Oaks Park is a public park in

Carshalton Carshalton ( ) is a town, with a historic village centre, in south London, England, within the London Borough of Sutton. It is situated around southwest of Charing Cross and around east by north of Sutton town centre, in the valley of the Rive ...

in the

London Borough of Sutton The London Borough of Sutton () is an Outer London London boroughs, borough in south London, England. It covers an area of and is the 80th largest local authority in England by population. It borders the London Borough of Croydon to the east, ...

. It is bounded on the south by Croydon Lane (A2022), and on the east by Woodmansterne Road; smaller roads lie to the west and north.

History

The park was substantially laid out for the

Earl of Derby Earl of Derby ( ) is a title in the Peerage of England. The title was first adopted by Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby, under a creation of 1139. It continued with the Ferrers family until the 6th Earl forfeited his property toward the en ...

in the 1770s and changes were made for

John Burgoyne General (United Kingdom), General John "Gentleman Johnny" Burgoyne (24 February 1722 – 4 August 1792) was a British Army officer, playwright and politician who sat in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1761 to 1792. He first saw acti ...

in the 1790s for the existing villa (built around 1750 for one Thomas Gosling). The fashionable landscape style was employed with trees forming a perimeter screen and placed in artful clumps to suggest a natural landscape. The house, which was partly rebuilt by

Robert Taylor (architect) Sir Robert Taylor (1714 – 27 September 1788) was an English architect and sculptor who worked in London and the south of England. Early life Born at Woodford, Essex, Taylor followed in his father's footsteps and started working as a stonema ...

for John Burgoyne in 1775 and by

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 (architect), William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and train ...

for the 12th Earl of Derby in 1790, was demolished between 1956 and 1960 but the bakehouse, stable block and some outbuildings remain. Carshalton and District History and Archaeology Society carried out an archaeological investigation in July 2009.

The Oaks horserace

The estate lent its name to the Oaks horserace which was inaugurated by the Earl in 1779 and is run annually during the

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

meeting at

Epsom Downs Racecourse Epsom Downs is a Grade 1 racecourse in a hilly area near Epsom in Surrey, England which is used for thoroughbred horse racing. The "Downs" referred to in the name are part of the North Downs. The course has a crowd capacity of 130,000 including ...

, about 4 miles to the west. The original Oaks Race ran from Barrow Hedges, north of The Oaks and through Oaks Park before heading west to approximately the site of the current

. Part of the off-road route still exists.

Recreation

There is a public golf course and sports centre forming part of the open space. The park itself contains a craft centre, a café and a downland countryside walk. The Oaks Sport Centre has a public golf course and a new indoor climbing and caving centre. There is a

bridle path A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now serve a wider ...

that goes around the perimeter of the park for riding, cycling, and walking. The park is on a section of the

National Cycle Network The National Cycle Network (NCN) was established to encourage cycling and walking throughout the United Kingdom, as well as for the purposes of bicycle touring. It was created by the charity Sustrans who were aided by a £42.5 million N ...

(Route 20). A leisure trail along the

River Wandle The River Wandle is a right-bank tributary of the River Thames in south London, England. With a total length of about , the river passes through the London boroughs of London Borough of Croydon, Croydon, London Borough of Sutton, Sutton, Londo ...

from

Wandsworth Wandsworth Town () is a district of south London, within the London Borough of Wandsworth southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Toponymy Wandsworth takes its name ...

, starts two miles away from the park at

and is available from the

Sustrans Sustrans ( ) is a United Kingdom-based walking, wheeling and cycling charity, and the custodian of the National Cycle Network. Its flagship project is the National Cycle Network, which has created of signed cycle routes throughout the United ...

website. The Wandle–Oaks Link joins the park to the Wandle Trail. Section 6 of the

London Loop The London Outer Orbital Path—more usually the "London LOOP"—is a 150-mile (242 km) signed walk along public footpaths, and through parks, woods and fields around the edge of Outer London, England, described as "the M25 for walke ...

enters the park. South of the park and close to Croydon Lane is the Mayfield Lavender Field. The field is spectacular during the midsummer months, filling the park with

lavender ''Lavandula'' (common name lavender) is a genus of 47 known species of perennial flowering plants in the sage family, Lamiaceae. It is native plant, native to the Old World, primarily found across the drier, warmer regions of the Mediterranean ...

aroma.

Local transport

The nearest railway station to the park is at

Carshalton Beeches Carshalton ( ) is a town, with a historic village centre, in south London, England, within the London Borough of Sutton. It is situated around southwest of Charing Cross and around east by north of Sutton town centre, in the valley of the Rive ...

, which is less than a mile walk along Woodmansterne Road. Trains serve various places in

South London South London is the southern part of Greater London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, Lon ...

from here. The 166 bus route serves the park at the Croydon Lane end of the park. The bus route serves

Banstead Banstead is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England. It is south of Sutton, London, Sutton, south-west of Croydon, north of Reigate, south-east of Kingston-upon-Thames, and south of Central London. On the North Dow ...

, Purley, and

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

Notes

External links

Oaks Park Sports Centre

A local guide to the North Downs

Map of area from Streetmap

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