Description
A large rose garden and terraces remain on the site of Castle Wood House, built in 1870 and now demolished. The site was purchased by the LCC after the last owner's death in 1920 and it was opened to the public in 1925 as an addition to the existing public park around nearby Severndroog Castle, both now incorporated into Shooters Hill Woodlands. The garden has mature Wellingtonia, flower beds set into lawn and the remains of stonework terraces and steps.
Practical Information
| Site location | Shooters Hill |
|---|---|
| Postcode | SE18 |
| What3Words | ///purple.forest.parks |
| Type of Site | Public Gardens |
| Borough | Greenwich |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | unrestricted |
| Public Transport | Rail: Falconwood, Eltham then bus. Bus: 89, 486, B16, 122, 161, 178 |
| Research Updated | 1 December 2006 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
A large rose garden and terraces remain on the site of Castle Wood House, built 1870 and now demolished. The site became available after the death in 1920 of the last owner, Probyn Godson, and was purchased by the LCC after lobbying by the newly formed Shooter's Hill Preservation Society. The Society invited subscriptions in order to buy Castle Woods and collected £6,000 by 1921 with the LCC contributing £10,000 to prepare the c.9 hectare site and maintain it. The garden was opened to the public in 1925 and added to the public park already established around Severndroog Castle (q.v.) and both are incorporated into the various woods which make up Shooters Hill Woodlands (q.v.), which include Oxleas Wood and Jack Wood. The setting of these formal terraces within the wider grassland and woods of Shooters Hill is extraordinary, with fine views over London. Among the trees are mature Wellingtonia, flower beds are set into lawn and there are remains of stonework terraces and steps.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ431761 |
|---|---|
| Site Ownership | RB Greenwich |
| Site Management | Parks and Open Spaces Department; Shooters Hill Woodlands Working Party |
| Dates | 1870 |
| 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 | Greenwich |
| In Conservation Area | No |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | Yes - SSSI |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
Gallery
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Nearby parks and gardens
Severndroog Castle, a Gothic folly, was erected by the widow of Sir William James (d.1783) in the grounds of Park Farm Place, which he had purchased in 1774. Sir William had worked for the East India Company and the name recalls his capture of a pirate fortress on the island of Severndroog off Malabar in 1755. By the C20th it was part of the grounds of Castlewood, whose last owner's will offered the estate to the LCC for public use. The grounds opened as a public park in 1922, with Severndroog Castle retained although the main house was not. Castle Lodge remains at the entrance of the driveway, which leads through remnants of landscaping to the Castle, crossing the Ha-Ha.
Eltham Common and the neighbouring Shooters Hill Woodlands were once notorious haunts for highwaymen and other robbers; the site of a gibbet was in the north-west corner of the Common where criminals were publicly hung and their bodies left to decay as a caution to others. The land was purchased by the Office of Woods and Forests in 1812 and used by the War Department, although public access was permitted. In the early C20th Woolwich BC and the LCC applied to take over the site, but it wasn't until 1938 that nearly 13 hectares of the Common were acquired from the War Department as part of Green Belt legislation. Eltham Common consists of a roughly triangular area of grassland between junction of Well Hall Road and Shooters Hill beyond which is secondary woodland.
The land was formerly common land, which was acquired from the War Department in 1952 and provided as public open space with funding from King George's Fields Foundation, which had been set up in 1936 as a living memorial to the late King. It comprises an area of open grass with a number of mature oak trees in the centre. At the south east corner is a brick structure with seating niche, either side of which are brick piers with the plaques recording the support of King George's Fields Foundation.
