Brockwell Park

Brockwell Park is a large park set within a hilly landscape and comprising a network of ponds, trees (including ancient oaks), a walled 'Old English' flower garden and wide, open meadows.

Originally the private residence of John Blades, a famous London glass merchant, it was acquired by the Metropolitan Board of Works in the late 19th Century. It was then laid out as a landscaped park, and formally opened to the general public in 1892.

Brockwell Park is fortunate to contain a large number of historic buildings and other features, some of which go back to before when it was acquired as a public park. These include Brockwell Hall, the Brockwell Lido, the Walled Garden, ponds, and a charming 19th-century Tritton clock tower, as well as a well-laid out network of paths and vistas.

Brockwell Park is also home to a ride-on miniature railway and a popular BMX track, both of which are run by the community. It contains a wide mixture of formal and informal sports and play facilities, including a large children’s playground and wet play area, tennis and basketball courts, and grass football pitches. It is also home to the Lambeth Country Show, which usually runs over two days in the third week of July each year, as well as a wide range of commercial and community events.

The park is well known for the diversity of community groups which play an active role in its development, including Brockwell Park Community Greenhouses, and the Friends of Brockwell Park who help look after the Walled Garden and an annual new tree planting programme. The Brockwell Park Community Partners act as the body representing these many different stakeholders, to help ensure the park continues to be well managed and everybody’s needs and expectations are supported.

Brockwell Park is also a Borough "Site of Importance for Nature Conservation" (or SINC) for the London Borough of Lambeth. This is in recognition of its importance not just for wildlife, but also for people living in both Lambeth and London to enjoy access to nature.

Brockwell Park is one of Lambeth's Green Flag Award-winning parks, as well as a 'Green Flag Heritage' park. It is also a holder of  ‘Park of the Year’, a ‘Heritage Park’, 'Large Conservation Area' and a ‘Walled Garden of the Year’ awards from London in Bloom. These awards recognise the achievements made to provide visitors to and residents of Lambeth with a clean, safe, welcoming and popular open space they can all be proud of.

Rewilding Brockwell Park Project

Over the next year or so, you'll be seeing some interesting yet subtle changes to Brockwell Park, which are designed to add more biodiversity and wildlife interest across more of the park. This includes converting an area of amenity grassland between the Brixton Water Lane entrance and the location for the BMX track and former Redgra pitches into a wildflower species-rich meadow grassland, along with raised ridges and wetland areas, with funding provided through the Mayor of London's 'Rewilding London Fund'. This is to make this area of the park more colourful, better for wildlife and increase park user's access to enjoyment of nature. It also complements a recent programme of new tree and native hedge planting which you can see across many different places in the park

Other forthcoming projects include planting additional pollinator-friendly native hedges and flower, fruit and nut-rich shrub banks in other key locations. These will provide food and shelter for species like hedgehogs, shrews and voles, as well as ground feeding and low-nesting birds, and refugia for amphibians such as  frogs and toads, all of which are found in Brockwell Park but still need our help to prevent their decline or loss.

We'll always welcome help and assistance from community and business volunteers on these projects, so please keep a check on this page for forthcoming announcements as to planting days throughout the year. 

Other useful information

• Brockwell Park Community Partners (BPCP) - Brockwell Park Community Partners
• Green Flag Award - Green Flag Award
• London in Bloom - London In Bloom
• Find out more about booking tennis courts in parks and open spaces.
• Find out more about booking other sports facilities in Brockwell Park.