St John's Church Burial Ground

St John's Church Burial Ground surrounds the old parish church of Southall, which is now a Youth Centre. St John's Church was built in 1837/8 as a chapel of ease to Norwood church and was consecrated in 1841, given to the parish by John Henry Dobbs, the owner of the local vitriol factory. A tablet in the new church of St John's commemorates Dobbs, who died in 1843. Norwood was within the ancient parish of Hayes until 1859; the parish of St John was formed from the Norwood parish in 1850 after Southall's population had increased, largely as a result of the local brickfields industry, the Southall parish later extended in 1880. The Gothic style brick church had a chancel, nave, north and south aisles, and a small spire that was later removed; to the north was St John's parochial school, also established in 1837-8 by Dobbs, which closed in 1891. A church hall was built adjacent in 1893 and a Grand Bazaar to seek funding for it was opened by Princess Mary Adelaide of Teck. St John's Vicarage stood opposite the church on Southall Green.

By the beginning of the C20th, the church had become too small for the needs of its congregation and enlargement of the building was initially considered, building over a section of the graveyard. An alternative scheme went ahead and a new church of St John's was built in 1910, designed by architect C G Miller, its site the former grounds of Elmfield House in Church Avenue. Despite the somewhat derelict appearance particularly at the front of the old church, there are some good C19th headstones in the secluded area behind and to the sides of the building, set among the grass, with trees and shrubs screening the busy roads. Tombstones in the burial ground include those to the influential local Merrick family, after whom Merrick Road is named. Francis Merrick lived in Southall Park (q.v.) and in 1698 obtained a charter from William III enabling him to hold a weekly cattle market on his land there. A regular worshipper at St John's Church was the local painter Ernest Ham (1874-1958), who made many paintings of the local area.

The neglected churchyard was awarded funding in c.2014 as part of a plan to restructure the memorial garden, to create new routes, lighting, seating, planting and relocating the old gravestones. Set up as The King's Garden project, the aim was to transform the site into a safe and peaceful garden in the heart of King Street for residents and visitors to use and enjoy. The church and churchyard were boarded off behind hoarding from 2015 until c.2018 after which the area before the church was re-opened as a paved public open space with some seating provided. The churchyard itself remains behind fencing (2021).

The King's Garden Project was connected to the Mayor's Regeneration Fund Southall Great Streets and received funding through GLA’s Pocket Parks scheme, an initiative of the Mayor of London’s drive to create 100 Pocket Parks across London launched in 2013, with community grants of up to £20,000 available. The community fund was part of a £2m investment to bring 100 underused urban spaces back into use by March 2015. The scheme was delivered by Groundwork and enabled the creation of more than 100 pocket parks across 26 London boroughs, and ranged from community orchards to edible bus stops, the first to open being in Stockwell. A Pocket Park, defined as ‘a piece of land of up to 0.4 hectares, which may already be underdeveloped or derelict’, is considered to provide a small area of inviting public green space where people can relax, exercise, socialise and play, and can be natural and/or formal in character.

In 2016 the Pocket Parks initiative went England-wide with a £1.5m fund launched by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG). Community groups were invited to apply for grants up to £15,000, but applicants were also required to raise match funding from other sources. This led to 87 funded projects across the country, although no projects were in London. In 2018 the Pocket Parks Plus Scheme was launched by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), eventually making £3.75m available when it was widened to include not only new pocket parks but also projects to refurbish existing parks or parts of parks. This led to funding 198 projects, which included 32 projects in London. The third funding round was launched by MHCLG in 2019 and on 3 March 2020, World Wildlife Day, the recipients of the £1.35m fund were announced. Of the 68 winners, 10 are in London. The government has now provided 352 grants to support community groups to create 146 new parks and give a vital boost to 206 derelict urban spaces in towns and cities in every region of the country.