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Coronation Gardens were laid out on land originally purchased as the site for the new Romford parish church in 1844. In 1849 the church was rebuilt on an alternative site in Market Place and only the parish burial ground with a chapel were built here. The cemetery was full by 1871. In 1953 the Council and Church authorities re-landscaped the area as public gardens commemorating the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The base of the demolished chapel was initially planted as a raised rose bed but in 1970 the Romford War Memorial was re-erected here when the new Ring Road necessitated its relocation. To the rear of the garden are C19th gravestones that were cleared when the garden was laid out.
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Coronation Gardens were formally opened by the Mayor of Wandsworth on 4 July 1903 to commemorate the coronation of Edward VII in August 1902. The land had been purchased by the previous Mayor, Sir William Lancaster, who gave it to the people of Wandsworth in perpetuity. The layout, undertaken by Fanny Wilkinson landscape architect of the MPGA, has little changed, with original entrance gates on Merton Road; a path flanked by horse chestnut trees leads to a rough hewn granite drinking fountain with Art Nouveau-style bowl and ornamental railings, which was donated by the sisters of the Mayor.
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Coronation Gardens Extension came into being in the 1920s when Leyton UDC wished to add to the facilities of the existing Coronation Gardens. Lying across Oliver Road from the more formal landscaping of Coronation Gardens, the Extension provided recreation and sports facilities on former Lammas land, which was acquired piecemeal by the Council from 1904 on. After WWII, people who had lost their homes through bombing were provided with temporary housing built on nine of the tennis courts of Coronation Gardens Extension, with the proviso that the land would be returned to its original state when no longer needed. As a result this area was fenced off and used in this way until 1954. Leyton Orient Football Club had temporary offices on the Extension in 1956 and free use of the tennis courts while their new stadium was built close by.
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The 1st edition OS 1867 shows the site of Corrigan Avenue Recreation Ground as part of open land (field systems) to the south of the wooded area, Ruffet Wood and Big Wood. The park is a grassed area with well wooded boundaries of mature and semi-mature trees. Additional clumps of trees are in the grassed area.
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The area was once a stretch of meadowland within the 250-acre estate of Prospect Place, an C18th house whose last owner was Lord Cottenham, after whom the estate was renamed. He had the property from 1831-51, after which it was sold and large-scale development of the land began. Initially known as Melbury Gardens, Cottenham Park Recreation Ground was the first such amenity to be provided in this area, opening in 1897. A diagonal path across the park marked by trees and hedging is a remnant of an avenue that once stretched across the whole estate. A number of old trees survive including an oak probably planted shortly after the Battle of Trafalgar, and some of the London plane trees along the park boundary date from 1898. Facilities for cricket, football, tennis and bowling were provided, all but the bowling green remaining today, and permission for concerts by local bands was granted in the park's early years.
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Cottons Park, originally called Cottons Recreational Ground, takes its name from the estate of the C16th landowner, Nicholas Cotton. The land for the park was acquired by Romford UDC from the Cottons family in 1920 and the park was laid out with planting, paths and a bandstand, beyond which to the north and west were playing fields for rugby, soccer and cricket as well as tennis courts. A children's playground and sand pit were located near the main entrance to the east. During WWII the land was given over for war-time allotments, public air-raid shelters and a decontamination centre was constructed, which was later converted into a pavilion and café. Six wooden sculptures were installed in 2009 to commemorate six civilians who lost their lives in the park during bombing in October 1940.
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Coulsdon Common includes ancient woodland, chalk grassland and remnants of heath, and has a central pond. Two Corporation of London coal posts mark the 1861 boundary of the London district for the purposes of the tax levied by the City on coal and wine brought into London. The tax, instigated in 1667 to pay for rebuilding after the Great Fire, was used for other purposes by the C19th, including payment for the Coulsdon Commons. A windmill or postmill was in operation on the common from 1777 -1898; its site is marked south of Stites Hall Road.
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Coulsdon Court, now a hotel known as Coulsdon Manor, was built in 1850 by 'Squire' Thomas Byron, who had gardens laid out by the house, divided from the parkland by a ha-ha. Walled kitchen gardens provided food and a grove of trees was planted to the north-east. His son Edmund inherited in 1862 and lived here until 1921. The next owners, the Cearn family, had the golf course built, later leased to Croydon Council as a public course. In 1981 the Council bought the house and surrounding golf course, and it was leased to hoteliers. A fitness club and tennis courts are now on the site of the kitchen gardens but remnants of its old walls exist, as do other earlier features such as part of the ha-ha and numerous mature trees.
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Coulsdon Memorial Ground was opened in 1921 as a public recreation ground, dedicated to Coulsdon men who fell in WWI. The war memorial is situated at the top of the site and takes the form of a portico with an inscription on the rear wall. A plaque was later added to commemorate those who died in WWII. The land had originally been part of Edmund Byron's Coulsdon Estate and was purchased by Coulsdon and Purley UDC in 1920, partly by public subscription. By 1940 recreational facilities included tennis courts, bowling green, putting green and toilets.
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Court Lane is on land that continues to be owned by The Dulwich Estate, the successor to the charitable foundation established by Edward Alleyn in 1619. It was laid out over the site of a manor farm called Dulwich Court Farm, at which time the Estates Governors also donated five fields to the MBW for the creation of Dulwich Park. The name also recalls the court where the Estates steward would adjudicate on local affairs. The area of communal gardens was reserved as a permanent open space by the Estates Governors who were keen to preserve and maintain open spaces on their land. Set behind neat iron railings, the private gardens have lawns, trees and shrubs.
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Private communal gardens provided for residents of the houses that surround it, which were built as part of the Gunter Estate development that took place from the 1840s. The development of the northern part of their estate came a little later, encouraged by construction of the Metropolitan and District Railways and by the new church of St Jude's. Courtfield Gardens (East) was built c.1873 and abuts the church. The garden is unusual in being partly sunken, the lower level apparently the original level of the ground, and the mounds at the edges created from spoil from building the railway.
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Courtfield Gardens (West) are private communal gardens provided for residents of the houses that surround it, which were built as part of the Gunter Estate development that took place from 1840s onwards. The northern area of the estate was developed from 1865 encouraged by the arrival of the railway. Courtfield Gardens was built between 1873-81 and the communal garden was formally laid out with lawns, flowerbeds and trees. Lessees of housing abutting the gardens had access on payment of rent for its upkeep. The garden today is bounded by replicas of the original railings and is dominated by an unusually large London plane.