King's Stairs Gardens is a riverside

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

in Bermondsey, London. It is bordered to the north by the River Thames and to the south by Jamaica Road (A200), the other side of which is

Southwark Park Southwark Park is located in Rotherhithe, in central South East London, England, and is managed by the London Borough of Southwark. It first opened in 1869 by the Metropolitan Board of Works as one of its first parks. It was designed by Alexander ...

Beginnings

In July 1947, the London County Council (LCC) declared Bermondsey a reconstruction area and, as part of wholesale post-war regeneration, approved the idea of extending

to the river. The idea of a link to the river pre-dated the Second World War by a few years, but the post-war need to reconstruct gave this aim more resonance. In January 1948, the LCC Planning Committee endorsed the policy of a park by the river at

King's Stairs Kings or King's may refer to: * Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The '' Shahnameh ...

riverside. Putting the policy into practice proved to be a slow business because of a combination of objections from, among others, Bermondsey Council and local businesses. For instance, in 1953, the County of London Plan was subject to an Inquiry, and the Bermondsey and Rotherhithe Chambers of Commerce objected to the park extension. In September 1954, the

Ministry of Housing A housing authority or ministry of housing is generally a governmental body that governs aspects of housing or (called in general "shelter" or "living spaces"), often providing low rent or free apartments to qualified residents. The existence of ...

approved the compulsory purchase of land to extend the park, but this took a few years to implement. In 1960, the LCC approved a design for the King's Stairs riverside walk, which was opened in November 1962. In January 1963, the LCC approved the name King's Stairs Gardens. In 1964, the LCC agreed to a grassy area to the south of The Angel public house. Again, the implementation seems to have been delayed due to financial constraints, and it was not until 1968 that the

Greater London Council The Greater London Council (GLC) was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council (LCC) which had covered a much smaller area. The GLC was dissolved in 198 ...

(the successor body to the LCC) reappraised the site and agreed to three green space additions. These were finally completed by 1982, and it is in that form that King's Stairs Gardens still exists today.

Queen Elizabeth II's Jubilee 1977

For the Silver Jubilee of the reign of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

in 1977, a

memorial stone A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, ...

was unveiled by Her Majesty on the banks of the River Thames in King's Stairs Gardens. To coincide with the summer 2002 restoration works in nearby Southwark Park and to commemorate the

Golden Jubilee A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali ''"সু ...

, a new memorial stone was unveiled in King's Stairs Gardens by the Earl and

Countess of Wessex Earl of Wessex is a title that has been created twice in British history – once in the pre-Conquest Anglo-Saxon nobility of England, and once in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. In the 6th century AD the region of Wessex (the lands of the W ...

. The Earl and Countess returned in 2012, on the occasion of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, to unveil an additional inscription.

Conservation and Thames Water plans

Thames Water named the park in September 2010 as one possible site for works as part of the planned construction of the Thames Tideway Tunnel, but following a consultation process and a vigorous local campaign ("the Save King's Stairs Gardens Campaign), Thames Water decided against using the site, choosing Chambers Wharf instead. The park was also given village green status in March 2012 by the London Borough of Southwark under the Commons Act 2006, a move which reduced the likelihood of any future such threat. In 2013,

Fields in Trust Fields in Trust, is a British charity set up in 1925 as the National Playing Fields Association (NPFA), by Brigadier-General Reginald Kentish and the Duke of York, later King George VI, who was the first president, which protects parks and green s ...

gained protection. Together with the nearby King Edward III manor house, the park forms part of Southwark Council's Edward III's Rotherhithe

Conservation Area Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...

References

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