Description
Furzedown Recreation Ground was provided by Wandsworth Borough Council and opened in 1924, the name recalling the former heathland here. The area was gradually developed for housing from the late C19th onwards. Furzedown House, a substantial house built c.1800 set in grounds, is now the core of Furzedown Training College near the recreation ground and some remnants of the C19th planting survive. The recreation ground once had a café, two bowling greens, a pitch and putt course, a flower garden and tennis courts.
Practical Information
| Site location | Furzedown Drive |
|---|---|
| Postcode | SW17 |
| What3Words | ///jacket.softly.rots |
| Type of Site | Public Park |
| Borough | Wandsworth |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | 8am - dusk |
| Facilities | Bowling green, playground, 2 tennis courts, ball games area, skateboard area |
| Public Transport | Rail: Tooting |
| Research Updated | 1 November 2006 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
Furzedown House of c.1800, which stood in its own grounds, was purchased by Philip Flower in 1862, developer of the Park Town Estate in Battersea. The house was extended in the 1860s by James Thomas Knowles, which included the addition of the conservatory and Furzedown Lodge to the north. Furzedown Drive marks the old drive between House and Lodge, the rest of the former grounds largely built over. Numerous buildings were added for the college around Furzedown House, particularly in the 1960s, although some remnants of C19th planting survive.
The recreation ground originally had a café (removed due to vandalism in 2004), two bowling greens, a pitch and putt course, a flower garden and tennis courts. In the mid 1970s the Council installed a playground to the rear of the houses facing Crowborough Road on the Chillerton Road side. In 1977 a number of local residents successfully sought an injunction requiring the Council to limit use of the playground because of nuisance and noise, and required that it be staffed when open; as a result the playground was re-sited in the 1980s. Under the injunction the use of the 5 tennis courts was also limited to tennis, but in 2001 local residents petitioned the Council about lack of provision for youth in the area. This eventually led to amendment of the 1977 injunction in 2004, and redesign of the recreation ground has followed research by a local interest group set up for the purpose, the Furzedown Recreation Ground Management Advisory Committee.
One of the bowling greens was removed in 2002 to become a picnic area, and three of the tennis courts have been improved creating a new ball games area. The southern section is now the Furzedown Recreation Centre, while the northern section is the public recreation ground. In 2006 a small wildlife garden was created, in spring of the same year 15 small fruit trees were planted as a potential teaching resource, and in November of the same year 20,000 daffodil bulbs were planted in grass areas with the assistance of local users and school children.
The recreation ground originally had a café (removed due to vandalism in 2004), two bowling greens, a pitch and putt course, a flower garden and tennis courts. In the mid 1970s the Council installed a playground to the rear of the houses facing Crowborough Road on the Chillerton Road side. In 1977 a number of local residents successfully sought an injunction requiring the Council to limit use of the playground because of nuisance and noise, and required that it be staffed when open; as a result the playground was re-sited in the 1980s. Under the injunction the use of the 5 tennis courts was also limited to tennis, but in 2001 local residents petitioned the Council about lack of provision for youth in the area. This eventually led to amendment of the 1977 injunction in 2004, and redesign of the recreation ground has followed research by a local interest group set up for the purpose, the Furzedown Recreation Ground Management Advisory Committee.
One of the bowling greens was removed in 2002 to become a picnic area, and three of the tennis courts have been improved creating a new ball games area. The southern section is now the Furzedown Recreation Centre, while the northern section is the public recreation ground. In 2006 a small wildlife garden was created, in spring of the same year 15 small fruit trees were planted as a potential teaching resource, and in November of the same year 20,000 daffodil bulbs were planted in grass areas with the assistance of local users and school children.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ284710 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 1.4 |
| Site Ownership | LB Wandsworth |
| Site Management | Parks Service; Furzedown Recreation Ground Management Advisory Committee |
| Dates | 1924 |
| 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 | Wandsworth |
| In Conservation Area | No |
| Tree Preservation Order | Not known |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
| Other LA Designation | Other Larger Protected Open Space Sites |
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
All Saints was built when the area was being developed by the London County Council. The LCC had acquired Totterdown Fields for a housing estate in 1900 and the Totterdown Fields Estate was laid out on a grid system with 2-storey terraces, designed by E Stone Collins of the LCC Architects Department. By 1911 it comprised 1,229 houses and 4 shops with the church at the centre. All Saints was built in 1904-6 by Temple Moore through the beneficence of Lady Charles Brudenell-Bruce in memory of her husband; Brudenell Road recalls the family. The church is set back from the road within a hedged garden, largely grassed, and with a war memorial surrounded by planting, and a shrub bed adjacent to north-east of the church.
St Nicholas Church was built in 1833, a Commissioners' church of stock brick designed by T W Atkinson. It replaced the earlier parish church of Tooting, and is situated in a prominent position in what was called Lower Tooting or Tooting Graveney, so-called after the Gravenel family who owned the Manor in the C12th and C13th. The entrance on Church Lane has C19th cast iron gates with a short section of original railings, from where a wide drive leads up to the church, which is surrounded by its large churchyard. There are a wide variety of tombs and among the trees are fine horse chestnut, sycamore and mature yews.
Tooting Bec Common and Tooting Graveney Common, together with Streatham Green are the remains of common land that once stretched as far as Mitcham. An avenue of trees marks the former boundary line between the two commons, now to all intents and purposes one. The common is partly grass and partly shrubs and woodland and forms an important and historic green area in this part of London despite the roads that cross and surround it. Buildings around the common include a Regency gothic villa, but is predominantly of the later C19th.