Myatt's Fields Park
| Myatt's Fields Park | |
|---|---|
 Myatt's Fields Park in winter | |
  Location within central London | |
| Type | Public park |
| Location | London,England |
| Coordinates | 51°28′24″N0°06′12″W/ 51.473333°N 0.103333°W |
| Status | Open year round |
| Website | www |
Myatt's Fields Parkis a 14-acre Victorian park inCamberwellin theLondon Borough of LambethinSouth London,England,2.9 miles south-east ofCharing Cross.
History
[edit]The majority of the area of Myatt's Fields belonged to the estate of Sir Hughes Minet, who in 1770 bought 118 acres of land fromSir Edward Knatchbullon the border of Camberwell and Lambeth. Minet was a third generation descendant of Isaac Minet, a French Huguenot refugee who had fled France following the 1685Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.The names of some of the streets around the park, such as Calais Street and Cormont Road, refer to Minet's French connection.[1]
In 1889, Hughes Minet's descendantWilliam Minetgave 14½ acres of land then in the parish ofCamberwellto theLondon County Councilto be used for a public park. Initially to be called Camberwell Park, the name Myatt’s Fields was settled on in 1889. In 1900 the irregular Lambeth/Camberwell boundary was tidied up, transferring the park from Camberwell to Lambeth. TheMetropolitan Public Gardens Associationthen spent some £10,000 on the layout of the park, and it was opened on 13 April 1889.[2]In 1935, William Minet's daughter, Susan Minet, gave a further quarter of an acre of land near the junction of Knatchbull Road and Calais Street to the park. Minet family philanthropy also resulted in the construction on the adjacent Knatchbull Road of the neighbouring St James the Apostle church (now converted to flats),[3]theMinet Library,and Longfield Hall, a community hall.[4]
The park was designed byFanny Wilkinson,Britain's first professional woman landscape gardener.[5]Wilkinson was assisted by Emmeline Sieveking, the daughter ofQueen Victoria's physician, SirEdward Sieveking.[6]It is named after Joseph Myatt, a tenantmarket gardener,who grewstrawberriesandrhubarb(for which he was famed) on the land in the 19th century.[7]The park'smulberry treemay date from the land's previous use as a market garden.[8]
In 2009, a £2.6m renovation of the park was completed with funding from theHeritage Lottery Fundand Lambeth Council, as well as £300,000 raised by the Myatt's Fields Park Project Group. The MFPPG is run by local volunteers and was chaired from 2000 until 2011 by Lindsay Avebury (the daughter ofPamela Hansford Johnsonand the wife ofEric Lubbock).[9]The current chair is Marjorie Landels.[10]
Both the park itself and the bandstand in it areGrade II listed.[11][12]
The singerFlorence WelchofFlorence and the Machinegrew up near the park and has said that her earliest memory was of climbing trees in the park.[13]
The park was once described by former Poet LaureateJohn Betjemanas a "strangely beautiful place."[14]
Features
[edit]The Park includes abandstand,summerhouse, and café. It is also home to tennis courts, a football pitch, basketball court, picnic area, a children's playground and a community greenhouse.
In 2015, Myatt's Field was voted the 9th best park in the UK in a public vote organised by theGreen Flag Award.[15]
References
[edit]- ^"Extended History".Myatt's Fields Park.Retrieved19 February2017.
- ^"Park History - Myatt's Fields Park".Myattsfieldspark.info.Retrieved4 May2017.
- ^"St James the Apostle, Knatchbull Road"(PDF).southwark.anglican.org.Retrieved2 July2020.
- ^"Longfield Hall History".longfieldhall.org.uk.Retrieved2 July2020.
- ^Elizabeth Crawford."A Woman Professional in Bloomsbury: Fanny Wilkinson, Landscape Gardener"(PDF).
- ^"Myatt's Fields Park: An extended history of Myatt's Fields Park".Retrieved21 January2021.
- ^"Myatt's Fields, Denmark Hill and Herne Hill: Introduction and Myatt's Fields area | British History Online".british-history.ac.uk.Retrieved21 February2017.
- ^"Myatts Field Park Mulberry, Camberwell, London | International Plant Location Database".Locations.sprouting.org. 15 July 2009.Retrieved4 May2017.
- ^"Park's £2.6m makeover complete".South London Press.23 June 2009.
- ^"Myatt's Field Park Project: Who We Are".Retrieved26 January2021.
- ^"National Heritage List Entry No 1000822".Retrieved26 January2021.
- ^"National Heritage List Entry No 1357895".Retrieved26 January2021.
- ^"Florence Welch - My London".Evening Standard.30 July 2009.Retrieved5 March2017.
- ^"Extended History - Myatt's Fields Park".Myattsfieldspark.info.Retrieved4 May2017.
- ^"Tower Hamlet's Victoria Park voted as the nation's favourite for the second year in a row".Archived fromthe originalon 5 December 2016.Retrieved19 December2016.
External links
[edit]- Information on the park from Lambeth Council
- Myatt's Fields Park Project Group
- Nature Area Management Plan
- British History Online - Myatt's Fields, Denmark Hill and Herne Hill
