We've found 93 parks

The modest flint church of St Mary the Blessed Virgin dates back to at least the C11th and its burial ground is also centuries old. There are many associations with the Archbishops of Canterbury who lived at Addington Palace from the early C19th and a memorial in the churchyard commemorates Archbishops buried here. Extended a number of times to accommodate more burials, the churchyard is now closed, and has over 1,000 memorials. Trees include a number of yews and other conifers.

The old hamlet of Thornton Heath was centred on the pond on London Road. The arrival of the railway and opening in 1862 of Colliers Water Lane Station (renamed Thornton Heath) led to new development around the High Street. St Paul's Road is recorded in the 1865 Croydon Street Directory and St Paul's Church originated as a temporary iron building in 1868. The east end of the church was built in 1871-2, with nave and baptistry added in 1901, and later rebuilding in the 1920s due to subsidence. St Paul's Square is a fenced area of green space with a few trees at the junction of St Paul's Road with Liverpool and Manchester Roads.

St Peter's Churchyard is a well-planted churchyard, now closed to burial. St Peter's Church was built in 1849-51, later rebuilt in 1865, and is on a prominent site. The land for the churchyard was given by John Russell who died in 1864 and is buried near the tower. The churchyard has flint boundary walls and a good coverage of mature tree, its path layout little changed. Among those buried here are a number of prominent local businessmen, a former huntsman turned inn-keeper of the Stag and Hounds, and Colonel Edward Kelly, who fought in the Battle of Waterloo. A yew tree was planted to the south east side of the church to mark the Millennium.

Stambourne Woodland Walk was created over the former gardens of large Victorian villas, which had became neglected and densely overgrown. The project to develop a link Westow Park and South Norwood Lake was conceived in 1962 when Croydon Council purchased land in part from the Church Commissioners along with other small packages. Some of the vegetation was left undisturbed and improvements included planting native trees, shrubs and wild flower seed, and providing paths and seating. The linear walk opened to the public in 1984.

Beulah Spa developed in the early C19th from a spa where people came to take the waters. On 1 August 1831 the 30-acre site, owned by Mr J D Smith, was opened as a place of entertainment with gardens laid out by Decimus Burton. A wide range of attractions were provided but its popularity began to decline when the Crystal Palace moved to nearby Sydenham in 1854. In May 1858 the Beulah Spa estate was sold by auction and a large mansion called The Lawns was built. In 1939 The Lawns estate was conveyed to Croydon Corporation, NT and the MPGA, covenanted to remain as public open space. The mansion was demolished in the mid-1960s after a fire. The lawn today marks the site of the ornamentat gardens, and the hanging woodland remains through which ornamental walks were laid out.

The original Town Hall Gardens were built on a site purchased as railway land when Croydon was developing. In 1889 the land was offered to Croydon Corporation for new municipal buildings. Formal gardens were laid out below ground level adjacent to the Town Hall, which was opened by the Prince of Wales in 1896. A plan to build over the gardens in the 1930s came to nothing. In the 1960s a modern garden was created adjacent to the new Taberner House. In 1980 the Police Station that adjoined this was vacated and this enabled a new garden to be laid out bringing together the lower Victorian garden and upper Taberner House garden. Renamed The Queen's Gardens, they were opened by the Queen on 21 June 1983 for the Borough Centenary. The lower garden retains its Victorian character with carpet bedding and planting while the upper garden has a central fountain and pool and more geometric lines.

The Webb Estate was laid out from 1888 onwards by William Webb, a chartered surveyor and horticulturist who purchased 260 acres of land in Purley. He developed this as an upmarket residential estate according to his 'Garden First' system whereby landscaping and infrastructure should be established before house-building began. He set up a nursery to grow hedging, trees, shrubs and flowers for the estate. Houses were gradually built from 1901 onwards when the landscape infrastructure was maturing and the estate was completed by 1925. All roads but one were curving and names given to 'floral roads' reflected their planting schemes, such as Silver Lane, Rose Walk, and The South Border. The garden aspect of the estate endures today and it remains an important example within early town planning that recognised landscape as an essential component.

Thomas More Catholic School was originally the Warehousemen and Clerks Schools whose origins date back to December 1853. The school began in a house in New Cross, but soon larger premises were needed and in 1862 the present site was purchased, renamed Russell Hill after the school's President. The handsome red-brick buildings were opened by the Prince of Wales and the school grounds were laid out with various sports facilities such as cricket lawn and fields. Mr Ayles, Headmaster from 1878-96 and a keen gardener, had an apple orchard by his house. Much of the school grounds behind the main buildings have been built over, but landscaping at the front remains with mature trees, steps and terraces as indicated on the map of 1868.

One of Croydon's earliest recreation grounds, the first parcel of land for Thornton Heath Recreation Ground was acquired by Croydon Corporation in 1884. Trees were planted and facilities for cricket provided, and further improvements in 1891, including new gates. In 1894 additional land was purchased to enlarge the ground and the public footpath running across the park marks the boundary. The park became very popular and had a bandstand and drinking fountain, no longer present, and later a bowling green, and other sports facilities. A new ornamental garden was opened in 1987.

Trumble Gardens were laid out on the site of three houses in Brigstock Road that were destroyed by bombing in WWII. The site was purchased by Croydon Corporation in 1947/8 and cleared of rubble, the new gardens' boundary walls built from the bricks of the houses. A series of different character gardens were laid out including a rose garden and an Italian-style garden. As well as quiet seating areas and ornamental gardens, the public were provided with tennis courts and a children's playground. Originally called Brigstock Road Gardens, the garden was later renamed to commemorate the late Alderman Trumble.

The site for Upper Norwood Recreation Ground was acquired by Croydon Corporation from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, and opened in May 1890, laid out with serpentine walks and planted with 1600 trees and shrubs. Facilities included a bandstand, tennis courts and changing rooms; a drinking fountain and rustic shelter were donated in 1891. A popular park particularly for football and cricket, it was also intended to serve nearby Lambeth, which then had little public open space. The north-west area was used for allotments in the 1930s, but later returned to sports ground.

Virgo Fidelis School is on a sloping site that is part of a historic C18th landscape, which was adapted in the mid C19th when a Roman Catholic boarding school and attached convent were built. There are remains of the original designed landscape, and the C19th landscape, including an orchard, cemetery and walled garden. The site now contains two schools, a family day centre and convent. Attached farmland to the east was built over for housing after WWII. Within the site is mature natural woodland that is a remnant of the old Great North Wood, which retains its boundaries and character as shown on early maps. The bones of the original convent and orphanage landscape can still be seen and apart from the abandoned kitchen garden it has been used for children's recreation for 150 years, overlaying the earlier C18th landscape.