We've found 57 parks

The origins of the Thames Path date from the 1750s onwards as the riverside towpath established by the Thames Commissioners when the Thames was an important trade route to London. In the C20th leisure use replaced trade and much of the old towpath is now the Thames Path, a national trail that opened in 1996 following the river from its source in the Cotswolds to the Thames Barrier. It represents important open space in the boroughs through which it passes.

The Grapsome is the remains of ancient woodland managed as coppice wood with standards, now a small copse on the western boundary of the borough. The site was eroded when the Esher By-pass was built in 1974/5. The area was previously known as Graplingeham, probably so-called after an early owner and is thought to be a moated manor from before the Norman Conquest. By the C19th it is marked as woodland called The Grapsome on the first OS map of 1865.

Allbury House dates from 1856, a grand house with an entrance porch with 4 Ionic columns. The OS Map of 1895-98 shows a lodge on the main road and a curving drive leading to the house. In 1926, no longer in use as a private house, it became Surbiton County School. It is now part of The Hollyfield School, which was established in 1937, since 2011 an Academy Trust. Fine mature trees including cedar and evergreen oak remain within the sweeping lawns in front of the house, with gardens behind.

The Pavilion is a rare and important example of the late work of Oliver Hill, a leading English architect of the mid C20th. It was built for Mr and Mrs Goldetz and is one of only three post-war houses designed by Hill. His design reflects the interest at that time in C18th Garden Pavilions. The house is set to the rear of the site, which has numerous well-grown trees.

The Watergardens were created in the 1860s by horticulturalist James Veitch Jnr, who had purchased land from the Duke of Cambridge for his Coombe Wood Nursery. He laid out former gravel workings in the south of the nursery as a Japanese watergarden, with streams, bridges and plants brought back from Japan, its design apparently inspired by the Willow Pattern in Chinese plates. This part of the nursery was later brought into the grounds of the adjacent Warren House, then owned by banker Hugh Hammersley. It remained part of the grounds of Warren House until 1985 when a parcel of land including the former water gardens was purchased by Octagon developments for a private housing scheme. Veitch's watergardens were restored and have ponds, streams and waterfalls, and numerous rare trees.

The Woods was a large Victorian house with a lake and mixed woodland in the grounds. The house was demolished in 1933 and in 1947 the site was purchased for a public park, which opened in 1951/2. Soon after the land was purchased it was suggested that it be turned into a bird sanctuary and called Jefferies Wood after the naturalist Richard Jefferies, who had lived in Surbiton. In 1980 part of the site became the Richard Jefferies Bird Sanctuary.

The land for a recreation ground was initially leased from the Earl of Lovelace in 1888 and was later purchased in 1901. Originally known as Balaclava Recreation Ground, in 1902 it was renamed Victoria Recreation Ground for Queen Victoria. The park is rectangular with a central pavilion; a perimeter path runs along the boundary with Balaclava Road and along the railway that borders the park to the south are trees and shrubs, with seating at intervals. A central path divides the main area of grass, with a drinking fountain gifted by the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association where the path meets the perimeter along the railway.

Warren House was built as a country house for banker Hugh Hammersley on land that was formerly part of the Coombe Wood estate of the Duke of Cambridge. Adjacent land was in separate ownership of horticulturalist James Veitch who developed a Japanese water garden, which was later brought into the grounds of Warren House. Later owners Lord and Lady Wolverton made additions to the house and gardens, and decorative features and planting dating from the late C19th remain in the grounds today. The house and part of the grounds are now a conference centre, the former water gardens once again in separate ownership as part of a luxury housing scheme.

Winey Hill is a pleasant grassy hilltop located in the south of the borough that includes scattered trees, horse-grazed pastures, dense scrub, a large stock pond and some old boundary hedgerows, where several nationally declining birds breed. In 1937 Alderman Clement Hugh Bridge of Chessington Grange in Garrison Lane negotiated with Lady Barker of Barwell Court to enable Surbiton Borough Council to purchase Winey Hill, which was within her Barwell Court Estate, as permanent open space. As a result c.10 hectares were acquired for £5,000 in September of that year. The hill has fine views from the top, at 75 m above sea level. Here a viewpoint has been erected that indicates what can be seen in all directions, from Canary Wharf 17 miles to the north-east and Guildford 13 miles to the south-west to more local sites such as Horton Country Park 1.5 miles to the south east and St Matthew's Church 2.5 miles to the north.