Description
Queen's Gardens is a small area of open grass, which was created to serve the adjacent Coldharbour Estate that was built by the local authority from 1948. The gardens were named after HRH the Queen Mother, who opened the estate in the mid-1950s.
Practical Information
| Site location | William Barefoot Drive/Leas Dale |
|---|---|
| Postcode | SE9 |
| What3Words | ///universally.agents.cares |
| Type of Site | Public Gardens |
| Borough | Greenwich |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | 9am - dusk |
| Facilities | none |
| Public Transport | Rail: New Eltham then bus. Bus: 314 |
| Research Updated | 1 November 2007 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
Adjacent to the gardens to the north is Coldharbour Community Centre. At the south corner on William Barefoot Drive is a small brick shelter with toilets from where a path with a few seats leads across the site, with willow flanking the path. Along the railed road boundary is a line of trees and hedging between the garden and the community centre.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ431721 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 0.44 |
| Site Ownership | RB Greenwich |
| Site Management | Parks and Open Spaces Department |
| Dates | from 1948 |
| 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 | Greenwich |
| In Conservation Area | No |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | No |
| Other LA Designation | Community Open Space |
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
The Ironmongers' Company or Sir Robert Geffrye Almshouses moved from Shoreditch to Mottingham in 1912. The almshouses built here were probably modelled on Morden College in Blackheath, set back behind an area of lawn. The almshouse residents transferred to Hampshire in 1972 and they are now affordable housing run by Affinity Sutton, the estate now known as the Geffrye's Estate.
Southwood Park is a small recreation ground provided by Woolwich Borough Council post WWII when it was making a concerted effort to acquire sites for public open space. New Eltham had developed after the station opened in 1878. The park is adjacent to New Eltham Library, behind which is a former Civil Defence Centre used in WWII. The south frontage of the park has a planted shrubbery with grass and trees, with railings to the road, behind which the land is open grassland with a playground and sports pavilion. The football pitch to the north-west was used as a cricket field in the late C19th and until c.2003 was in the ownership of LB Bromley..
The Tarn takes its name from the lake that dominates the small park, a remnant of the late C17th grounds of Eltham Lodge that was once within the Great Park of Eltham Palace, a royal palace dating from the C14th. Eltham Lodge was built in 1664 when Sir John Shaw leased the estate. When the area was being developed for housing, The Tarn was acquired by the Metropolitan Borough of Woolwich in 1935 and laid out with paths and shelters around the existing lake. Near the entrance is a mid C18th brick ice-well built to supply Eltham Lodge with ice.
