Danson Park - WikiHQ

Danson Park is a public park in the London Borough of Bexley, South East London, located between Welling and Bexleyheath. At 75 hectares, and the most used by the community. Opened in 1925, it is often considered the finest green open space in the borough, The park also gives its name to the electoral ward that covers the park and the surrounding area. The park is located at . The southern boundary of both the park and the ward is delineated by Rochester Way, the A2 road.

History

The area now occupied by the park had previously been part of the church and then crown estates, before being occupied by John Styleman and then Sir John Boyd, 1st Baronet, both senior figures in the British East India Company. In the 1760s, Boyd built Danson House, a Grade I-listed Georgian mansion that stands in the centre of the park, and commissioned much of the landscaping that can be seen in the park today. The landscape was designed and laid out between 1761 and 1763, by either Capability Brown or his assistant Nathaniel Richmond. At its centre is a large and picturesque 12-acre (49,000 m<sup>2</sup>) lake, described by Edward Hasted in his History and Topographical Survey of the County of Kent of 1797 as "a most magnificent sheet of water so contrived as to seem a beautiful serpentine river, flowing through the grounds". A small house with a spire, named Chapel House, was constructed to the south of the lake, which is now separated from the rest of the park by a motorway, There was also a statue of the Roman goddess Diana in the park.

The other key previous occupant of the estates was Alfred Bean, a railway engineer who bought the property in 1862. and chairman of Bexley Local Board, and envisaged transforming the now 582-acre (2.4km<sup>2</sup>) estate into a residential suburb. Outlying areas were sold off for residential development according to Bean's will, An open-air swimming pool opened in 1936, and in 1964 the Boathouse and Cafe opened to the public. The park is now used extensively by the community. There are also three gardens open to the public: the English Garden, located over the road from Danson House; the Rock Garden, at the western end of the park; and the Peace Garden in the south-eastern corner. Sports facilities in the park include football pitches, hard-surface tennis courts, bowling greens, obstacle courses, an outdoor gym and cycle routes, as well as a popular children's playground with a small water park. and The Boathouse, a function suite and restaurant near the lake.

Danson Festival

Until 2013 the park played host to the Danson Festival, an annual large-scale two-day event run by Bexley Council, which attracted up to 60,000 visitors to the park. The AllStars with Jocelyn Brown, Alexander O'Neal, X-factor's Rowetta, and Peter Andre and Katie Price.

In 2014 the festival was cancelled due to poor condition of the grounds. The council cancelled the festival again in 2015 for the same reason, with the suggestion that the measure could be permanent, and the festival has not taken place since.

Local government ward

thumb|256px|Danson Park ward (green) within the [[London Borough of Bexley (yellow)]]

Danson Park was a ward of the London Borough of Bexley. The population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 10,864. In the council elections of 2014, Danson Park ward returned Linda Bailey, Sharon Massey and John Waters as councillors, all from the Conservative Party. In 2017 the Danson Park ward was abolished, and the park is now in the Falconwood and Welling ward.

References

External links

Danson Park ward map at Bexley.gov