Description
Streatham Vale Park is a small rectangular park that was laid out on the site of former brickworks in 1925 and next to the Wandsworth Council rubbish disposal yard called 'Lonesome Depot'. Due to boundary changes it is now within LB Lambeth. The park is grassed with shrubs and rose beds, playground and a games area, but no longer has a bowling green. At the entrance from Abercairn Road is a rose garden and the boundary has beds with shrubs and roses, and some good trees including wingnut, willow, oak species. A perimeter path runs around the park. A new community garden was createdin 2009
Practical Information
| Site location | Abercairn Road |
|---|---|
| Postcode | SW16 5AL |
| What3Words | ///pens.zest.petty |
| Type of Site | Public Park |
| Borough | Lambeth |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | 7.30am - 15 minutes before sunset |
| Facilities | Adventure playground, children's play areas (dog free), One O'Clock Club, tennis courts, sports field, toilets |
| Public Transport | Rail: Streatham Common. Bus: 60, 118 |
| Research Updated | 7 November 2023 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
Streatham Vale Park is on the former site of an old brickworks once owned by the Ellison family. When the property was sold in 1925, part of the land was offered to Wandsworth Borough Council for public benefit, either to provide allotments or new public open space. The Council developed the land as a public park, adding an extra piece of land to create entrances from Abercairn Road. A children’s playground was opened in 1930 and the rest of the park was completed in 1931. A strip of land along Lonesome Way was added in 2009 in order to create wildlife-friendly boundary features, improved access and a community garden area.
The park now provides tennis courts, a nursery and games courts. The sports and play facilities in Streatham Vale Park are managed by Streatham Youth and Community Trust (SYCT).
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ291699 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 2.17 |
| Site Ownership | LB Lambeth |
| Site Management | Environment Directorate, Parks and Greenspaces Unit. Friends of Streatham Vale Park |
| Dates | 1925 -31 |
| 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 | Lambeth |
| 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 | Parks Regeneration Area. Park |
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
Long Bolstead Recreation Ground is a small park created in the early 1930s on a field that was part of land at Eastfields Farm owned by the influential Mizen family. Elizabeth Mizen donated the site to Mitcham UDC for a recreation ground to commemorate her sister Alice who died in the 1920s. The layout of the small park is substantially unchanged from its original form. It consists largely of grass on undulating ground with a central oval surrounded by a path, with trees and shrubs, fairly dense in one area. A play area was installed in the central oval in 2008.
Streatham Park Cemetery opened in 1909, but was originally conceived in 1890 as the Great Southern Cemetery, matching the Great Northern Cemetery that opened in 1861 in Southgate. Cemetery buildings included a lodge, an Anglican Chapel and a small Roman Catholic chapel designed by John Bannen, who also designed the Crematorium, which opened in 1936. The cemetery lodge and RC chapel have since been demolished, the Anglican chapel later re-opened as the cemetery office. The cemetery is laid out on a grid and near the entrance are austere family vaults; there are various gardens of remembrance, including rose gardens. One of the founders of the cemetery, Frederick Field (d.1923) is buried here. The cemetery has a long association with the Variety Artistes' Benevolent Fund, with 200 variety artistes buried here between 1921-44.
This cemetery founded in 1915 for Ashkenazi Jews, is the only Jewish burial ground in South London. Situated on Rowan Road, Merton it was established by the Polish burial society Hesed V'Emet (or Chesed V'Ameth) (meaning 'Kindness and Truth') to provide a resting place for Jewish families living in Soho primarily associated with the West End Great Synagogue. The cemetery includes a small prayer hall (mortuary chapel) built in 1932. The cemetery has tightly packed pathways and rows of tombstones, reflecting the traditional Jewish cemetery layout. There are also Commonwealth War Graves for Jewish service personnel from WWII.