Description
Common Growth is a small community garden on Sandbourne Road, adjacent to New Cross Gate Cutting, a nature reserve that runs alongside the East London railway line. The community garden was established in 2010 by Bold Vision, a local charity that oversees the nearby Hill Station Community Café. The site was formerly wasteland that was used by local residents to access a nearby car park. On the northern side of the site are a pair of gardening sheds close to a Rowan tree, with shrubs and flowerbeds in the opposite half of the garden.
Practical Information
| Site location | 1, Sandbourne Road, New Cross |
|---|---|
| Postcode | SE4 2NS |
| What3Words | ///backs.units.bring |
| Type of Site | Community Garden |
| Borough | Lewisham |
| Open to Public | No (partially) |
| Opening Times | Volunteer gardening sessions, Sundays 2-5pm |
| Public Transport | Rail/London Overground: New Cross Gate |
| Research Updated | 8 January 2023 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
Common Growth is located on the northern face of Telegraph Hill, which takes its name from a semaphore telegraph station that was constructed in the C18th. In the late C19th, the then owners of the area, the Haberdashers' Company, converted it from market gardens to residential housing.
Bold Vision, the organisation that oversees Common Growth, was formed in 2010 by artist and Goldsmiths College alumnus Patricio Forrester, local architect John Knepler and strategy adviser Catherine Shovlin. Over the past few years, Bold Vision has organised fundraising campaigns to provide food boxes for local families impacted by COVID-19. Alongside Common Growth, Bold Vision manages several local projects, including Hill Station Community Café and the New Cross Learning Centre. Bold Vision is a Registered Charity, No 1138413.
Bold Vision is also affiliated with Artmongers, a local art initiative established by Forrester in 2003. Shortly after he graduated from Goldsmiths, the Argentinian-born Forrester developed a reputation for taking neighbourhood bins and painting them before returning them to their owners. In 2005, this ad-hoc activity turned into a commercial venture, when Artmongers was commissioned by Lewisham Council to produce painted bins for the area.
Common Growth hosts volunteer gardening sessions for the neighbourhood on Sunday afternoons.
Bold Vision, the organisation that oversees Common Growth, was formed in 2010 by artist and Goldsmiths College alumnus Patricio Forrester, local architect John Knepler and strategy adviser Catherine Shovlin. Over the past few years, Bold Vision has organised fundraising campaigns to provide food boxes for local families impacted by COVID-19. Alongside Common Growth, Bold Vision manages several local projects, including Hill Station Community Café and the New Cross Learning Centre. Bold Vision is a Registered Charity, No 1138413.
Bold Vision is also affiliated with Artmongers, a local art initiative established by Forrester in 2003. Shortly after he graduated from Goldsmiths, the Argentinian-born Forrester developed a reputation for taking neighbourhood bins and painting them before returning them to their owners. In 2005, this ad-hoc activity turned into a commercial venture, when Artmongers was commissioned by Lewisham Council to produce painted bins for the area.
Common Growth hosts volunteer gardening sessions for the neighbourhood on Sunday afternoons.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ362764 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 0.026 |
| Site Ownership | LB Lewisham |
| Site Management | Bold Vision |
| Dates | 2010 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Conservation Area Name | Telegraph Hill |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
| Other LA Designation | No |
Gallery
Please note the Inventory and its content are provided for your general information only and are subject to change. It is your responsibility to check the accuracy.
Nearby parks and gardens
Telegraph Hill Park is in two parts, an upper park in the south, and a lower park in the north, divided by Kitto Road. It incorporates the site of one of the Admiralty's C18th semaphore stations, which was in use until 1815, from which the park gets its name. The public park was the inspiration of the Managing Director of the Metropolitan Gas Co., who contributed £2,000 with similar amounts from the LCC and Greenwich Board of Works, to purchase the land from the Haberdashers' Company. The park was opened on 6 April 1895, and its layout included a bandstand, ponds and elaborate walks, with perimeter planting and a perimeter walk. A shelter and toilets were added later in the northern park, and tennis courts were built on the site of the semaphore station in the south part, which has magnificent views. The park has continued to develop and was restored through a grant from the HLF.
Goldsmiths College was formerly the Royal Naval School, which was opened by Prince Albert in 1843. It was built by John Shaw the Younger in 1843-45 who also designed the chapel in 1853. In 1891 the Goldsmiths' Company purchased the building and founded its own Technical and Recreative Institute here. In 1904 the site and its buildings were presented to the University of London. It was badly bombed in WWII. The campus buildings are set within grounds that have one main green space, College Green, a rectangular lawn with the rear of the Richard Hoggart Building on the north-east side, and new buildings to the west and south-west, down to tennis courts.
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.