Description

Culverley Road and surrounding streets were laid out as part of an Edwardian suburban development by the Forster family on their Sangley Farm Estate, which was built piecemeal between 1902-1920s. Prior to this the area was rural, with a few fine villas along Bromley Road, the main route from London to Kent. Housing development had accelerated here as both rail and horse tram networks improved in the late C19th. With its grid layout of wide tree-lined streets and spacious houses with substantial back gardens the suburb preserved a semi-rural character. Culverley Green was a provided as a triangular area of public open space and has grass, trees and shrubs.

Practical Information

Previously known as Culverley Green Open Space
Site location Culverley Road/Bargery Road/Thornsbeach Road, Catford
Postcode SE6 2JZ
What3Words ///deeper.pools.unique
Type of Site Public Gardens
Borough Lewisham
Open to Public Yes
Opening Times to check times
Events Has opened for OGSW
Public Transport Rail: Catford Bridge. Bus: 54, 75, 124, 136, 181, 185, 202, 208, 284
Research Updated 31 May 2024
Last Updated 18 October 2026

Full description

Culverley Road and surrounding streets were laid out as part of an Edwardian suburban development by local landowners, the Forster family on their Sangley Farm Estate. Prior to this the area was rural, with a few fine villas along Bromley Road, the main route from London to Kent. Housing development had accelerated here as both rail and horse tram networks improved in the late C19th. Developers began building housing for a new working and lower-middle class population, often on the former grounds of grand houses whose owners moved out as the area changed. Canadian Avenue (formerly Berlin Road) was laid out by 1894 and a series of large houses built along it by the Forster family. Among the builders was James Watt, who was also one of those employed by the Forsters to develop their Sangley Farm Estate to the east of Bromley Road. This was developed piecemeal between 1902-1920s and the grid layout of wide tree-lined streets, spacious houses with front gardens and substantial back gardens preserved a semi-rural character and attracted the middle-classes. Culverley Road was developed by c.1914 and included Culverley Green, a triangular area of green open space that has long been maintained as public open space by Lewisham Borough Council.

Culverley Green Residents' Association (CGRA) was formed in the late 1990s in order to prevent a developer from building flats in the Edwardian suburb. Their campaign was successful and resulted in the designation by Lewisham Council of the suburb as a Conservation Area, and they continue to work to preserve the area's character. In recent years CGRA has been working to improve the planting in Culverley Green and plans to replace the chain link fencing that surrounds the site with new boundary railings, with  £14,000 of the £35,000 target funding raised by late 2020. The CGRA organises numerous events and activities on the Green. Culverley Green has grass, shrubberies and trees, and is planted with spring and summer bulbs.

Other green space in the area that predates the Edwardian suburb is the Private Banks Cricket Ground that opened in 1874 and also Catford Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club, the pavilion and part of the grounds of which survive.

Further Information

Grid Reference TQ382732
Size in hectares 0.15
Site Ownership LB Lewisham
Site Management Culverley Green Residents Association
Dates 1902-14
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 Yes
Local Authority Lewisham
In Conservation Area Yes
Conservation Area Name Culverley Green
Tree Preservation Order Not known
Nature Conservation Area No
Green Belt No
Metropolitan Open Land No
Special Policy Area No
Other LA Designation Public Open Space; London Squares Act 1931 protection

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

  • Lewisham
  • 0.5 miles away

St Andrew's Churchyard

St Andrew’s Church was built in 1904 by P A Robson as the area to the east of Catford was rapidly developing from the mid-C19th. Hither Green was largely developed through Archibald Cameron Corbett, a Scotsman, who purchased farmland in the area from the Earl of St Germans and he built over 3,000 houses between 1897-1913. Many of the street names derive from Scottish place names, including that of Torridon Road. Hither Green Library opposite the church opened in 1907, as amenities in the new estate were added. The churchyard is now maintained under a local agreement by LB Lewisham Parks Department.
  • Lewisham
  • 0.5 miles away

Mountsfield Park

Mountsfield House was built in 1845 for eminent entomologist Henry Tibbats Stainton, and was set in parkland to the south of the house. Following the death of Stainton's widow in 1898, part of the estate was purchased in 1904 by the LCC for a school and a public park, the latter opening as Mountsfield Park in 1905. The new park was laid out with a formal rose garden, and by 1914 there was a bandstand. Other amenities provided after WWI included a tennis court and a bowling green. Mountsfield Park was extended in 1925 by c.11ha. to the west on land that had previously been fields, one of which had been used by Charlton Athletic between 1921-24, and in ensuing years further land was added to the park. Amenities formerly included an open air theatre, an avenue from Brownshill Road, bowling green, and ponds, all of which have now disappeared although the bandstand remains as does the early C20th rose garden, albeit reconfigured. A Mayor of London/Thames Water drinking fountain is located at the Stainton Road entrance to the park.
Mountsfield Park, April 2019. Photograph courtesy of Friends of Mountsfield Park
  • Lewisham
  • 0.7 miles away

Forster Memorial Park

The land for the park was given to the people of Lewisham in 1919 by H W Forster, later Lord Forster, first MP for the Borough of Bromley and Governor-General of Australia from 1920-25. The Forsters had lived at Southend Hall since the early C19th and had a large estate in what was then a rural area. Mr Forster donated the land in memory of his 2 sons, killed in WWI, and Forster Memorial Park was opened in 1922 by his daughter. The park was expanded in 1937 when land to the north was purchased from the Forster Estate Company. The central area of grassland, now predominantly used as playing fields, is surrounded by ancient woodland and it could be a landscape of some antiquity.