Home and News About the Park About the Friends Membership and Contact Events
HOME PAGE
240 acres (85 hectares) of open space. Ancient Woodland, Grass/meadow areas, Riverside and Heritage features.
Newsletter latest September 2021 edition. Also see the links on the Newsletters Archive pageNew Website Dark Mode design; Some say it is easier to read and also requires less energy from your phone or laptop? Let us know if you don't like it. Not all pages redesigned yet. Events; see events page; September History Walk, Sensory garden workdays. Membership of the Friends is free just email us your details. Our aims are the continued conservation of the parks natural and heritage features. See the History links for updated history information. Our research into the history of Beckenham Place has uncovered several aspects Beckenham's history as well as some nearby Bromley and Lewisham facts. These will be added to regular edits and are held on this site in .pdf format. Did you know John Evelyn the diarist briefly owned part of the Manor of Beckenham with his two brothers from 1648-1650? Frederick St.John/Lord Bolingbroke had leased Beckenham Manor to the Burrells, Raymonds, Cator and Thomas Motley and others circa 1768. Some early historical facts by Hasted and other writers have been found to be wrong or at least challenged. Scandals, intrigue and even murder are included in the story. We are now producing the history pages in .pdf format and with a good browser or pdf reader you can search the articles for "foxgrove" "Langley" "Kelsey" "Cator" "Burrell" etc. Sensory Garden - When Covid restrictions are not being applied our volunteer team regularly undertake work once a month and often every 2 weeks in the growing season. Sensory Garden pdf A leaflet explaining the uses and design of the sensory garden. Volunteers welcome. see the Events page, saturday mornings 10am to 12noon.Visitor Centre Closure: the visitor centre was closed on the 8th March 2020 as the room had to be vacated by mid March before Covid lockdown began and unconnected with it. The Visitor Centre has been run by the Friends since 1995 and been in the Mansion since 2000. The centre was run voluntarily and has been the only interpretation and awareness facility for park visitors during that time. The Friends have, as well as running the visitor centre, organized a program of walks and events, carried out conservation work and maintained the Sensory Garden. We have facilitated fund raising for the Sensory Garden (about £25,000), a Nature Trail and park signage. Most recently about £50,000 has been raised for restoration of the Ancient Pond and installation of a path and pond dipping platform. Thank you to all our visitors, members and volunteers who have enabled the Visitor Centre over the past years and hope we can find a way to continue into the future. Lewisham Open Spaces Forum a group made up of representatives of park Friends groups, for example Friends of: Chinbrook Meadows, Ladywell Fields, Telegraph Hill, Blythe Hill Fields, Hilly Fields, Sydenham Wells, Home Park, Mayow Park to mention a few. The Forum will address issues and problems arising in park use and management. See the Forum page and newsletters. Beckenham Place Nature Trail: The trail was established before the recent works in the park but the leaflet may help visitors find their way around The leaflet is on this link pdf file and on our pamphlets page via 'Events' page, or use this easy to print file for directions. Also a .kml file of waypoints which will work with smartphone, google earth and tablet map and gps apps to show the waypoints for the nature trail. Also, a .gpx file of the route so that you technofiles can have all the electronic aids available. I like the Maverick Android mapping app. We are working on a version that wont display upside down on a digital screen.Contact us at bpp.friends@ntlworld.comPark
Features:
About the Park (see
other pages for full history etc.) The first
time
or occasional visitor to BPP may not appreciate its true extent. The
Park lies
on the Lewisham/Bromley border strictly speaking between Downham,
Bellingham,
Beckenham and Shortlands. It
was acquired from
the Cator Estate by the LCC circa 1927, passed through the hands of the
GLC and
then on to the London Borough of Lewisham. A 'well kept secret' from
many
Londoners, the park has been thought of as a private golf course or
private
house and grounds as it is not widely publicised. It does lie on the
Green
Chain Walk and Capital Ring. A railway bisects the park and the only
routes
joining both parts are the bridge north of woodland called the Ash
Plantation
or by leaving and re-entering the park in the viscinity of Ravensbourne
Railway
Station or bridge near Beckenham Hill Station. Hence the railway
effectively
divides the park into West and East. Beckenham
Place Park
is the surviving nucleus of what was once a large estate of park and
farm land. The
history of the
park and its environs is extensive and is covered in other Friends
publications
and the About and History pages on this site. Information is available
in the
Friends of BPP Visitor Centre (see navigation hyperlink). Various
references to
Beckenham Place Park, The Cator family and the history are on the
internet and
other publications, all are subject to some correction as varioius
assumptions
have been made. We attempt to seek accuracy where possible. The best
references
have been written by Pat Manning and the late Eric Inman.
Even these are
updatable by more recent discoveries enabled by records appearing on
the
internet. The
park's life as a
public recreation area began around 1927/29 when the park was purchased
by the
London County Council and London Borough of Lewisham to satisfy a need
for
public open space in the area as the large housing estates of
Bellingham and
Downham were being developed. The
historic and
'listed' buildings in the park include The Mansion, The Stables and
Homesteads
(and Garden Cottage), Southend Lodge (gatehouse). See the About the
Park page
and other pages of this website for more information. |
       |
