We've found 70 parks

Crescent Grove is a private estate laid out by Francis Child in 1824 on what was previously fields adjacent to Clapham Common. It is a good example of early C19th suburban development and provided housing of different types and sizes. Child built a large detached house with an extensive garden at the end of the estate for his own use. This was called Grove Lodge but was demolished in 1936. The central garden is an open lozenge between the fine houses, but there is evidence that it was once railed above the low stone edging. Landscaping now consists of lawn with three flowerbeds, numerous trees and ornamental shrubs, and three benches, one installed in memory of Robert and Betty Bates, residents here from the late 1940s-2003, both committed to the conservation and improvement of Crescent Grove.

Dumbarton Court was built in 1936-39 for a property developer by W Vernon Coupland; the lease was purchased by Lambeth Borough Council in 1959. The planting consists of a small grassed area with trees and seating in front of block of flats to Brixton Hill.

Much of the area remained farmland until early-mid C19th development although wealthy merchants had began to build villas here in the C18th. The town houses of Durand Gardens, originally called The Grove, were built from 1840 onwards with a central garden laid out for use by the residents. The garden's irregular shape is possibly due to it being the site of a plague pit. Although it was once laid out as an ornamental garden it became neglected. In the 1980s the Durand Gardens Residents Association purchased the site, and it is now maintained as a woodland garden.

Opposite the Old Vic, Emma Cons Garden commemorates the theatre's benefactress. The Old Vic opened in 1818 and was managed by Emma Cons from 1880 until her death in 1912. The site opposite the theatre was bombed in WWII and was derelict until purchased by the LCC and opened as a public garden in 1958, laid out with trees, raised grass plots and seats. By early C21st it was fairly derelict, with a burnt tree stump and broken brick planters. It was re-paved in 2003 and the poorly maintained brick planters opposite the Old Vic were removed. Since 2005 new landscaping has again taken place.

Grafton Square was developed in 1851 by Captain Thomas Ross; there remain grand terraces on two sides of the garden square with smaller houses on the third side. The fourth side was never built and is now a relatively quiet street. Originally the central garden was railed and planted with shrubs but in 1927 it was let to a Mr A Botting for use as a local tennis club, which had exclusive access. The garden came into public ownership in 1953 at that time within the LB Wandsworth, but it is now within LB Lambeth following borough boundary changes in 1965. It has subsequently been laid out with seats, a shelter and play area now having modern railings. The southern part has a large tarmaced area for a playground, otherwise the site is grassed with a path and a number of trees.

Hanover Gardens was developed in c.1850 by the Islington builder, John Glenn, who also developed Albert Square in Lambeth. This scheme, however, was far more modest in its proportions. The terraced houses enclose a pleasant green area planted with trees and grass. The garden was initially maintained by covenants paid by the lessees but by 1928 the owner, a Miss M A V Bate, maintained it at her own cost, employing a gardener. At that time it was described as 'a small enclosure at the end of a cul-de-sac. Rough grass with a few trees. Overlooked by dwelling-houses'.

Harleyford Road Community Garden is on the site of a Georgian terrace that had long front gardens facing onto Harleyford Road, which by the 1970s were mostly demolished. In 1984 local residents began to grow vegetables on the wasteland and set up the Harleyford Road Garden Association to undertake a feasibility study. The community garden was designed and laid out from 1986-88 and continues to be maintained by local residents. It is divided into several areas and consists of a children's play area, lawns, picnic area, shrubberies of native and exotic species, a greenhouse and allotments area for herbs and vegetables, and a small pond. Recent features include a mosaic wall, extended mosaic paths and new benches.

Hillside Gardens Park is on a site purchased by the LCC for housing between Palace Road and Hillside Road. In 1949 the Minister of Housing approved a scheme by G E Wallis and Sons, and in 1953 there was a further agreement to purchase c.1.42 hectares of land for public open space, which then contained old tennis courts. The small park was laid out in 1954 with tennis and netball courts, a playground, lawns, trees and seating. It opened to the public in 1955. A new playground was opened in 2005, celebrating the park's 50th anniversary.

This triangular site was originally a communal garden at the centre of a private development of houses erected in the 1890s. By 1928 it was owned by Holmewood Gardens Limited who managed the garden out of a rent of 10s per annum paid by each house on the estate. It originally fell within LB Wandsworth prior to borough boundary changes. In the 1960s the garden was conveyed to LB Lambeth under the 1906 Open Spaces Act. Restoration works in 1988 included new railings and the intervening roadway was closed off. The garden is divided into two sections either side of a public pathway. Both areas are grassed with a playground in the north area; within the garden are a few mature plane trees and some ornamental species.

The courtyard garden of the Jamyang Buddhist Centre was originally the prisoners' exercise yard of the Old Kennington Courthouse. Built in 1869 as a police court, and later becoming Lambeth Magistrates Court, this is the last surviving Victorian courthouse in London. The building was in poor repair in 1995 when it was purchased for the Jamyang Buddhist Centre and restored by a large group of volunteers. His Holiness the Dalai Lama visited the Centre in 1999. The courtyard, retaining its Victorian cobblestones, has been transformed into a meditative garden, with a statue of Buddha.

Jubilee Gardens is a landscaped park on the South Bank with mature trees, lawns and an enclosed adventure playground for children aged up to 11 years old. This was the site of the Dome of Discovery in the 1951 Festival of Britain. The Jubilee Gardens were created in 1976 and opened by Queen Elizabeth II for her Silver Jubilee in 1977. In the 1990s they were partially closed for 5 years while the Jubilee Line extension was being built and were subsequently re-turfed as a temporary measure prior to permanent re-landscaping. A memorial bronze sculpture by Ian Walters commemorating the International Brigade was commissioned by the GLC and installed in 1985, although not on the same site. The erection of the London Eye in 1999 has brought heavy footfall to the gardens, which have now been re-landscaped to designs of West 8. Jubilee Gardens re-opened on 31 May 2012 to coincide with the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. The gardens are adjacent to the Queen's Walk that runs along the Thames riverside.

Kennington Green came into being as a result of the opening of Westminster Bridge in 1750. The land was left as waste land and was subsequently maintained by the Duchy of Cornwall as Lord of the Manor. In 1928 it was described as a 'very attractive [. . . ] triangular area maintained as a lawn with trees around the border'. The MPGA acquired the site from the Duchy for £5 and it was transferred to Lambeth Borough Council in 1938. It was re-landscaped for the Festival of Britain in 1951, when it was enclosed with a dwarf brick wall and iron railings, planted with crab apple trees and provided with seating. It was re-landscaped following closure during a major Transport for London scheme in 2015-2022.