Description
St John's Church Memorial Garden was formed from the churchyard of Croydon parish church. Destroyed by fire in 1867, St John's Church was rebuilt in 1870 and until 1957 had a traditional graveyard but by then no longer used for burials. When Church Street was widened, a new home was needed for the War Memorial and plans were developed to create a memorial garden on the site of the well-treed churchyard. The gravestones were removed, some headstones used to form paths, more elaborate memorials erected as a screen wall round the church. Special tombs and sarcophagi were relocated in the garden, as was the War Memorial. Adjacent is the former Archbishops Palace, now Old Palace of John Whitgift School. Improvements were made to the Memorial Garden in c.2015 with funding from the Pocket Parks initiative.
Practical Information
| Previously known as | St John the Baptist Churchyard; Croydon Parish Church |
|---|---|
| Site location | Roman Way/Church Street/Howley Road, Croydon |
| Postcode | CR0 1SG |
| What3Words | ///volunteered.method.assets |
| Type of Site | Public Gardens |
| Borough | Croydon |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | 8am Mon-Fri/9am weekends - dusk |
| Public Transport | Rail/London Overground: West Croydon. Tramlink: 1, 2 & 3. Bus: 264 |
| Research Updated | 1 September 2015 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
The memorial garden, designed by Peter Youngman, was formed in 1957 from the churchyard of St John the Baptist, the parish church of Croydon. St John's Church was destroyed by fire in 1867 and rebuilt by G G Scott in 1870. Until 1957 the Parish Church had a traditional graveyard but by then it was no longer used for burials and few of the surviving plots were maintained. When the nearby Church Street was widened a new home was needed for the War Memorial. Plans were developed to create a memorial garden on the site of the well-treed churchyard in 1957 and the gravestones were removed. Some of the footpaths that lead around the garden are made from old headstones. Other more elaborate headstones and memorials were erected as a screen wall around the church and special tombs and sarcophagi were relocated at strategic points. The War Memorial was repositioned on a plinth in the garden. There are seats and a shelter in the garden. Adjacent to the memorial garden is the C14th former Archbishop's Palace, now Old Palace of John Whitgift School. As the Lords of the Manor, the Archbishops had a considerable influence on the town and they stayed at their country residence near London for centuries. When they moved to Addington Palace the Old Palace building was used as a bleaching factory before being bought for the school.
In c.2015, the Memorial Garden was improved with re-landscaping, planting and new play facilities. This was funded 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.
In c.2015, the Memorial Garden was improved with re-landscaping, planting and new play facilities. This was funded 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.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ319654 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 0.81 |
| Site Ownership | LB Croydon |
| Site Management | Parks and Open Spaces |
| Dates | C15th (church) 1957 (public garden) |
| Designers | 1950s memorial garden: Peter Youngman |
| Listed Structures | SAM: St John's Church gateway, a stone archway into memorial gardens from Howley Road. LBI: Parish Church; Old Palace School |
| 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 | Croydon |
| In Conservation Area | Yes |
| Conservation Area Name | Parish Church |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | No |
| Special Policy Area | Yes - Archaeological Site of National Importance |
| Other LA Designation | Area at risk of flooding every 100 years |
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
Ramsey Court was formerly the Elis David Almshouses, originally founded in 1447 by Elias Davy, member of the Mercers' Company, for 7 poor men and women. The almshouses were rebuilt in the mid C18th and enlarged in 1875 when the number of residents was increased to 12. They are arranged as two parallel rows of red brick buildings, the north built in 1875, the south in 1887, which face each other across the garden. They ceased to be almshouses in the 1970s when residents moved to new almshouses in Duppas Hill.
Wandle Park was laid out on the site of two old meadows purchased by Croydon Corporation in 1888 and 1889. It opened in May 1890, its chief attraction the River Wandle that ran through it and the popular boating lake formed in the south half of the park, both now gone. Other facilities were a bandstand, tennis courts and bowling green. An open air pool opened in 1913 but had closed by 1979. The Borough's Summer Show was held here during the 1930s; there was fishing in the summer and ice-skating in the winter when the lake froze. In 1967 the river was culverted, its original course now marked by willows, and the lake, by now depleted of water, was filled and grassed over.
The Whitgift Almshouses were founded in 1596 by Archbishop of Canterbury John Whitgift, who gained Elizabeth I's permission to build a hospital and boys school in Croydon. They continue to be used as homes for the elderly with admission qualifications virtually unchanged and Elizabeth II has visited in 1983 and 1996. The buildings were completed in 1599, a 2-storey quadrangle surrounding a central garden, with a small chapel in the north-east corner. The garden layout has little changed since at least the 1880s, a lawn with flower borders and beds divided by a central path between 2 archways, surrounded by paving stones with benches set against the walls. A modern sundial is set into the central path.