Description

Broadway Fields is a public park located close to Deptford Bridge in an area originally used for market gardening. It was formed from a piece of land next to the Kent Waterworks. It was here that the Deptford Pink, a variety of carnation, flourished. The last tenant was Henry Simpson, whose annual rental of the land from the Water Board ended when the land was acquired by Deptford Council in 1929 for use as a park. The park opened in 1932 as Deptford Municipal Playing Fields. In the late 1930s an extension across the River Ravensbourne was added giving a space for active recreation. Two bridges link the areas together.

Practical Information

Previously known as Deptford Municipal Playing Fields
Site location Brookmill Road, St.John's, Deptford
Postcode SE8 4HY
What3Words ///hulk.reject.tones
Type of Site Public Park
Borough Lewisham
Open to Public Yes
Opening Times 8am - sunset. For park opening and closing hours throughout the year see: https://lewisham.gov.uk/inmyarea/openspaces/parks/park-opening-hours
Special Conditions (as in all Lewisham pleasure gardens, public walks and open spaces) No vehicles, horses, camping, fireworks, fires, BBQs, golf, loud music, urinating,
Facilities Basketball court; 5-a-side football court; table tennis table (concrete)
Public Transport DLR: Deptford Bridge. Rail: St John's (Southeastern). Bus: 53,177, 453 (stops A2 Blackheath Road) & 47, 225 (stops Brookmill Road
Research Updated 21 October 2021
Last Updated 18 October 2026

Full description

Following the arrival of the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) at Deptford Bridge in 1999 the parkland was re-landscaped with benches, open grass and shrubbery, whilst the active recreation area was regenerated in 2002 with a basketball court, 5-a-side football court, table tennis table and an informal play area. With the basketball cages and the DLR elevated train lines it was described by the developers as being 'like a little piece of LA in SE8'. The paths have concrete surfaces and moderate slopes and are wide enough for wheelchair users. The regenerated area was designed by landscape architects Dally Henderson who specialise in urban design. Their aim is to provide people-led solutions and they work closely in collaboration with local community or interest groups; on this site the work was deigned with a particular focus on the needs of young people in the area.

In 2019 twelve new trees - Scots pine, Alder, Redwood, and London Plane - were planted by Trees for Cities around the recreation area. The Waterlink Way runs through the park; this is a 12km walking and cycling route in Lewisham, which connects several parks and green spaces from Beckenham Place Park (q.v.) to Deptford Creek following the line of the rivers Ravensbourne, Quaggy and Pool and linking the borough’s three main town centres – Catford, Lewisham and Deptford. It also forms part of the National Cycle Route 21 from London to Eastbourne.

There is level access to the Fields from Deptford Bridge, Deal's Gateway and Brookmill Road.
 

Further Information

Grid Reference TQ374767
Size in hectares 0.71
Site Ownership LB Lewisham
Site Management Glendale Grounds Management
Dates 1932/2002
Designers Dally Henderson (2002)
On National Heritage List for England (NHLE), Parks & Gardens No
Registered common or village green on Commons Registration Act 1965 No
Protected under London Squares Preservation Act 1931 No
Local Authority Lewisham
In Conservation Area No
Tree Preservation Order Not known
Nature Conservation Area No
Green Belt No
Metropolitan Open Land Yes

Gallery

Broadway Fields: Signage at Deptford Bridge DLR, 2021. Photograph Margaret Leharne
Broadway Fields: DLR track from the park with the River Ravensbourne in its concrete channel, 2021. Photograph Margaret Leharne
Broadway Fields: New trees in the active recreation area looking towards the DLR track, 2021. Photograph Margaret Leharne
Broadway Fields: View across the river to the active recreation area, 2021. Photograph Margaret Leharne
Broadway Fields: New trees in the active recreation area looking towards the DLR track, 2021. Photograph Margaret Leharne

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Nearby parks and gardens

  • Lewisham
  • 0.2 miles away

Brookmill Park

Brookmill Park originated as a small recreation ground provided from 1880 near the Kent Waterworks' reservoir by the river Ravensbourne. It was expanded in the 1920s when part of the disused reservoir was infilled, and opened as Brookmill Park. Some evidence of the reservoir remains, much reduced in size, as the small oval lake still found in the park. When nearby housing was destroyed by WWII bombing, the park was further extended, re-opening in 1951 as Ravensbourne Park. When Deptford and Lewisham amalgamated to form Lewisham in 1965, the park reverted to its earlier name. It was again re-landscaped in the 1990s when the DLR was constructed, necessitating re-routing of the Ravensbourne, and former Thames Water gardens were added, now a formal garden with pond, pergolas, ornamental beds and hedges. The park was re-opened in 1998.
  • Lewisham
  • 0.3 miles away

Deptford Memorial Gardens

Deptford Memorial Gardens were laid out on a series of pre-existing narrow garden enclosures dating from at least the 1860s that ran between the main road, Lewisham High Road and Wickham Terrace, a row of mid-C19th paired houses. At the northern end is the World War I war memorial, which was unveiled in 1921. The enclosures are protected under the London Squares Preservation Act of 1931. The gardens form a strip of lawn within which are circular, rectangular or oval flower beds with seasonal displays. A path runs through the gardens and there are a number of seats. Yew hedges and shrubbery border the garden to the south and there are a number of ornamental trees, as well as lime and horse chestnuts. The border to Lewisham Way has a scalloped retaining wall.
Deptford Memorial Gardens, May 2011. Photograph Sally Williams
  • Lewisham
  • 0.4 miles away

Somerset Gardens

Originally called Beaufort Gardens, Somerset Gardens is an oval area of grass with some trees, including a number of conifers, which acts as a communal green space surrounded by a close of mid C19th houses . In 1928 the site was owned by James Staite Murray and Samuel Murray who maintained it for use as a tennis court by tenants of the surrounding houses. At the end of the close is a fine detached house; the groups of houses either side are of differing styles, gable-fronted with iron verandas or classically restrained facades.