The Grove Park, or The Grove is a public park in

Carshalton Carshalton ( ) is a town, with a historic village centre, in south London, England, within the London Borough of Sutton. It is situated around southwest of Charing Cross and around east by north of Sutton town centre, in the valley of the Rive ...

in the

London Borough of Sutton The London Borough of Sutton () is an Outer London London boroughs, borough in south London, England. It covers an area of and is the 80th largest local authority in England by population. It borders the London Borough of Croydon to the east, ...

. It is situated close to Carshalton Village in the area approximately bounded by the High Street, North Street and Mill Lane. The southwest corner of the park abuts one of Carshalton's ponds (''Lower Pond'') from where water flows through the park as the

river Wandle The River Wandle is a right-bank tributary of the River Thames in south London, England. With a total length of about , the river passes through the London boroughs of London Borough of Croydon, Croydon, London Borough of Sutton, Sutton, Londo ...

History

The park land was in

mediaeval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and t ...

times part of the manor of Stone Court, then consisting mainly of meadows. The manor house was situated at the corner of North Street and Mill Lane. The original Tudor house was re-built in about 1710; recently (2005) there was an archaeological investigation into the remains of this building. In the early 19th century a new house called The Grove was built on the other side of the river on higher ground and is the large house seen today. The remaining outbuildings of Stone Court were converted to what are now education department offices. The Grove, including the ornamental gardens, was bought by Carshalton Urban District Council in 1924 and the park was opened to the public several years later.

Features of interest

The Leoni Bridge

Where Grove Park meets the Lower Pond there is a white

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone geological formation (formally named the Portland Stone Formation) dating to the Tithonian age of the Late Jurassic that is quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. The quarries are cut in beds of whi ...

bridge. This is sometimes referred to as the ''Leoni Bridge'' as it is conjectured that the Venetian architect

Giacomo Leoni Giacomo Leoni (; 1686 – 8 June 1746), also known as James Leoni, was an List of Italian architects, Italian architect, born in Venice. He was a devotee of the work of Florence, Florentine Renaissance architecture, Renaissance architect Leon Ba ...

designed it. Leoni had been commissioned to design a new mansion for Carshalton Park during the early 18th century, but the mansion itself was never constructed."Carshalton", ''The Environs of London'' volume 1: County of Surrey (1792), pp. 122–36. Daniel Lysons.

The Grove House

The house's early history is obscure, but it is shown on an 1847 map and so precedes this date. The building is now occupied by departments of the London Borough of Sutton.

Upper Mill

It is likely that a

watermill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as mill (grinding), milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in ...

existed here from Anglo-Saxon times,''The Book of Carshalton: At the source of the Wandle'', based on talks by Michael Wilks, published 2002. although much of the current structure is a recent restoration (2004) carried out after a fire.

The Cascade

The cascade is near the footbridge towards the Stone Court corner of the park. The 1.5m fall is now ornamental in design and was reconstructed in the 1960s. The original purpose was to create a head of water to power Upper Mill, which is nearby.

Recreation

To the east of The Grove House there are recreation grounds extending as far as the Westcroft Leisure Centre. There is an enclosed children's playground,

miniature golf Miniature golf (also known as minigolf, putt-putt, crazy golf, and by #Nomenclature, several other names) is an offshoot of the sport of golf focusing solely on the putting aspect of its parent game. The aim of the game is to score the lowest ...

, cafeteria, ball court, bowling green and other facilities.

Transport

The park is a short walk from

Carshalton railway station Carshalton railway station is a railway station at Carshalton in the London Borough of Sutton in South London. It is located between Sutton and Hackbridge. The station is served by Southern and Thameslink. It is in Travelcard Zone 5. From he ...

, turning left on exit. The park is also on the route of Transport for London buses 127 and

157 Year 157 ( CLVII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Civica and Aquillus (or, less frequently, year 910 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 157 for this ye ...

, alighting at the ''Carshalton Ponds'' stop.

References

External links

Map of area from Streetmap
{{Parks and open spaces in London Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Sutton Carshalton