Mountsfield Park

There were several greens in Lewisham, and two of them were called Hither (nearer) Green and Further Green. Hither Green, near the entrance to the former hospital, was on the site of a hamlet called Romborough, which had not been inhabited since the time of the Black Death. Hither Green was a wooded area in the Middle Ages, but by the C18th the trees had mostly been felled, and the first houses were built. More houses followed in the C19th, many of them substantial residences such as Mountsfield House, which was built in 1845-7 on land previously known as Nine Acre Field by Henry Stainton as a wedding present for his son Henry Tibbats Stainton, a famous entomologist (1822-92). Henry Stainton, a wealthy iron merchant, lived at of Springfield House at what is now the junction of Rushey Green and Hawstead Road, next to the almshouses. Stainton is recalled in a local road name. Henry Tibbats Stainton died in 1892 and was buried in the family vault at St Mary’s Church, Lewisham; his widow Jane lived at Mountsfield House until her own death in 1898. At that time the property had c.2.5 hectares of parkland to the south of the house, and this later became the core of Mountsfield Park. The 1867 and 1894 OS maps indicated there were probably formal gardens on the west side of the house, to the rear and east of which appears to have been woodland and, along the southern border, open lands. The OS also shows a paved or walled area that may have had kitchen gardens and, in the south-east corner, an orchard. 

The Mountsfield estate was put up for auction in 1900 but appears not to have sold. In 1901 the LCC purchased 14 acres for a school on Brownhill Road at which time it was also considering buying the rest of the estate for a public park, to redress the lack of such facilities in the area. The LCC's purchase of 6 acres for the park, funded in part by the Borough of Lewisham, was not completed until 1904. The new park was opened on 7 August 1905, but was soon extended by 7 acres when half the land originally set aside for the school was found not to be needed and reverted to parkland. The house, which was in the north east corner, was demolished in 1905 as it was deemed badly built and unsuitable for conversion to public usage. However, a number of the outbuildings remained, including the stables, which were used as park keeper's headquarters until burnt down in a fire in 1969. The former drive swept around from the park's entrance in George Lane. Stainton's detached museum on the eastern boundary, which had been built to house his specimens in c.1860, became the refreshment room but was also later demolished in 1981. The new park was laid out with a formal rose garden, shown in early C20th postcards, and by 1914 there was a bandstand in place. Other amenities provided after WWI included a tennis court and a bowling green. During WWII, the park was used for allotments. Amenities that have since disappeared include an open air theatre, an avenue from Brownshill Road, bowling green, and ponds, although the bandstand remains as does the rose garden, albeit reconfigured. 

An area in the south-west of the current park was initially used for football by local amateur teams, including, from 1909, Catford Southend, who were nicknamed The Kittens. A planned merger of The Kittens with Charlton Athletic in the 1920s came to nothing although the latter played part of its 1922/23 season at The Mount. Some of the physical structure of the pitch seems to have remained until the 1950s, but the ground was then merged with the park; the embankment for the terracing may still be seen. The park has been extended a number of times over the years: after WWII an area of former allotments owned by Trinity College, Greenwich was purchased to become part of the park, as was land occupied by a row of houses along George Lane that were destroyed in the Blitz; and in the 1990s the playing fields of Catford Boys School were subsumed into the park. 

Around the sports fields to the south of the park are hawthorn scrub and old hawthorn and elm hedge. The park's current features include a formal rose garden with pergola on brick piers in the north part, which is shown on the OS map of 1951; a display of ornamental conifers, including cypress and juniper, near the entrance; a walk along the ridge with fine views and the circular bandstand in timber and tile. The children's play area is now located near the bandstand. There are wide expanses of grass and playing fields and C19th oaks and clumps of thorn, as well as specimen trees that include gingko, Turkey oak, horse chestnut, holm oak and good number of mature London planes. A Kentucky coffee-tree, brought to Britain in 1812, is an unusual sight. Other notable trees include a tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera), a dawn redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides), and a number of  Pedunculate oak trees (Quercus robur), one of which is a Woodland Trust designated veteran tree. A Mayor of London/Thames Water drinking fountain is located at the Stainton Road entrance to the park.

The Friends of Mountsfield Park was established in c.2005/6, an active group that campaigns for improvements to the park and organises numerous events. Improvements discussed with London Borough of Lewisham in 2014 included a new cafe building, a community garden and an improved play area, although funds were only released for the latter. In 2014 the bowling green was replaced by a community garden, and there are now two species rich meadows. In July 2022, after a gap of four years, South-East London’s longest-running free festival, Lewisham People’s Day, returned as part of 'We Are Lewisham', featuring music, art and craft and other activities for the whole community.