We've found 69 parks

The land for the recreation ground was acquired by Lewisham Borough Council 1900 and it opened in June 1901. It was named after Home Park Lodge, which gave part of its gardens to the new park. The public library was once the site of the stables to an early C18th house occupied by Sir George Grove from 1860-1900, but which is thought to have once been owned by Charles James Fox. Along the main road the park is tree lined. It was originally laid out with formal gardens of which only a Lebanon cedar, two mature London planes and a straight walk remain. It is screened from playing fields to the south by privet hedge and shrubs. There is one notable oak in the playing fields area and the park has perimeter planting of London planes.

* on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens

The Horniman Museum and Gardens were donated to the LCC in 1901 by Frederick Horniman, an avid collector who had first opened his house here as a private museum in 1888. As his collection grew he also opened the adjacent grounds, which form the basis of the present park. By 1890 Horniman's house was so full that he had moved to nearby Surrey Mount, and when his collection outgrew Surrey House in 1897 he commissioned a new museum on its site, now the Horniman Museum. In 1901 he gave the museum and contents, and 8.5 hectares of gardens to the LCC. Surrey Mount was demolished in 1960 following WWII bomb damage. The gardens were extended in 1911, c.1930 and in the 1950s, and in 1988 the conservatory from another house owned by the Horniman family was rebuilt here. The gardens have an Arts & Crafts sunken garden, now including botanical displays that unite indoor and outdoor collections and reflect themes such as those in the Museum's World Gallery and Music Gallery.

Horniman's Triangle is a small park close to Horniman Museum and Gardens, a triangular area of sloping grassland, hedged to the road with trees and mounds. It was previously a smallholding with a house adjacent to Sydenham Rise known as Sydenham Rise Cottage and was incorporated into Horniman Gardens in the early 1950s, and now owned by LB Lewisham. There was once a paddling pool in the park, now converted to a sandpit.

Ladywell Cemetery, originally called Lewisham Cemetery, was opened by Lewisham Burial Board on a plot of agricultural land purchased from the Trustees of the Earl of Dartmouth. A competition to design the cemetery was won by Messrs Tinkler and Morphew, who were also appointed by Deptford Burial Board who had bought a plot of adjacent land for its own cemetery. A low wall separated the two until c.1948, which is traceable as a bank. A central strip of land between the two cemeteries had been purchased by Ladywell Burial Board for eventual expansion and Ladywell Cemetery was extended here in the early C20th. In 1965 both cemeteries came under the new London Borough of Lewisham but retain separate records. Ladywell Cemetery was less densely planted than its neighbour, which generally has grander monuments, but Ladywell retains its chapel.

Ladywell Fields is a public park situated on three historic fields that in medieval times were part of the manor of Lewisham. The area, through which the Ravensbourne river runs, is named after a medicinal well recorded from the at least the C15th. The arrival of the railways in the 1850s gradually brought development to the area and in 1889 the land between the river and the railway was purchased and opened as Ladywell Recreation Ground. Because the area was liable to flooding the river channel was straightened and enlarged, weirs were added, and the meadows were drained and landscaped. Between 2007 and 2011 the park has undergone significant enhancement schemes, which have focused on re-naturalising the river corridor, improving the landscape for wildlife as well as people.

Lewisham Memorial Gardens is an area of formal planting either side of the WWI War Memorial that was unveiled and dedicated in May 1921 and now commemorates Lewisham's dead of both world wars. The War Memorial was originally set within a circular paved area within a larger linear strip of informal planting that fronted Lewisham High Street, dating back to the C19th, which was later laid out as the Memorial Gardens to a symmetrical design with concrete crazy paved paths; yew hedges surrounding formal beds with seat niches, some now empty of seats; bedding displays and raised planted areas; ornamental evergreens and shrubs. At the south end, near a raised planted shield, is an Indian cedar tree planted on 28 March 1985 by the Mayor of Lewisham to celebrate the 40th anniversary of end of WWII and the formation of United Nations. Along Lewisham High Street are London plane trees behind a low wall. A monument commemorating recipients of the VC with connections to Lewisham was erected in 2015. 

Lewisham Park was laid out from the 1840s as a private development of fine houses built by the Earl of Dartmouth on his estate in the Manor of Lewisham, specifically the large South Field, which had been in use for pasture from at least the C13th. The centrepiece of the development was a private park, planted with ornamental trees and shrubs, that was provided for the sole use of residents of the surrounding houses, which from 1878 was managed on their behalf by Trustees. In 1965 the Trustees handed over the park to Lewisham Council for public open space and it was laid out as a public park. The park once had a lake, which was formed as a result of gravel extraction during building work, later infilled for safety reasons and its site is now a circular sunken area ringed with plane trees. Some of the earlier layout including ornamental trees, shrubs, and a number of paths remained when the park was laid out with public amenities.

Luxmore Gardens is a small park dating from 1959 comprised of a strip of gardens between housing with a path running north-south, with playgrounds, picnic tables in the grass area, shrubs around the perimeter and some shrub beds. In 2017, a community group, the Friends of Luxmore Gardens, was set up to assist maintenance of the park, encourage improvements and run activities.

* on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens

Manor House Gardens is a public park on the site of the former grounds of an C18th Manor House owned by the Baring family, which had pleasure grounds, lawn, shrubbery and ornamental lake. The house and grounds were sold to the LCC in 1901 by Sir Francis Thornhill Baring, and opened as a public park in 1902,with the Manor House converted for use as Lee Public Library. The layout of the earlier gardens essentially remains, with a winding peripheral path among trees surrounding a central lawn, descending to the lake with an island that is still the major feature of the public park. Lawn tennis courts and a children's playground were provided as well as additional paths and the park was so popular that in 1904 local residents complained about the noise made by bands on Sunday evenings and the crowds these concerts attracted. The park was restored in 2000 including its C18th icehouse.

Manor Park was created in 1966 on the site of a bomb-damaged house plus open land behind the late C19th houses of Manor Park that bordered the River Quaggy. This had been partly in use as a pig farm and was acquired by Lewisham Council for open space in the 1950s and 60s. The park was laid out with an ornamental circular pond, rose gardens, shrubberies, playground, shelter, pets' corner and aviary, and one building predating the park was converted as a café and toilets. Run-down following a fire in the early 1990s, it was re-designed in 2007 under the Environmental Agency's Quaggy River Flood Alleviation Scheme and now has Mediterranean style gardens, wildflower meadow, wetland area by the Quaggy River, new pond, riverside woodland and children's play area.

The park is named after Margaret McMillan who with her sister Rachel McMillan were pioneers of nursery education. Margaret McMillan Park opened in 1954 and was originally laid out between Watson's Street and Glenville Grove with a series of lawns along Douglas Way. In the late 1980s part of the park was eroded by housing development and in 1998 improvements were carried out to the park, including a bridge by sculptor John Maine. In 2009 the park was redesigned and re-landscaped as part of Route 1 of the North Lewisham Links project, the works completed in 2010.