The Victorians established Southwark’s parks to provide working-class people with refuge from the stresses of urban life. It’s wonderful that, over 100 years later, their legacy persists.
Take Southwark Park. Between 1830 and 1864, Bermondsey was hit by a series of cholera epidemics. Back then, people generally still believed cholera was airborne. So, a large open space was seen as the solution.
Admittedly, the science was a bit off. However, the principle that green spaces are good for public health was not. In 1856, 250 local people signed a petition for a park and Southwark Park opened in 1869.
Southwark’s outstanding parks recognised in Green Flag Awards
Most of South London’s parks were established with working-class people in mind. Peckham Rye Park was brought into public hands in 1882 over fears it was being misused by private companies. A travelling animal circus that pitched up in 1864 had proved the final straw.
When former Prime Minister Lord Rosebery opened Brockwell Park to the public in 1892, he declared: “Whatever happens, this is preserved to you and your descendants forever as an open space.”
In hindsight, some of the Victorians’ ideas seem a bit ridiculous – think corsets and arsenic-based cosmetics. But making public parks a fulcrum of public health was a masterstroke and it’s great to see Southwark Council, local entrepreneurs and residents building on that legacy.
For example, the council’s diligent upkeep of our green spaces has recently been recognised in the Green Flag Awards. The borough is the proud bearer of 30 flags, the third most in the UK. Southwark Council has also revamped tennis courts at seven different parks, although the decision to charge for their use – and hence reduce accessibility – is questionable.
In Peckham Rye Park, two Lewisham-raised entrepreneurs have re-opened the Peckham Bowls Club after it was left to degrade for eight years. They told us it’s proving a hit with players young and old, helping to ensure Peckham Rye Park remains a place of inter-generational cohesion.
In Rotherhithe, community centre Time & Talents has employed local funding and volunteers to revitalise a once decrepit garden. And right now, Walworth environmentalist Leanne Werner is stateside finding out how to bring urban food-growing to Southwark.
Now more than ever, we need green spaces. Covid-19 lockdowns demonstrated how important parks are, especially to those living in gardenless homes. This has been compounded by the cost-of-living crisis, a time when many of us can only enjoy leisure activities that are free.
The ancient Greeks told us that a society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit. Thankfully, Southwark is the embodiment of that spirit.