what is now Wandle Park, later the site of a slaughterhouse until the site was built over for housing in the 1980s. Wandle Park was laid out on the site of the two meadows, and an artificial lake was constructed. The original intention has been to divert the Wandle to run through the lake and keep it full, but while excavating it was found that there was sufficient water to maintain a fair depth and the Wandle was taken through the park by a separate conduit. The level of the park was tipped with rubbish to raise the ground level. It was opened on 14 May 1890 by the Mayor of Croydon John Hubert Schmitz at a huge event attended by some 30,000 people. The polished granite drinking fountain in the park was presented by the Mayor at the opening.

The chief attraction was the River Wandle running east - west through it, and the boating lake formed in the south half of the park, which was very popular. There was originally one central island planted with trees but by the early C20th the lake was extended to the east with a second island created, reached by two small rustic bridges or by hiring a small boat. A second boathouse was on the promontory to the south of the lake and boats were repaired in a larger shed near the wall of the abattoir. The boathouses disappeared although the lake itself changed little during the 1920s and 30s. On 30 August 1913 Wimbledon Open Air Baths opened in the park, filled from the river Wandle; it was closed by 1979.

The park had a bandstand, tennis courts and pavilion and a bowling green where the first bowls match to be played on a Corporation Green on a Sunday was held in 1936. The Borough's Summer Show was held in the park during the 1930s, and in the summer there was fishing and in the winter ice-skating when the lake froze. However, during the 1930s the natural supply of water to the lake became increasingly erratic. Several schemes were prepared to return the lake to its former glory but the main problem was the water supply and retaining the water. The water table had dropped since the lake was originally dug and the development of Croydon altered the rate at which water flowed off the land and into the river, so although the amount of water was the same it entered the river rapidly and then the level quickly dropped. In 1967 the river was diverted into a new straight culvert that was laid across the park and the riverbed filled in; its original course is marked by willows and one side of the children's playground is bounded by the low flint-faced wall that was on the north side of the river. At the same time the lake was also backfilled, topsoiled and grassed.

With the loss of lake, river and bandstand, the park's character became dominated by playing fields, relieved by a few mature trees, notably a group of black poplars, a group of horse chestnuts and London plane, and scattered horse chestnut and planes along the original peripheral path. There is a modern rose garden with shelter. St Edmund's Church and Mission Hall is located lodge-like beside the north-east entrance. Shrub planting was carried out along the north boundary of the park in the 1990s, and additional boundary planting was laid out in 2001-2 with the introduction of Tramlink on the former railway line. A skate boarding area was opened on the site of one of the former tennis courts in 2001 and the bowling club closed in that year. An active Friends of Wandle Park group formed in 2007, which began preparation of a bid for HLF funding to restore the park, working with LB Croydon. In 2009 Wandle Park won £400,000 from the Mayor's Help a London Park scheme, which will assist in regeneration plans for the park.

Sources consulted:

M A Winterman, 'Croydon's parks: an illustrated history' (LB Croydon, 1988), pp110-12; LB Croydon, 'Local List of Historic Parks & Gardens', December 2008; History section on Friends of Wandle Park website www.wandlepark.com; Website 'Lidos in London no longer open' compiled by Oliver Merrington and Andy Hoines with additional detail and photographs from Ian Gordon, www.lidos.org.uk.

Grid ref:

TQ315656 (531541,165637)

Size in hectares:

8.5

Site ownership:

LB Croydon

Site management:

Parks and Open Spaces; Friends of Wandle Park

Date(s):

1889-90

Designer(s):

Listed structures:

None

On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens:

No

Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965:

No

Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931:

No

Local Authority Data

The information below is taken from the relevant Local Authority's planning legislation, which was correct at the time of research but may have been amended in the interim. Please check with the Local Authority for latest planning information.

On Local List:

Yes

In Conservation Area:

No

Tree Preservation Order:

No

Nature Conservation Area:

Yes - Local Importance

Green Belt:

No

Metropolitan Open Land:

No

Special Policy Area:

No

Other LA designation:

Local Open Land. In AP2. Area subject to flooding every 100 years. Green Corridor

Wandle Park - Photo: Colin Wing
Date taken: 07/05/21 14:10

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