Description
Lucas Gardens was originally the grounds of a terrace of 12 Georgian houses known as East Terrace, which were later used as an extension to Camberwell House Lunatic Asylum established in 1846 in a former school building on the north side of Peckham Road. During WWI a Flying Boat was displayed in what is now the public park, probably bought by local subscription as part of the war effort. Lucas Gardens opened as a public park in July 1955 and is on a gently sloping site with winding paths and mature trees. The main gates on Peckham Road were refurbished in the late C20th together with new landscaping that included flower beds, paths, ornamental trees and a water feature in the north of the park.
Practical Information
| Site location | Peckham Road/Vestry Road/Linnell Road |
|---|---|
| Postcode | SE5 |
| What3Words | ///rescue.token.stud |
| Type of Site | Public Park |
| Borough | Southwark |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | 7.30am - sunset |
| Facilities | playground |
| Public Transport | Rail: Peckham Rye then bus. Tube: Oval (Northern) then bus. Bus: 12, 36, 171, 345. |
| Research Updated | 1 December 2010 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
The terrace of 12 Georgian houses was built in c.1790 as East Terrace, which in the early C19th was the home of Henry Roberts who worked for George Gilbert Scott, the architect of Camberwell's parish church of St Giles (q.v.). In the late C19th Robert Alexander Gray, Chairman of Camberwell Vestry, lived here. East Terrace was later used as an extension to Camberwell House Lunatic Asylum, which was established in 1846 in a former school building on the north side of Peckham Road. During WWI a Flying Boat was displayed in what is now the public park, probably bought by local subscription as part of the war effort.
Lucas Gardens were opened as public park in July 1955 by the Chairman of London County Council. The park is on a gently sloping site, with winding paths and mature trees including hawthorn, sycamore, cherry, holm oak, lime, horse chestnut, false acacia and tulip-tree. The main gates on Peckham Road have been refurbished in late C20th and feature the name of the park picked out in gold in an arch over the gates; landscaping has been carried out particularly in the north, where there are flower beds, paths and ornamental trees and a water feature immediately inside the entrance gate; at the south of this garden area is a circular flower bed with brightly painted railings, beyond which the park is largely grass with perimeter trees and shrubs apart from an area on the west boundary, which has a raised playground area with brickwork, steps and some planting.
Adjacent to the park, East Terrace has been used as offices by Southwark Council, fronted by a strip of lawn with mature trees behind ornamental railings to the main road with a cobbled courtyard and the remains of an old lamp standard. One of the stone gateposts still bears the inscription 'Friern Manor, 1791', Friern being once part of the Manor of Camberwell, owned by a convent in Shoreditch in the Middle Ages, and which had once stretched west to Denmark Hill and north to Camberwell Green. The Manor House had been in what is now Friern Road, East Dulwich.
Lucas Gardens were opened as public park in July 1955 by the Chairman of London County Council. The park is on a gently sloping site, with winding paths and mature trees including hawthorn, sycamore, cherry, holm oak, lime, horse chestnut, false acacia and tulip-tree. The main gates on Peckham Road have been refurbished in late C20th and feature the name of the park picked out in gold in an arch over the gates; landscaping has been carried out particularly in the north, where there are flower beds, paths and ornamental trees and a water feature immediately inside the entrance gate; at the south of this garden area is a circular flower bed with brightly painted railings, beyond which the park is largely grass with perimeter trees and shrubs apart from an area on the west boundary, which has a raised playground area with brickwork, steps and some planting.
Adjacent to the park, East Terrace has been used as offices by Southwark Council, fronted by a strip of lawn with mature trees behind ornamental railings to the main road with a cobbled courtyard and the remains of an old lamp standard. One of the stone gateposts still bears the inscription 'Friern Manor, 1791', Friern being once part of the Manor of Camberwell, owned by a convent in Shoreditch in the Middle Ages, and which had once stretched west to Denmark Hill and north to Camberwell Green. The Manor House had been in what is now Friern Road, East Dulwich.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ332765 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 1.728 |
| Site Ownership | LB Southwark |
| Site Management | Parks |
| Dates | c.1890; 1950s |
| Listed Structures | LBII: 30, 32 & 34 Peckham Road - Camberwell House and attached railings; lamp post in courtyard of No. 34 |
| 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 | Southwark |
| In Conservation Area | Yes |
| Conservation Area Name | Sceaux Gardens |
| Tree Preservation Order | Not known |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
| Other LA Designation | Gardens, Tier Two |
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
Sceaux Gardens Estate was one of the first of a series of council estates built in Camberwell in the 1950s, and was designed by the Borough Architect and set in landscaped grounds. The site was once part of the grounds of the Camberwell House Asylum. The estate's two 14-storey slab blocks were among the first tower blocks in London, and the estate also had a number of lower blocks. It was named Sceaux after the Paris suburb with which Camberwell had a Friendship Link, and other names on the estate recall this association, such as Marie Curie who lived in Sceaux and Colbert who rebuilt the chateau at Sceaux under King Louis XIV. The main public open space is largely grass, surrounded in part by low railings, with a number of mature trees and flower beds.
The medieval church of St Giles served a large parish comprising the villages at Camberwell, Peckham and Dulwich, the area later engulfed by housing. The present church of St Giles was built in 1842-44 when the earlier church was destroyed in a fire in 1841, only its porch remaining. The new church was Sir George Gilbert Scott's first major gothic building. The walled churchyard was in use until 1856, having been enlarged in 1717, 1803 and 1825. After its closure it became neglected and part was lost when Peckham Road was widened. It was cleared of graves in 1939 and laid out as a public garden, with headstones forming a wall on the northern end. It contains mature trees and a few tombs remain in the grass.
Development of meadowland here took place from 1847, when Brunswick Square was laid out with an area of private communal garden in the centre. It was named after King George IV's marriage to Caroline, daughter of the Duke of Brunswick. In 1901 Camberwell Borough Council purchased the garden, then divided by a roadway, for a public park, which opened in 1907. Tennis courts and a playground were opened in 1937, and a drinking fountain was donated. The park was refurbished by LB Southwark in 1997-99.