Burgess Park is down in south London in the Borough of Southwark SE5 and close to the Old Kent Road (see Monopoly Mondays blog here). Despite being largely unknown outside the area it is Southwark’s largest park, linking Camberwell and Walworth in the west to Peckham and the Old Kent Road in the east. It also has a canal bridge, a Lime Kiln, and on its edge a 19th century library and public baths complex and these remnants of its industrial heritage tell a great story.
The canal was known as the Grand Surrey Canal which used to run right through the main drag of what is now the park – see map. It was originally built 1801-1811 to service the many market gardeners in this area so that they could more easily get their produce to market in London.
From the perspective of the 21st century the idea of canals looks terribly romantic but also rather mad ! Digging such huge constructions across perfectly good farmland to transfer goods just a few miles seems excessive.
Until you consider that the only form of non-human locomotion available at this time was animals. Specifically the horse. Even in 1901 there were 300,000 horses at work in London: imagine the traffic jam of horse and cart ! Imagine the…well…horse leavings…… (Traffic and manure came together nicely with the worst song by the best band: The Jam’s “London Traffic”, off the difficult second album ! London Traffic – The Jam YouTube)
London traffic has pretty much always been an issue, hence why the medieval wealthy travelled by river. So when the canal concept started to expand, people soon saw the benefit of avoiding the traffic jams, moving goods quickly to the heart of London via the connection to the river, the docks and later the Regents Canal connecting east, west and north London.
Of course it only lasted for a few years before it all came crashing down when the railways really took off in the 1840s, but that’s another story. However it does explain why we have this “Bridge to Nowhere” in the middle of an otherwise normal urban park.
The Lime Kiln is another example of an unintended consequence of development. The massive London building boom of the early 19th century needed greater and greater quantities of mortar, but people were less and less prepared to accept industrial and chemical manufacturing near their homes.
Hence limeburning (the process by which limestone is turned into quicklime – the key ingredient in mortar) needed to take place further out of town. This meant access to transport became even more vital hence in 1816 builders’ suppliers Edward R Burtt & Sons established their lime kiln here right next to the market gardeners’ canal. Lime kilns were once common, but few now survive in such beautiful condition.
Quicklime made in this way has another fun use which is that it emits a bright light when burned. Hence it was used for lighting in Victorian theatre…. In 1837 used for the first time at London’s Covent Garden. From where we get the phrase the “limelight”.
The library and public baths, like the canal and lime kiln are here as a consequence of the Industrial Revolution and the consequent boom in London’s population. (From 1 million inhabitants in 1801 to 6 million by 1901).
Specifically the library and public baths were paid for largely by John Passmore Edwards in 1903 on land donated by Lord Llangattock. Lord Llangattock is less renowned for philanthropy but was the father of Charles Stewart Rolls (yes, the posh cars bloke) however Passmore Edwards is a very interesting character. (NB painting by G.F. Watts – see 1# Postman’s Park – Parks & Recreation Blog – Aug 2021)
A lifelong champion of the working classes, Passmore Edwards was a largely self-taught son of a Cornish carpenter who rose to become a newspaper proprietor, MP and major philanthropist. When he first started his philanthropy there were few opportunities for the poor to access hospitals and education in the form of libraries or schools. There was also a lack of clean drinking water and most private homes of the poor did not include own laundry and washing facilities. Over the space of 14 years Passmore-Edwards therefore established 70 major buildings including hospitals, drinking fountains, libraries, schools and art galleries concentrated in London.
So despite significant local bombing by Zeppelins in 1917 and in the Blitz of the Second World War, the baths, Lime Kiln and canal continued well into the late 20th century. Although the idea of a local park started in 1943, it was the decline of Thames river trade and the Docklands which led to gradual closure and eventually the creation of Burgess Park, which was named in 1973 after Councillor Jessie Burgess, Camberwell’s first woman Mayor.
Burgess Park is also a classic case of the dilemma of the public open space which has been dogging (I use the word advisedly) London’s parks, gardens and squares since the very first purpose-built garden square Bloomsbury Square in the 1650s.
Burgess Park has a cricket pitch, football pitch, tennis courts, fishing, BMX track, outdoor gym and café. When I visited in Summer 2021 it looked just like what it should be – “one of south London’s biggest and most beautiful open spaces, and a place that families and local people can safely enjoy”.
The beautiful image of the Camberwell Beauty butterfly on the side of the library reminds us of its once rural nature. However it has also often been a venue for impromptu musical events, particularly during the 2020 lockdown when illegal raves happened almost every night during the summer. This led to an injunction being approved in August 2020 by the High Court banning any gatherings including UMEs (Unlicensed Music Events).
The reason why most of London’s garden squares are “Key Gardens” is a similar problem. When originally open to the public in the 17th and 18th centuries, they were misused in the opinion of the wealthy owners of the properties surrounding them. Hence the wealthy put up fences, locked the gates and set them aside for the privileged. (See Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts climbing over that key garden fence in Notting Hill.)
And getting a key to a private garden can be quite a difficult feat. One American couple in South Kensington failed to get keys despite spending hundreds of thousands of pounds in court over their right to access to Ovington Square in Chelsea. (Key Garden Cost)
So the continued provision of public spaces like Burgess Park is vital, so as to avoid the dangers of privilege and small minded people who want to keep out those not like them. Something for which Passmore Edwards would have campaigned passionately.
On the other hand, most of us wouldn’t want to live next door to an open-air live music venue which regularly parties at volume until 4 a.m. !
