We've found 66 parks

Nelson Gardens opened in 1906, created to honour the first centenary of Admiral Lord Nelson's death in 1805. Nelson had lived at Merton Place from 1801-1805, which had extensive estate lands within which was the plot that is now Nelson Gardens. When the adjacent road junction was constructed, the garden was used as builders' ground but it was recreated in c.1985 and replanted using plans from 1911, with lawns, a perimeter path and flower beds, hedged to the road. The entrance has the original gates with brick and stone gate piers. Two 12 pounder guns flank a block of stone with an inscription about the garden's dedication. The land for the adjacent St John the Divine Church was also donated to mark the anniversary of Nelson's death at the Battle of Trafalgar, and was built in 1914.

During WW2 air-raid shelters in Nelson Gardens were built to protect members of the public who were on the streets at the time of an enemy attack. On 16th August, 1940, Mitcham experienced the first sustained attack of the Blitz. One bomb fell in Nelson Gardens itself.

The Paddock Allotments are adjacent to Cannon Hill Common, and both park and allotments were established in c. 1926. The land was not commonland as such but part of the former extensive holdings of Merton Priory, founded in the C12th, later part of Cannon Hill Estate and was farmed for many centuries. Cannon Hill House was built, probably shortly after 1762, with parkland and gardens. In 1924, the house now being empty, the estate was purchased by developer George Blay for housing. However, following local pressure against the loss of open space, in 1925 Blay offered part of the land to Merton and Morden UDC for a public park, which opened in 1927 as Cannon Hill Common. An area of 5.5 acres was also set aside for allotments, and 107 plots were made available for an annual rent. In 1959 the Paddock Horticultural Society was founded to purchase and sell stock to tenants on the site, and in 1991 became responsible for running the site. The site now has c.170 plots and a wide range of tenants, with some plots growing organic fruit and vegetables and others resembling cottage gardens.

Pollards Hill Housing Estate was built in 1968-71, a high density scheme that included various areas of green space in the form of private gardens, partly enclosed squares and a public park, Donnelly Green, named after Mitcham's Head of Parks. The closes and roads within the estate are named after various counties of England and Wales.

Pollards Hill Recreation Ground was provided when the area was developed for housing in the 1950s.

Prospect Place was an C18th estate with formal gardens and a spectacular view to the south. Most of the 250-acre estate was sold for development in the early 1850s, the new owners renaming it Cottenham Park after the previous owner. In 1863 the house was demolished and 28 acres were acquired by St George’s Hospital for a convalescent hospital, the coach-house surviving in hospital use. Cottenham House was built in 1869 as a private residence, but taken over by Atkinson Morley’s Hospital from 1942 until 1995. It was then restored as a private home and renamed Prospect House. The house and grounds together occupy a substantial part of a modern housing development with the historic name Prospect Place. In 1999 and again in 2006 the grounds of Prospect House were re-landscaped; some mature trees remain from the mid-C18th. The original Prospect Place coach-house/stable block has been converted into 2 private homes within the Prospect Place estate.

Ravensbury Park is on the site of Ravensbury Manor dating back to the C13th. In the early C18th calico printworks were established here and a house called Ravensbury Manor House was built, with pleasure grounds. The house and printworks were leased to John Arbuthnott in 1755 who laid out the gardens and walks.  The house was later demolished and in c.1910 a new house was built, itself now gone. When the estate was broken up for housing development in the 1930s, the Councils of Mitcham, Merton and Morden purchased the remaining grounds to safeguard it for public recreation, and it opened as Ravensbury Park in 1930. It is managed as a nature reserve and has a riverside walk along the Wandle.

Golf was played informally on Wimbledon Common from the early C19th. In 1864 members of the nearby London Scottish Rifle Volunteers formed the London Scottish Golf Club, playing from Mrs Doggett's Cottage beside the Windmill on a 7-hole course. By 1869 civilians were also admitted although the club was entirely managed by the military. In 1871 the course was extended to 18 holes before the newly formed Common Conservators could intervene. In 1881, the military and civilian sides of the club split, the former retaining the name London Scottish, the latter becoming Wimbledon Golf Club, which gained the prefix Royal in 1882 for its patron, the Prince of Wales. Initially, the clubs shared the same course but in 1907 the Royal Wimbledon began to lay out a new course on some 97 hectares of adjoining farmland, leased from Warren Farm. The course was later redesigned in 1924 and this is the course occupied by the club today. To the north is London Scottish Golf Course, also known as Wimbledon Common Golf Course.

Rutlish School was established in 1895 at the instigation of John Innes, funded through the Rutlish Charity of which he was then Chairman. William Rutlish had left £400 in his will of 1687 for apprenticing poor children and by 1894 the charity's funds had grown to around £6,000. Rutlish Science School opened in 1895 on a site off Kingston Road to the north-east. In 1957 the school relocated to the current site, which had been that of the John Innes Horticultural Institution from 1910-1953. The Manor House, where Innes lived until his death in 1904, remains in the school grounds. The gates from the old Rutlish Science School were re-installed in the quad surrounded by trees. Also in the school grounds is Blenkinsop Memorial Garden, laid out to commemorate an ex-teacher of the 1970s.

Sacred Heart Roman Catholic Church was built between 1886-1901 by architect Frederick Walters, a large flint and stone church on a sloping site purchased for the purpose by Edith Arendrup, a wealthy Catholic convert. The churchyard has a large area of grass with a number of trees including oak to the south and west of the church on the boundaries with Edge Hill and Darlaston Road. Paths lead to the church from two entrance archways flanked by flint and stone piers. Sacred Heart Parish Hall was built in 1962.

Sherwood Recreation Ground is a public park created in the 1930s, as the former open land began to be built up with new roads and housing. The name recalls Sherwood Farm/Lodge, which was formerly located in this area.

The site, once part of the estate of Morden Manor, was acquired in 1931 by Merton and Morden UDC and transferred by way of a conveyance 24th October 1935. The Sir Joseph Hood Memorial Playing Fields were opened as a public amenity and named in memory of Sir Joseph Hood, MP, former Mayor of Wimbledon and a local benefactor. Part of the site is largely grassed and used as playing fields, with a bowling green and 1950s pavilion fronted by rose gardens in the north. To the west a path leads to the Sir Joseph Hood Memorial Wood, which was established as a nature reserve in 1994. The Beverley Brook runs through the woodland. In 2000/2001 10,000 trees were planted as a Millennium Wood adjacent to the wood and to the south of the Playing Fields.

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

The land in this area began to be developed for housing in the late 1880s. In 1889 Wimbledon UDC purchased the site for £19,000 and South Park Pleasure Grounds were laid out in 1899, opening in September 1901, the site by now partly surrounded by housing. The layout included perimeter shrubberies, serpentine paths, scattered trees, and sumptuously planted beds. A bandstand was erected in 1913. The gardens became neglected in later years but have now been restored to their former glory through an HLF grant and re-opened in June 2009.