Description
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.
Practical Information
| Site location | Marlpit Lane, Coulsdon |
|---|---|
| Postcode | CR5 2SH |
| What3Words | ///dirt.shady.ideal |
| Type of Site | Public Park |
| Borough | Croydon |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | 8am Mon-Fri/9am weekends - dusk |
| Facilities | Car park. Café, toilets, children’s playground, bowling green, putting green, tennis, basketball, netball courts, cricket pitch. |
| Public Transport | Rail: Coulsdon South. Bus: 60, 404, 405 |
| Research Updated | 1 December 2008 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
Coulsdon Memorial Ground was opened in 1921, dedicated to the memory of the men who fell in WWI. The site was purchased in 1920 by Coulsdon and Purley Urban District Council and partly paid for by public subscription from Messrs Hall and Co Ltd. The putting green was purchased several years later. All the land was originally part of Edmund Byron's Coulsdon Estate. The park is situated on a fairly steep slope and is laid out for a number of sports. At the top of the hill is a war memorial that takes the form of a portico with a rear wall bearing the inscription ‘To the memory of the men of Coulsdon who fell in the Great War 1914-1919'; a bronze plaque was added bearing the words 'and in the memory of those who fell in the World War 1939-1945'.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ301590 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 4.05 |
| Site Ownership | LB Croydon |
| Site Management | Parks and Open Spaces |
| Dates | 1921 |
| 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 | Croydon |
| In Conservation Area | No |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | Yes - part (Metropolitan Importance) |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
| Other LA Designation | Local Open Land |
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
Chaldon Way Gardens is a small ornamental garden opposite Coulsdon Memorial Ground. The site was given for a public garden to Coulsdon UDC in the 1930s by Fairdean Heights Ltd, the developer of the surrounding housing. An agreement was drawn up that enabled the Council to use 'such earth, turf, sub-soil, flowers and shrubs as can be removed from the Company's Fairdean Heights Estate'. As a result an ornamental garden was laid out with lawns, shrub beds and annual bedding displays, and with a a small shelter at one end.
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.
Bradmore Green is the remnant of the village green and pond of the old village of Coulsdon, once part of the manorial lands held by the Abbey of Chertsey until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the C16th. The manorial rights passed to the King and then to various famous families until 1783. The Byron family then held the land until 1921, when it passed to Purley and Coulsdon UDC. It was from this period that the area began to change dramatically, with the arrival of the the railway at the bottom of Marlpit Lane accelerating development.