Belair Park is a park located in the

West Dulwich West Dulwich ( ) is a neighbourhood in South London on the southern boundary of Brockwell Park, which straddles the London Borough of Lambeth and the London Borough of Southwark. Croxted Road and South Croxted Road mark the boundary between S ...

part of the

London Borough of Southwark The London Borough of Southwark ( ) in South London forms part of Inner London and is connected by bridges across the River Thames to the City of London and London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas ...

, southeast

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The park grounds once belonged to Belair House, a country villa built in

Adam style The Adam style (or Adamesque and "Style of the Brothers Adam") is an 18th-century neoclassical style of interior design and architecture, as practised by Scottish architect William Adam and his sons, of whom Robert (1728–1792) and James (17 ...

that is now a Grade II listed building. There are also two other Grade II listed structures within the park: the lodge and entrance gate, and an old stable building.

Park grounds

The park, which is in area, is bordered by the South Circular Road and Gallery Road. It has recently been refurbished with upgraded

tennis court A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both Types of tennis match, doubles and singles matches. A variet ...

s and the addition of a

skate board A skateboard is a type of sports equipment used for skateboarding. They are usually made of a specially designed 7-8 ply maple plywood deck and polyurethane wheels attached to the underside by a pair of skateboarding trucks. The skateboarder ...

facility. The

has plans to make the park more widely accessible. The circuit around the park using its paved paths is approximately . The lake is the only substantial stretch of the ancient

River Effra The River Effra is a former set of streams in south London, England, culverted and used mainly for storm sewerage. It had been a tributary of the Thames. Its catchment waters, where not drained to aquifer soakaways and surface water drains, ha ...

remaining above ground.Dulwich Green Spaces
.

History

1785–1818

The estate consisted of two farms until it was leased to John Willes in 1785. Willes, a maize farmer of Whitechapel, erected a house, possibly with help from

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and trained under him. With his ...

, but more likely from Henry Holland. This house was named College Place and the lake, as mentioned by Willes when he first leased the land from

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2–19 Independent school (United Kingdom), independent, Day school, day and boarding school for Single-sex education, boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a Public school (United Kingdom), public school, it began as the Col ...

, was beyond the original boundary of the estate.

1818–1859

After John Willes' death in 1818, solicitor Charles Ranken acquired the property and renamed the house Belair.

1859–1893

Charles Hutton, a wool merchant and sheriff of London and

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbour ...

, purchased the remainder of the lease. It would seem that the majority of structural changes occurred during his ownership. North and south wings, together with conservatories and numerous outbuildings were constructed. Eventually, Belair grew to 47 rooms. Hutton lived there with his wife, their eleven children, and ten live-in servants. However, the house fell into disrepair when Hutton's Berlin wool business started to lose money.

1893–1938

Sir

Evan Spicer Sir Evan Spicer (20 April 1849 – 22 December 1937) was a British Liberal and London Progressive politician who served for 30 years on the London County Council. Background Spicer was the son of James Spicer. He was educated at Mill Hill Scho ...

of Spicer's paper merchants was granted a lease. In his time, the property had a farm with cows, pigs, chickens, ducks and horses. In the coach house by the Gallery Road entrance, there was a coach and horses to take Sir Evan and his family across Dulwich Park to Emmanuel Church in Barry Road on Sundays. The original pump outside the coach house, which was used to water the horses, is still there. Sir Evan Spicer was the last private owner of the Belair Estate.

1938–1946

Belair was sold by auction after Spicer's death. With the onset of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, it again fell into a state of ruin. It was used first as a store, then as premises for the military.

1946–1980

Southwark Council Southwark London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Southwark in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. History There have previously been a numbe ...

purchased the lease. The main building had to be rebuilt from ground level, retaining only the original staircase. Completed in 1964, the house was restored as Willes had built it, without the extra wings and conservatories.

1980–1995

Under council ownership, Belair served a similar purpose to that of a village hall. The facilities were variously used for ballet lessons or as changing rooms. The only maintenance during this time was the painting of the exterior.

1996–2002

Gary Cady took over the running of Belair House and oversaw a complete refurbishment of the entire building, turning it into a restaurant and bar.

2002–2004

Sam Hajaj took over Belair House for two years until November 2004. No major work was carried out in this period.

2004–2013

Ibi Issolah became proprietor and took over Belair House, renaming it Beauberry House. Major refurbishment was done creating two new open-air diners, an outside bar terrace with a 2 am licence (Thursday, Friday, Saturday) and a terrace diner. The first floor was made into a private dining room and bar. The establishment then reopened on St Valentine's Day, 2006.

2013–present

Alan Dugard and local resident Arron Curtis took the reins at Beauberry House and returned its name to Belair House. With extensive interior refurbishing, the house was restored to its Georgian heritage. Belair House now features a warm cocktail bar, sumptuous dining room, craft ale house and multipurpose event space. The official opening took place during the festive season of 2013.

References

External links

Friends of Belair Park
{{Authority control Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Southwark Dulwich 1726 establishments in Great Britain