Description
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..
Practical Information
| Previously known as | Southwood Recreation Ground |
|---|---|
| Site location | Southwood Road, New Eltham |
| Postcode | SE9 |
| What3Words | ///wiser.employ.toned |
| Type of Site | Public Park |
| Borough | Greenwich |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | 9am - dusk |
| Facilities | Playground; football pitches |
| Public Transport | Rail: New Eltham. Bus: B13, 160, 162, 314. |
| Research Updated | 1 December 2006 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
New Eltham developed following the opening of the railway station on the Dartford Loop line in 1878, near the crossroads of Footscray Road running from north-west to south-east, Cross Lane to the south-west, now Southwood Road, and Pope Street to the north-east, now Avery Hill Road. A few houses are shown here predating the opening of the station. The station was originally called Pope Street Station after the small hamlet to the north-east, of which little survives apart from a late C18th terrace, Theobalds Cottages. Southwood Road and other streets around the station and crossroads were laid out from 1879 onwards and became New Eltham. In 1886 the station was renamed New Eltham and Pope Street Station and in 1927 it changed again to New Eltham Station.
The eastern area of the recreation ground south of the railway line remained open land using for farming well into the C20th. There was a cricket ground to the west marked on the 1897 OS Map, which was owned by LB Bromley until 2003 when it was transferred to LB Greenwich and now makes up part of Southwood Park. New Eltham Library, a neo-Georgian building, dates from 1931; behind the library is a one-storey building that was a Civil Defence Centre in WWII and once contained WWII reports. The park is shown on OS Map of 1957-8 adjacent to the library, with a small area with formal layout of paths and central drinking fountain along the south boundary with Southwood Road, and a playground marked to the north. The roadside frontage of the park retains a planted shrubbery within grass and the old railings to the road, behind which the land is open grassland with a playground and sports pavilion. The old cricket pitch formerly owned by Bromley in the west of the park is now used for football and is surrounded by a semi-natural area with planting of English elm coppice; perimeter trees of the eastern sports field include poplar, birch, London plane and conifers. The London Girls Football Club leases the football pitches and pavilion.
Southwood Road is named for Southwood House, an C18th house within an estate to the north-east of New Eltham, now part of the University of Greenwich. John North lived here while he was building his new Avery Hill Mansion (q.v.).
The eastern area of the recreation ground south of the railway line remained open land using for farming well into the C20th. There was a cricket ground to the west marked on the 1897 OS Map, which was owned by LB Bromley until 2003 when it was transferred to LB Greenwich and now makes up part of Southwood Park. New Eltham Library, a neo-Georgian building, dates from 1931; behind the library is a one-storey building that was a Civil Defence Centre in WWII and once contained WWII reports. The park is shown on OS Map of 1957-8 adjacent to the library, with a small area with formal layout of paths and central drinking fountain along the south boundary with Southwood Road, and a playground marked to the north. The roadside frontage of the park retains a planted shrubbery within grass and the old railings to the road, behind which the land is open grassland with a playground and sports pavilion. The old cricket pitch formerly owned by Bromley in the west of the park is now used for football and is surrounded by a semi-natural area with planting of English elm coppice; perimeter trees of the eastern sports field include poplar, birch, London plane and conifers. The London Girls Football Club leases the football pitches and pavilion.
Southwood Road is named for Southwood House, an C18th house within an estate to the north-east of New Eltham, now part of the University of Greenwich. John North lived here while he was building his new Avery Hill Mansion (q.v.).
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ439729 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 3.3 |
| Site Ownership | RB Greenwich |
| Site Management | Parks and Open Spaces Department; Friends of Southwood Park |
| Dates | 1950s |
| 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 | Yes |
| Special Policy Area | Yes - Area of Special Character of Local Importance |
| Other LA Designation | Green Chain/Green Chain Walk |
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
Royal Blackheath Golf Course is laid out on the former Great Park of Eltham Palace, incorporating the new landscape of Eltham Lodge that was established after Sir John Shaw took over the lease of the Palace estate from the Crown in 1663. Eltham Lodge was built for Shaw in 1664 and is now the golf clubhouse. Other remnants of the earlier landscape include C17th garden walls and an early-mid C19th garden pavilion. The history of golf at Blackheath dates back to the arrival of James I from Scotland and the Blackheath Golf Club was instituted in 1608. The prefix Royal was added in c.1849 and in 1923 the club moved from Blackheath to merge with Eltham Golf Club, which had been established in 1892, leasing the former Great Park for its golf course.
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.
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.
