Inventory Site Record

In the C19th the area between the Rope Walk and the railway arches, later to become Millwall Park, was grazed by cattle, the ground unsuitable for building. In 1901 one of the fields became the playing ground for Millwall Football Club, which used the pitch here until it moved south of the river in 1910. Millwall Park was originally called Millwall Recreation Ground, and at one time its facilities boasted an open-air swimming pool, which opened in 1925 but suffered bomb damage and was later demolished. The park has an area of formal planting that since 2006 has been the site of Frank Dobson's 'Woman and Fish' sculpture. The DLR Island Gardens Station was built on part of the park.

Previous / Other name:

Millwall Recreation Ground

Site location:

Manchester Road/Stebondale Street, Isle of Dogs

Postcode:

E14 3BA

What 3 Words:

winter.pillow.move

Type of site:

Public Park

Borough:

Tower Hamlets

Open to public?

Yes

Opening times:

unrestricted

Special conditions:

Facilities:

Playground; football and rugby pitches. North Greenwich Bowls Club

Events:

Oktoberfest

Public transport:

DLR: Island Gardens. Bus: D7, 135.

Citymapper    
Google Map    
streetmap.co.uk

Research updated:

01/04/2017

Last minor changes:

14/07/2022

Please check with the site owner or manager for latest news. www.towerhamlets.gov.uk

The site was part of the Thames floodplain and its soft soil and underlying peat meant it was not suitable for housing or indeed sports pitches. Until the late C19th it was largely used for pasture .To the east, Stebondale Street was built by the late 1860s and East Ferry Road to the west. In the north-west was Hawkins and Tipson's Globe Rope Works, in operation from 1881-1971, and the Rope Walk still divides Millwall Park from Mudchute Park and Farm (q.v.).

First use of the site for sports dates from 1901 with the Millwall Football Club's use of part of the land for its playing field. Until 1897 the club was known as Millwall Athletic and it was probably the works team of local confectionary factory C and E Morton. Millwall Park was originally known as Millwalll Recreation Ground. In 1925 an open-air swimming pool was built here by Poplar Borough Council, who then handed it over to the LCC to administer it, although both councils shared the costs. Built within a walled enclosure, the lido was 150 x 60 feet and had dressing rooms and other buildings. A filtration plant was installed in 1930 and from then onwards a bathing charge was made. The lido suffered damage in the first night of the Blitz and, deemed beyond repair, it was eventually demolished in the 1960s when a One O'clock Club and adventure playground replaced it.

Since 2007 the park has been the home of Frank Dobson’s ‘Woman and Fish’ sculpture, commissioned by the LCC in 1963 to embellish their Cleveland Estate in Globe Town as part of its Patronage of the Arts Scheme. The scheme was launched in 1956, with an annual budget of £20,000 identified to either commission or purchase works of art to be sited on housing estates, educational facilities and other public spaces. Advice was sought from the Arts Council and over the period of the scheme 50 or more works of art were installed before the demise of the LCC in 1965. By the 1980s Frank Dobson's sculptural fountain was being repeatedly vandalised, the fish stolen on at least one occasion. It was eventually deemed beyond repair and removed in 2002. However, in 2006 a bronze replica was commissioned by Tower Hamlets Council from Spanish sculptor Antonio López Reche, which in 2007 was installed in Millwall Park, where it is surrounded by formal beds within circular fencing that firmly discourages entry. There is a petition to reinstate the sculpture on the corner of Cambridge Heath Road and Cephas Street where its original empty plinth has remained as a sad reminder along with a plaque naming the location ‘Frank Dobson Square’.

South-west of the railway arches is the North Greenwich Bowls Club and a children's play area and garden. Since 2011 London Oktoberfest has been held at Millwall Park bringing German beer, food, live music and events.

Sources consulted:

https://islandhistory.wordpress.com; Rosalind Brewer, 'Millwall Park Management Plan 2008-2018', LB Tower Hamlets, 2008

Grid ref:

TQ382785 (538197,178552)

Size in hectares:

8.64

Site ownership:

LB Tower Hamlets

Site management:

Leisure Services, Parks and Open Spaces

Date(s):

c.1910

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:

No

In Conservation Area:

No

Tree Preservation Order:

No

Nature Conservation Area:

No

Green Belt:

No

Metropolitan Open Land:

No

Special Policy Area:

No

Other LA designation:

None

Millwall Park with Frank Dobson sculpture, February 2017. Photo Sally Williams

Click a photo to enlarge.