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Following the establishment of Croydon Burial Board in 1859, Queen's Road Cemetery was the first cemetery in Croydon. It was founded in 1861 and much remains of the original layout, which had a central walk heavily planted with trees, including those planted amongst the graves. Symmetrical curving paths lead off the central path. Buildings include a pair of linked chapels linked, a lodge, stone gate piers and fine railings on Queen's Road. The older part of the cemetery east of the chapels contains the more interesting monuments, with memorials to important local people.

Ramsey Court was formerly the Elis David Almshouses, originally founded in 1447 by Elias Davy, member of the Mercers' Company, for 7 poor men and women. The almshouses were rebuilt in the mid C18th and enlarged in 1875 when the number of residents was increased to 12. They are arranged as two parallel rows of red brick buildings, the north built in 1875, the south in 1887, which face each other across the garden. They ceased to be almshouses in the 1970s when residents moved to new almshouses in Duppas Hill.

Rickman Hill Recreation Ground was formerly an old field with a small woodland, Mother Kitty's Shaw, in the north-east corner. Much of this area was once owned by the Carew family, who had held land at Hartley since the C14th. Later Henry VIII granted the Manor of Coulsdon to Sir Nicholas Carew of Beddington, whose father Sir Richard Carew had bequeathed land at Ruckkenhams, or Rickham Hill, to his widow. The site was purchased in 1927 by Coulsdon & Purley UDC for use as a recreation ground.

Riddlesdown is first recorded in 1331, at that time called 'Ridelsdoune' meaning 'cleared woodland on a hill' and there is evidence of early human activity. In medieval times Kenley Common and Riddlesdown formed part of the waste land of the Manor of Watendone. In 1883, to prevent the Lord of the Manor from enclosing the commonland further, the Corporation of London acquired most of Riddlesdown 'for public recreation and enjoyment' and 'to preserve the natural aspect'. The Gardener's Pleasure Resort established nearby in 1892 was popular with Victorian day trippers.

Rotary Field was given to the people of Purley by the Purley Rotary Club in 1925. In the first half of the C19th the ground was part of the route of the 'World's First Railway Line', the Surrey Iron Railway laid down in 1803. It operated in much the same way as the canals, with people paying tolls to take their own horse-drawn wagons along the iron rails. The line was abandoned in 1846 but parts of the trackbed and section of track can be seen in the park. A drinking fountain commemorating Queen Victoria was erected in 1901, later resited to the library gardens by Banstead Road.

Royal Russell School, then known as Ballards School, was built in 1924 on the former Ballards Estate. The school's origins date back to 1853 when a charity was established by a group of City clerks to clothe, support and educate orphaned children from deceased colleagues in warehousing and manufacturing trades. Initially in New Cross, the school moved to larger premises in Caterham Junction in 1862, and then to the current site after WWI. The land was donated by Lord Hollingsworth, of the retailer Bourne and Hollingsworth, who had purchased 44.5 hectares of the Ballards Estate in the early 1920s. The school is named after its first president, former Prime Minister Lord John Russell.

The origin of Sanderstead may derive from 'sandy place', which reflects the nature of the soil beneath Sanderstead Plantation. The woodland is predominantly beech but there are other species such as oak, horse chestnut, sweet chestnut and sycamore; it is noted for its bluebells in May. A depression in the middle of the wood marks the site of a brick reservoir demolished in 1969 as unsafe. Purchased in 1958 the reservoir had previously been rented from the owners of the Sanderstead and Warlingham Estate.

Sanderstead Pond is a small remnant of the old village green and is almost certainly fed by rain water rather than a spring, the water level fluctuating throughout the year. Sanderstead village was once surrounded by extensive woodland and downs. There is evidence that the area had seen the presence of man as long ago as the Mesolithic Period, nearly 12000 years ago. Early mention of 'Sonderstede' occurs in 871AD and in the Domesday Survey the manor was held by the Abbey of St Peter at Westminster. In 1799 the local Squire enclosed the village green into his parkland and its layout has little changed since the mid C19th.

The land for Sanderstead Recreation Ground was acquired in 1895 when the newly-formed Parish Council was looking for an area of flat ground near the village centre for a cricket pitch. A popular sport in the area for centuries, setting up a local club was first mooted in 1881 but attempts to establish Sanderstead Cricket Club formally date from 1895 and the Brand Memorial Hall was built adjacent to the pitch as a club room. After WWI the recreation ground was used for other sports, and there is now a bowling green, football pitches and playground.

Selsdon was within the parish of Croydon from medieval times, from at least the C16th largely divided between two farms, Selsdon Farm in the north and Allards Farm in the south. Selsdon Farm was gentrified into a mansion by 1815, with a landscaped park and home farm. The estate was purchased in 1924 and the house converted into Selsdon Park Hotel, which opened in 1926; Selsdon Golf Course was laid out on the parkland. There are many fine trees surviving from the C19th landscape and the garden area south-east of the hotel retains the bones of the original landscape design in terms of path structure, terraces and some of the planting.

Before WWI Selsdon was an isolated hamlet with one large house, 2 farms and c.20 cottages. Development took place from the 1920s and the Selsdon Residents' Association, formed in January 1926, played an active part in ensuring that the needs of the new population were addressed. The site of Selsdon Recreation Ground was formerly that of an old field, which was purchased for the recreation ground in 1927 by Coulsdon & Purley UDC. The site, originally called Farleigh Road Recreation Ground, is surrounded by houses that were built after the recreation ground was laid out.

Selsdon Wood Country Park and Nature Reserve was once part of the Selsdon Park estate and up to 1923 the woods were used for shooting. After this time the estate was split up and following an active campaign to save them from development, in 1936 Selsden Woods became the joint responsibility of Croydon Corporation, Coulsdon and Purley UDC and The National Trust, opening to the public in June of that year. The site is a mixture of open pasture and woodland, and the old rides are maintained as footpaths.