Dundonald Road Recreation Ground

The Recreation Ground is shown on the OS Edition of 1894-96 (London. Sheet XCIV.37) as a rectangular site with a perimeter path but no planted features, into which the Boys and Girls' school intrudes on the north boundary as it does today, to the east of which a path is shown extending to a third entrance on Dundonald Road. Given that this map shows street trees in the area, it may be assumed that there were no trees planted in the recreation ground at that time. The map of 1911 shows perimeter trees flanking the path and a few trees in the south east corner, with the rectangular area in the north east corner adjacent to the school laid out as a formal garden, with an oval path around the main path, a central Drinking Fountain and planting. From here extending into the park-proper a square is marked out on the site of the bowling green. The park is now larger, extending further to the south and surrounded by streets of housing, Avebury Road forming its southern boundary.  An entrance leading to Merton Hall Road on the western boundary indicates where the original recreation ground extended to. A later map surveyed in 1933 shows an additional facility abutting the bowling green, later marked as tennis courts, but otherwise the park is unchanged. During World War II, Dundonald Recreation Ground was in use for food growing purposes with very little space left for sports or play as shown on postwar aerial maps taken in July 1946 and May 1948, although the formal garden was unaffected. There were several bomb shelters situated around the park at that time. The OS map surveyed post-war, published in 1952 (TQ2470SE - A) shows a Playground marked to the west of the Tennis Courts and Bowling Green; Lavatories are now shown in the formal garden, but the central drinking fountain is no longer marked here, rather a Drinking Fountain shown on the eastern boundary near the perimeter path and a lozenge of planting; presumably this might be the original drinking fountain that has been relocated? By the OS revision of 1967 (TQ2470SE-B) the Playground has a larger footprint, and the Pavilion abutting the Bowling Green to the south has been built. The bowling green was closed at the end of the 2012 season due to the low and failing membership of the incumbent Wandgas Bowling Club, which by then only had 14 active members. The club had been founded in 1921 by British Gas, which until c.2002 provided funding. Merton Council deemed the bowling green to be unsustainable given its operational running costs. The club’s members were encouraged to join nearby bowls clubs such as Merton Park Bowling Club. Photographs in Merton Memories archives show the bowling green in use, cricket being played in the park and the formal garden with a central cairn of stones, which is described as a well. 

The Friends of Dundonald Park was instigated in 2003, its constitution agreed at a public meeting on 4 October 2004, since when it has been involved in the development, improvement, maintenance and management of the recreation ground. This involvement has included: developing priorities for site improvements; completing funding applications; organising local fundraising for site investments; regular management and maintenance such as rose beds, tree watering; supporting volunteers in various activities including replanting the playground, clearing the tennis courts and organising events; maintaining site notice boards and liaising with the local community on issues and projects. There are regular Friends events in the park particularly in the winter months; in recent years their focus has been on tree and bulb planting, with some 2,000 daffodil bulbs planted in winter 2010/11 for example, their efforts supported by Merton Council and the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV).

Dundonald Primary School is one of the principal stakeholders and users of Dundonald Recreation Ground, which it uses for a variety of purposes, including physical education and sport, much of which is focused on the ball courts, and it uses some of the park’s facilities as part of its curriculum delivery, including the tennis/ball courts, and the annual sports day is held in the park. In c.2011 proposals to expand the school were underway in order to meet rising local demands for primary school places for local children. The adjacent park and the pavilion in particular were key to these plans, which received planning consent in January 2013. This project is now completed and a new two-storey pavilion/teaching block has been constructed, shared between the school and the park. There has been substantial liaison and cooperation between the Council’s education, leisure and parks teams in planning this project, in particular on the shared use of the pavilion and courts between the school and park users.

Dundonald Recreation Ground remains very popular with parents and children especially during the summer months. During weekends the playing fields are busy with football and cricket matches and people enjoying the open space, tennis courts and the small formal garden. During the week the facilities are widely used by parents with young children, walkers and local residents keeping fit and active. This is also a popular site for community group events and is well used by the local Dundonald Church that has a large South African congregation and holds 3-4 events in the park in a typical year. The park also hosts a number of local school and nursery school fun days and sports days in the summer term.