St Mary's Newington

There is a reference in the Domesday Book of 1086 to the Manor of Walworth with 100 residents and a church. By late C13th the area was called Newington, probably due to the new houses built on the edge of Walworth hamlet, and later became known as Newington Butts referring to the earth mounds or butts used for target practice by medieval archers. The earliest reference to the parish church of St Mary Newington occurs in the C14th, a building that was enlarged in 1600 by Sir Hugh Brawne. Apart from its clock tower the church was demolished in the C18th following the discovery of decay in the pillars, walls and beams. The monument to Sir Hugh Brawne was transferred to the new church that was built in 1720 incorporating the original clock tower at its west end. It opened in 1721 and was later rebuilt in 1793, although the Brawne monument then disappeared.

St Mary's Churchyard was enlarged a number of times in 1637, 1665, 1757 and 1834 and burials took place until 1854. Among those buried here were the Elizabethan playwright Thomas Middleton (d.1627); George Powell, King of the Gypsies (d.1704) and Frederick Augustus Hartland (d.1852) who performed with Joseph Grimaldi at Sadlers Wells but was killed when a plank of wood landed on his head. The scientist Michael Faraday, who made important contributions to electromagnetism and electrochemistry, was born in Newington Butts and baptised at St Mary's Church in 1791. In 1874 St Gabriel's Church was erected at the north-west corner of the churchyard to take the overflow of worshippers from St Mary's, but was later demolished in 1936 having fallen into disrepair. Old St Mary's was demolished in 1876 by Act of Parliament when the main road was widened and a new church of St Mary Newington was built in Kennington Park Road further to the south, which was consecrated on 1 May 1876. At that time bodies were reinterred at Nunhead Cemetery (q.v.) and other burial grounds.

The disused burial ground was laid out as a public garden in 1876/7 by Southwark Vestry and the Metropolitan Board of Works, each of whom paid half of the cost of £1,650. It opened to the public in 1879. The railings, gates and piers on Newington Butts dated from when the churchyard was made into a public garden, and cast into the locks is the name of the foundry, Young & Co. of Pimlico. A granite plaque set into the grass near the boundary with Newington Butts records that a Clock Tower was erected in 1877 to mark the site of the church. It was erected by R S Faulconer, a former churchwarden, but was demolished by the 1971 having deteriorated and become unsafe. Various headstones were laid out along Churchyard Row including that of Elizabeth Cross (d.1806) and Henry Joseph Benjamin Callow (d.1826). In 1883 the MPGA survey reported that it was a 'benefit to the whole neighbourhood, which is densely populated; a pleasant sight, this well-kept garden, in a monotonous area of bricks and mortar'. Other features now lost include its ornamental Victorian bothy and a Memorial Wall, although the path layout remained, as well as some mature trees and the ornamental railings and gate piers to Newington Butts.

By late C20th it became a rather bleak site, although there were some shrub beds and roses, with a derelict section of old building wall on the north corner at Newington Butts. In 2007/8: re-landscaping of the garden was undertaken as part of the Elephant and Castle redevelopment programme, to designs by Martha Schwartz Partners. The work was undertaken through a grant of £1.35m from London Development Agency and supported by owners of the land, Diocese of Southwark. New facilities include a playground, seating, paved and planted areas and the listed railings were restored. A time capsule created by Year 6 pupils of Crampton Primary School working with Southwark Parks Community Outreach Officer was buried near the clock tower memorial stone on 6 May 2008 when the new park was officially opened, to remain there for at least 50 years. Next to the garden is the Field of Hope of the Marie Curie Centre, featuring an elephant laid out in daffodils on sloping grass.