The Queen's Gardens is a public garden in the centre of

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 ...

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 ...

. The gardens are bordered by Croydon Town Hall, Bernard Weatherill House, the site of the former Taberner House, Park Lane and Katharine Street. In their present form, and under their present name, the gardens and their central fountain were opened by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 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. ...

in 1983. The area had previously consisted of the smaller Town Hall Gardens, and the site of Croydon's police station. The Town Hall Gardens had originally been laid out in the 1890s on the site of the disused spur railway line leading to Croydon Central station. The gardens now comprise areas of lawn with standard trees, a central fountain with benches, and a sunken garden area with formal flower beds and trees exploiting the former track bed and station wall complete with original railings on top. Situated just across from Croydon's

register office A register office, commonly referred to unofficially as a registry office or registrar's office is an office in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and some Commonwealth countries responsible for the civil registration of births, deaths, marri ...

, the gardens are popular for wedding photographs. A subway exits the park under Park Lane into an underground car park and across to the

Fairfield Halls Fairfield Halls is an arts, entertainment and conference centre in Croydon, London, England, which opened in 1962 and contains a theatre and gallery, and a large concert hall regularly used for BBC television, radio and orchestral recordings. F ...

: the gardens are regularly used as a route between the Council offices and the underpass. The cancelled Park Place development featured proposals to radically alter the Queen's Gardens, with a more formal and modern planting style, an ice rink, space for performances and entrance into the Park Place shopping centre. The gardens remain part of the Croydon Vision 2020 regeneration plan. After Taberner House was demolished in 2014–2015, the former site was redeveloped, with completion expected in late 2021. The new housing created extended into the Queen's Gardens itself, and there was some concern that the former urban ornamental park had effectively been absorbed into the new project for the use of the residents.

Gallery

Image:Croydon Central Station 4.JPG, The retaining wall in the cutting east of Central Croydon Station, now part of Queen's Gardens Image:Croydon Central Station 5.jpg, Plaque on retaining wall commemorating the Station's history Image:Croydon Central Station 6.jpg, The retaining wall viewed eastwards towards Fairfield Halls Image:Croydon Central Station 7.JPG, Close-up of the retaining wall Image:Croydon Central Station 8.JPG, The retaining wall viewed westwards towards the Town Hall

References

*(1997) ''Hidden History in Croydon's Parks'', Croydon Council {{coord, 51.3718, -0.0978, type:landmark_region:GB-CRY, display=title Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Croydon Croydon 2020 Urban public parks in the United Kingdom

Gallery

See also

References