Inventory Site Record

* on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens

The Rookery was a private house with fine gardens that was on the site of a spa in the C18th after mineral springs were discovered. The principal mineral well was situated near the centre of the present gardens, to the north of the formal pond. Following a successful campaign to save it for public open space, the property was presented to the LCC in 1912 and opened as public gardens in 1913. The house was demolished and an Old English Garden was created in the former kitchen garden, with rockeries, a wild garden and a white garden planted. The sloping grounds also had a woodland walk, grass terraces and 2 fine cedar trees, one of which survives.

Site location:

Covington Way/Streatham Common South

Postcode:

SW16 3BX

What 3 Words:

agents.socket.loops

Type of site:

Public Gardens

Borough:

Lambeth

Open to public?

Yes

Opening times:

7.30am - 15 minutes before sunset
Has taken part in Open Garden Squares Weekend 3 times, most recently in 2015.

Special conditions:

dogs on leads only on top terrace

Facilities:

Rookery café adjacent; toilets, sports pitches, tennis courts

Events:

Events run by SCCoop - see website for details

Public transport:

Rail: Streatham Common, Streatham. Bus: 50, 60, 109, 118, 159, 249, 255

Citymapper    
Google Map    
streetmap.co.uk

Research updated:

01/11/2023

Last minor changes:

01/11/2023

Please check with the site owner or manager for latest news. https://www.lambeth.gov.uk/parks/rookery-streatham; https://www.sccoop.org.uk/ 

Site on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens, for Register Entry see https://www.historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list. The Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England was established in 1984 and was commonly called English Heritage. In April 2015 it split into 2 separate entities, Historic England (HE), which continues to champion and protect the historic environment, and the English Heritage Trust, whose role is to look after the 400+ historic sites and monuments owned by the state. HE manages the National Heritage List for England (NHLE) that includes over 400,000 items ranging from prehistoric monuments to office blocks, battlefields and parks, which benefit from legal protection.

Mineral springs were discovered at Streatham in 1659 and the Well House, or Streatham Wells, was built in the early C18th to house visitors to the spa. The adjacent house was rebuilt and enlarged to cater for the spa's many visitors and was later converted to a private residence and renamed The Rookery in 1826. The property came up for sale in 1910 and, in order to save it from development, it was purchased in 1911 with money raised by public subscription through a Local Committee chaired by Stenton Covington. It was presented to the London County Council in 1912 and added to Streatham Common. The house was demolished, an Old English Garden laid out on the walled kitchen garden and the gardens were opened to the public 0n 23 July 1913. In the LCC's handbook of its parks and gardens, published in 1924, the garden features were described, which included 'small strips outside the walls . . . laid out as a rockery, a wild garden, and a white garden [. . . ] a unique feature in the Council's parks'. In addition there was a woodland walk and sloping lawn with two 'majestic cedars'; a flight of steps gave access to the terrace walk, where there was a shelter presented by Stenton Covington.

The sloping grounds remain much the same today and have a terrace to the north-west with bedding displays overlooking formal lawns with a fine mature cedar of Lebanon surviving. To the north is a rock garden, with a stream, rhododendron, heathers and spring bulbs. To the south-east the Old English Garden in the former kitchen garden has an ornamental layout of paved geometrical paths, central pond and rose pergola. There are exuberant floral displays, and the white garden remains to the south-east.

The Friends of Streatham Common was set up with the aims of preserving, protecting and improving The Rookery as well as Streatham Common (q.v.). In July 2013, the Rookery celebrated its centenary as a public garden, and the Friends, along with Lambeth Council and the Streatham Society, planned various improvements in advance of this and an event to mark it.

In 2015 Streatham Common Cooperative (SCCoop) was established, a community-run social enterprise, which began managing services from gardening to litter-picking in The Rookery as part of Lambeth's Co-operative Parks Programme. The Rookery is now directly managed by SCCoop, which employs staff and works with volunteers to maintain the horticultural, landscape, heritage and wildlife features. Other partners who play a role in how the Rookery is managed and used include the Friends of Streatham Common, local businesses and residents. In 2018 SCCoop restored the Rookery cascade and stream garden, co-funded by money has raised from the community, the HLF and Lambeth Council. They run events in the Rookery including the Rookery Christmas Fair and The Rookery Market, and have supported local businesses such as the Inkspot Brewery providing further income for the park.

In 2013 part of the Rookery was declared a Local Nature Reserve along with Streatham Common. It is a Green Flag Award-winning park, as well as a holder of ‘Park of the Year’ award from London In Bloom.

Sources consulted:

EH Register: Sir W Besant 'London South of the Thames' 1912; M Brace 'London Parks and Gardens' 1986; Streatham: Pictures from the Past 1983 (The Streatham Society); S Sunderland 'Old London's Spas', 1915. Marie Draper 'Lambeth's Open Spaces, An historical account', LB Lambeth 1979; Ian Yarham, Michael Waite, Andrew Simpson, Niall Machin, 'Nature Conservation in Lambeth', Ecology Handbook 26 (London Ecology Unit, 1994); 'The London County Council and what it does for London: London Parks and Open Spaces' (Hodder & Stoughton, 1924)

Grid ref:

TQ310708 (530908,170898)

Size in hectares:

3.88

Site ownership:

LB Lambeth (part owned, remainder registered under Land Registration Acts)

Site management:

Environment Directorate, Parks and Greenspaces Unit (Team Lambeth). SCCoop

Date(s):

1912/3

Designer(s):

Listed structures:

None

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

Yes

NHLE grade:

Grade II

Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965:

Yes: Common (CL29)

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:

No

In Conservation Area:

Yes

Conservation Area name:

Streatham Common

Tree Preservation Order:

No

Nature Conservation Area:

Yes - Borough Importance I (with Common)

Green Belt:

No

Metropolitan Open Land:

Yes

Special Policy Area:

No

Other LA designation:

Historic Parks and Gardens

The Rookery - Photo: Colin Wing
Date taken: 02/05/13 11:14

Click a photo to enlarge.

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