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Mountsfield Park is a public park in
Catford Catford is a district in south east London, England, and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Lewisham. It is southwest of Lewisham itself, mostly in the Rushey Green (ward), Rushey Green and Catford South Ward (electoral subdivi ...
, near to Hither Green within the London Borough of
Lewisham Lewisham ( ) is an area of southeast London, England, south of Charing Cross. It is the principal area of the London Borough of Lewisham, and was within the Historic counties of England, historic county of Kent until 1889. It is identified in ...
. It opened in 1905 and has since been greatly enlarged, incorporating a former football ground, The Mount, and adjacent allotments and playing fields. The nearest railway stations are
Hither Green Hither Green is a district in south-east London, England, in the London Borough of Lewisham. It forms the southern part of Lewisham, 6.6 miles (10.6 km) south-east of Charing Cross, and on the Prime Meridian. Growing extensively with ...
,
Ladywell Ladywell is a locale in Lewisham in South East London, England, and a ward in the London Borough of Lewisham between Brockley, Crofton Park and Lewisham proper. It has ample green space including Ladywell Fields and Hilly Fields which borders ...
and
Lewisham Station Lewisham is an interchange station in Lewisham, south-east London. It provides Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and National Rail services. On the National Rail network, it is as measured from and is operated by Southeastern.SoutheasternStat ...
.
Catford Catford is a district in south east London, England, and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Lewisham. It is southwest of Lewisham itself, mostly in the Rushey Green (ward), Rushey Green and Catford South Ward (electoral subdivi ...
and Catford Bridge are also nearby.


History

The core area of the park was originally part of Mountsfield, a substantial house and grounds, built in 1845 for the noted microlepidopterist and
entomologist Entomology (from Ancient Greek ἔντομον (''éntomon''), meaning "insect", and -logy from λόγος (''lógos''), meaning "study") is the branch of zoology that focuses on insects. Those who study entomology are known as entomologists. In ...
Henry Tibbats Stainton Henry Tibbats Stainton (13 August 1822 – 2 December 1892) was an England, English entomologist. He served as an editor for two popular entomology periodicals of his period, ''The Entomologist's Annual'' and ''The Entomologist's Weekly Intellig ...
by his father as a wedding gift. The house and some of parkland lying to the south of it were bequeathed for a park by his widow in 1903, with the park opening to the public in August 1905. Over time, the park was substantially enlarged, with land bought from the School Board for London and further
allotment Allotment may refer to: * Allotment (Dawes Act), an area of land held by the US Government for the benefit of an individual Native American, under the Dawes Act of 1887 * Allotment (finance), a method by which a company allocates over-subscribed ...
land acquired.Museum of London Archaeological Service,
Mountsfield Park, Hither Green, London Borough of Lewisham Archaeological impact assessment
', April 2005. Retrieved 18 February 2024.


The Mount

The southwestern corner of the current park was previously a football ground used by London League side Catford Southend F.C. from about 1909 until the start of
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
in 1914, and then after the war (the 1914 Ordnance Survey map shows the ground situated parallel to Laleham Road with its southern end just north of housing on Brownhill Road). From 1919, football resumed at the ground, with Catford competing in the London League, playing in the 1919–1920 season against another southeast London side,
Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...
before Charlton were promoted into the expanded Southern League for the 1920–1921 campaign. Around this time, a new landlord, Harry Isaacs, took over the Dartmouth Arms on the corner of Laleham and Ringstead Roads. He had ambitious plans for Catford Southend and in early 1923 proposed a merger with Charlton Athletic that would involve the latter relocating to Catford's ground. To accommodate the anticipated larger attendances, the ground was re-oriented towards the northeast – a process that required substantial earthworks to level the ground and create an embankment at the northeast end of the ground, with new terracing supported on concrete columns to the southeast; "44,000 tons of earth had to be dug out and raked into position to form new banking". However, attendances at the newly laid-out ground during the 1923–1924 season did not match expectations, wet weather caused subsidence of The Mount towards Laleham Road, and Charlton departed Catford to return to their home ground, The Valley, in 1924. Catford Southend continued to play at The Mount briefly but the ground was closed in January 1927, and was absorbed into the wider Mountsfield Park.


Post-WWII expansion

A bombed row of houses in George Lane was added after
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and a further tranche of land formerly used as playing fields by Catford Boys School in Brownhill Road was added in 1994. The house itself, which stood in the north-east corner of the park, was demolished in 1905, but stables and outbuildings were retained and used as park keepers’ buildings until a fire destroyed them in 1969. A former museum for Stainton’s entomology collections was a tearoom until its demolition in 1981.


Layout and notable features

Today, the park extends to and there are entrances on Stainton Road, Brownhill Road, George Lane and Carswell Road. The biggest gates to the Park are on Carswell Road. Facilities include football pitches, tennis courts, ball court and children’s play area. Because of its size, location and parking, it is often used for large events, including
Lewisham Borough Council Lewisham London Borough Council, also known as Lewisham Council, is the local authority for the London Borough of Lewisham in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Labour major ...
’s People’s Day event in July, typically attracting crowds of over 30,000. It also hosts the weekly Catford
parkrun Parkrun (stylised as parkrun) is a collection of 5K run, events for runners, walkers and volunteers that take place every Saturday morning at more than 2,000 locations in 23 countries across five continents. Parkrun was founded by Paul Sinto ...
. The park also includes a bandstand, community garden, meadow grassland, and Edwardian rose garden, while areas of high ground offer views west over
Catford Catford is a district in south east London, England, and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Lewisham. It is southwest of Lewisham itself, mostly in the Rushey Green (ward), Rushey Green and Catford South Ward (electoral subdivi ...
and towards
Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...
. It is considered a key park by the borough and has a park keeper on Saturdays and Mondays. Since April 2025 a bronze statue in memory of
Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah is a British grassroots campaigner who raises awareness of asthma and the health problems that can be caused by air pollution. Her work followed the death of her nine-year-old daughter, Ella Roberta Adoo-Kissi-Debrah ...
, the schoolgirl who was the first person to have air pollution recorded as a cause of death on her death certificate, has been situated in the park. The statue was made by sculptor
Hannah Stewart Hannah Stewart is a sculptor from Horsham, in West Sussex, England. She attended Collyer's from 1992 to 1994. After that she studied a foundation course in conservation and restoration at the Lincoln College of Art while it was the "Schoo ...
.


References


External sources


Lewisham Council Mountsfield Park pageFriends of Mountsfield Park
{{Parks and open spaces in London Hither Green Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Lewisham