Description
Tooting Gardens is a small public park that was laid out and opened to the public on 1 June 1912. It was originally to the west of the Fountain Road Fever Hospital, which opened in 1893, with Grove Hospital to the south built in 1894-9. In 1911 a drinking fountain was installed here, which had formerly stood at Tooting Broadway but removed when the memorial statue of Edward VII was erected. By 1953 play equipment had been installed in the park. It is now sandwiched behind Tooting Leisure Centre and adjacent to St George's Hospital. The park has been re-landscaped and has shrubberies, undulating ground, and new trees.
Practical Information
| Site location | footpath off Gambole Road/Fountain Road |
|---|---|
| Postcode | SW17 |
| What3Words | ///most.cloak.sadly |
| Type of Site | Public Park |
| Borough | Wandsworth |
| Open to Public | Yes |
| Opening Times | 8am - dusk |
| Facilities | playground |
| Public Transport | Tube: Tooting Broadway (Northern) then bus. Bus: 44, 77, 155, 270, 280, G1 |
| Research Updated | 1 May 2005 |
| Last Updated | 18 October 2026 |
Full description
The site was once the old Tooting 'slop shoot' used for rubbish collection, but this use discontinued, probably c.1898 when the Borough's 'dust destructer' was set up at the other end of Fountain Road, now the site of Fountain Road Recreation Ground (q.v.). Until it was laid out for public recreation the land was put to various uses, including allotments, depots for stores and Council refuse trucks and a glass works. From 1908 the Wandsworth Trades and Labour Council and the Balham and Tooting Traders Association began to lobby to turn it into a local park, one of the reasons given being that Garratt Park (q.v.), which had opened in 1906, was too far away for small children to walk. St George's Hospital moved here in the late 1960s from Hyde Park when new buildings were added, phase one providing the medical school completed in 1977, phase two of hospital buildings by 1979. The Tooting Swimming Pool that opened in 1977 replaced the slipper baths at Tooting Broadway.
Further Information
| Grid Reference | TQ269714 |
|---|---|
| Size in hectares | 0.7 |
| Site Ownership | LB Wandsworth |
| Site Management | Parks Service |
| Dates | 1912; 1970s/80s |
| 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 | Wandsworth |
| 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 | Incidental Public Open Space/Landscaped Open Space |
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
Fountain Road Recreation Ground was laid out in 1932 as part of the adjacent Council housing development of Anderson House. The site had once been a clay quarry for brickworks, replaced in 1898 when the Council's 'dust destructor' was built here, the scheme for disposing of rubbish by incineration. The 153 foot high chimney was eventually demolished on 30 October 1930 and the recreation ground was laid out through a scheme for the relief of unemployment. It was partly grassed with the remainder paved and provided with see-saws and swings.
Lambeth Cemetery was established as additional burial space for the parish of St Mary Lambeth in 1853/4, 12 hectares having been purchased from Samuel Martin of Garratt Lane. The cemetery was laid out on a grid pattern, with brick gothic lodges and chapels designed by Frederick K Wehnert and John Ashdown. The cost of land, layout and buildings amounted to £21,500. In 1874 the Burial Board acquired a further c.4.45 hectares as the need for additional space grew and by 1889 there had been over 109,000 burials here. The Crematorium was added in the 1970s towards the north of the cemetery.
Streatham Cemetery was set up by Streatham Burial Board in 1892. The cemetery has a formal layout with two chapels facing each other on either side of a circular processional route directly opposite the main entrance. The stone lodges and chapels were designed by William Newton-Dunn in the gothic style. Some of the older headstones have now been laid flat. Interesting monuments include the pile of granite blocks on the Krall grave (1903) and Henry Budden's small blue terracotta temple (1907). The cemetery is well planted and there are a number of historically interesting tombs, including that of Sir Wyke Bayliss (d.1905), President of the Royal Society of British Artists.