Description
Sutton Common Park or Recreation Ground is an area of open space subdivided by a fenced path, marked on the 1st edition OS map of 1867 as two open fields. It was purchased by Sutton UDC for a recreation ground in 1927 and laid out by 1933. There are mature trees along the road boundary and the park contains a fountain installed by the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association.
Practical Information
| Previously known as | Sutton Common Recreation Ground |
|---|---|
| Site location | Sutton Common Road, Sutton |
| Postcode | SM3 9EN |
| What3Words | ///elder.noon.motel |
| Type of Site | Public Park |
| Borough | Sutton |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | 8am - dusk |
| Facilities | Children’s playground, football pitches, tennis courts, bowls, changing rooms, toilets |
| Public Transport | Rail: St Helier, Sutton Common. Bus: 80. |
| Research Updated | 1 March 2012 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
The 1815 Sutton Parish Map shows the plot in the ownership of 'Churchwardens and Overseers of Sutton Parish', and Sutton UDC Council Minutes also refer to it as glebeland. As such, it was part of the Charity 'Poor's Land (Non-Ecclesiastical)' and was administered by 10 Trustees, among who were the Rectors of St Nicholas Church, Sutton and All Saints Church, Benhilton (q.q.v.), as well as appointments made by Sutton UDC. In 1927 the UDC had approval for a loan of £4000 to buy the plot of land in order to lay out a recreation ground as the area was being developed for housing. A contract was drawn up in April 1927 between the Trustees and UDC, and the land was to be sold subject to a Tithe Rent Charge of 4 guineas a year payable to the Rector of Sutton, with c.16 acres let out on agricultural tenancies. Two footpaths across the site were to remain public rights of way. Council Minutes also record that a tender of £300 15s was accepted for 'levelling, drainage, and grass sowing (16 acres)' in June 1932, and in May 1933 approval was given to purchase 'swings, rocking horses, and light swings', with a site for a children's playground considered in June of the same year. This evidently took place as in September 1933 residents were complaining about noisy children playing on the swings. In May 1936 £109 was paid for a pavilion, which later burnt down in 1976; from here ice creams, cold drinks and teas were sold. The recreation ground had provision for football, cricket, tennis, bowling and pitch and putt in the larger field in the north, in addition to the children's playground. The bowls club is still used by Sutton Common Bowls Club. The Sutton Common Horticultural and Allotment Society held an annual summer fete on August Bank Holiday from the early 1950s, usually opened by the Mayor of Sutton, and among the many activities on offer were model train rides. Friends of Sutton Common Park was formed in 1998 to preserve the park and undertook research into its history.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ249667 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 6.4 |
| Site Ownership | LB Sutton |
| Site Management | Parks Service; Friends of Sutton Common Recreation Ground |
| Dates | 1930s |
| 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 | Sutton |
| In Conservation Area | No |
| Tree Preservation Order | No |
| Nature Conservation Area | No |
| Green Belt | No |
| Metropolitan Open Land | Yes |
| Special Policy Area | No |
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
Reigate Avenue Recreation Ground dates from c.1930 and is open grassland fringed by a woodland tree belt on its main boundary. The park is open to Reigate Avenue and has late 1920s/mid 1930s railings of the same or similar design to those at other parks in Sutton such as Rosehill Park West and Quarry Park. The 1st edition OS Map of 1867 shows the site as an open field.
Haig Memorial Homes is an estate providing housing for ex-Servicemen laid out in the early 1930s; it was built in two parts on either side of Green Lane by the Trustees of the Haig Homes for disabled ex-servicemen and the Housing Association for Officers' Families. An appeal had been launched in 1928 by the Lord Mayor of London to provide homes for ex-Servicemen, their widows and dependents, as a memorial to Field-Marshal Sir Douglas Haig who had worked to help ex-Servicemen and their dependents after WWI and was instrumental in the founding of The British Legion. The estate was opened in May 1931 by HRH Prince of Wales. The estate has courtyards of different characters, with ranges of two or three storeys set around grassed quadrangles. It was expanded in later years and the names of the blocks have associations with both world wars, for example Rhodes Moorhouse Court, which is named after 2nd Lieutenant W B Rhodes Moorhouse who died in WWI and his son, Flying Officer W H Rhodes Moorhouse who was killed in the Battle of Britain. Other housing commemorates war heroes, including Odette Sansom, Viscount Trenchard, Kulbir Thapa, Jack Cornwell, Albert Dugdale.
The parish church of St Lawrence was built in 1636, probably a rebuilding of an older church as St Lawrence was often a Saxon dedication. Additions were made to the church in later centuries. The churchyard has a lych-gate on London Road. Gravestones are set within the grass, and there are a number of good C18th monuments, including that of John Howard (d.1764). Among those buried here were Huguenots who came to England fleeing religious persecution, including Peter Mauvillian who set up calico works along the Wandle at Ravensbury in the early C18th. Part of the burial ground was built over for a new Rectory.