The Blackheath and Greenwich area is blessed with a great selection of open spaces. Here’s a look at some of the best
Blackheath
Blackheath, SE3
After a long drive through London, with hardly a tree or patch of grass to be seen, reaching the top of Blackheath Hill to the large expanse of grass that is Blackheath Common is an uplifting sight. Many people think its name derived from it being a mass burial ground for victims of the Black Death in the 1340s. However, it is more likely the name Blackheath is a corruption of ‘bleak heath’ or originates from Old English words translating as ‘dark soil’.
It has a rich history: its main road, now roughly the A2, started as a Roman road stretching from Dover to London. Wat Tyler’s 100,000 anti-poll tax rebels assembled on Blackheath in 1381 (no mean feat considering they didn’t have Facebook) before marching on London and defeat, while in 1450, in opposition to higher taxes being imposed by Henry VI, Jack Cade gathered 20,000 yeomen onto the Heath to set up camp.The Heath was used to gather armies to fight abroad, including the Napoleonic wars, and a haunt of highwaymen, including DickTurpin, especially during the 17th and 18th centuries.
Although the majority of Blackheath is level ground with mown grass, there are areas of gorse and scrub to the east of the heath by Vanbrugh Terrace. At one end, from Point Hill, on a clear day you can see the three counties of Essex, Kent and Surrey from here. There are several ponds, often attracting a variety of birds, including one near the Princess of Wales pub, another by the Hare and Billet pub, and another by the main gates of Greenwich Park between Shooters Hill Road and Charlton Way.
There is a bowling green near Ranger’s House and there are regular circuses and fairs as well as a kite festival in the spring and a large firework display on the Saturday nearest to Guy Fawkes or Bonfire night, 5 November. Blackheath is also the start of the London Marathon, held in April each year.
East Greenwich Pleasaunce
Chevening Road, Greenwich, SE10
Tucked away between side roads between Maze Hill and Westcombe Park railway stations, this is a delightful quiet spot that used to be the graveyard of Greenwich Hospital. Burial ground for around 3,000 sailors and officers, including veterans of Trafalgar and The Crimea, a number of graves can be seen. The tree-lined park has a small children’s playground and an excellent cafe. There is another entrance in Halstow Road.
Greenwich Park
Blackheath Gate, Charlton Way, SE10 8QY
London’s oldest enclosed Royal Park, Greenwich Park is situated on a hilltop with panoramic views of the River Thames, Canary Wharf, The O2, the City of London and beyond. The land on which the park sits was inherited in 1427 by the Duke of Gloucester, brother of Henry V. A favourite spot for Henry VIII (who introduced deer to the park), his daughters Mary I and Elizabeth I, and son Edward VI. Some trees from that time remain today. Queen Anne was given the park by her husband, James I, and she commissioned Inigo Jones to design the stunning building at the bottom of the hill in the park that became known as the Queen’s House. During World War II anti-aircraft guns were placed in the Flower Garden. The park hosted the Olympic and Paralympic Equestrian Events and elements of the Modern Pentathlon during the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The park is home to the Royal Observatory, designed by Sir Christopher Wren, and the Meridian line (and therefore time itself, Greenwich Mean Time), and the Georgian villa Ranger’s House. Features of the park include a children’s playground and boating lake, bandstand with Sunday concerts during the summer, rose and flower gardens, and a 13-acre wilderness with a herd of red and fallow deer.
When sufficient snow falls, hundreds of people toboggan down hills in the park. There are six tennis courts, a putting green, and a rugby and cricket pitch. There is a cafe at the top of the hill close to the Royal Observatory.
Greenwich Peninsula Ecology Park
Thames Path, John Harrison Way, Greenwich Peninsular, SE10 0QZ
Once consisting of agricultural fields, marshes and a millpond, the peninsular was originally known as Greenwich Marsh. Most of the fields and marshland were gradually destroyed by industrialisation from the 1880s onwards. In 1997 a huge 121-hectare regeneration project began, which saw the building of the Millennium Dome, which is now the 23,000-capacity 02 Arena. One scheme saw the restoration of sections of riverbank and creation of this park as a wildlife-rich freshwater habitat. Its lakes (the outer one is accessible at all times) contain frogs, toads and newts and numerous different species of bird can be spotted from the bird hides. Spring and summer see dragonflies, damselflies and butterflies and look out for butterflies over the meadow areas.
Maryon Wilson Park
Thorntree Road, Charlton SE7
Part of the former Maryon Wilson family estate, this beautifully landscaped park contains both informal open grassland and woodlands – all in a valley setting. Its animal park has ducks, geese, chickens, goats, pigs, and a deer enclosure.
Oxleas Woods, Castle Wood and Jack Wood
Shooters Hill, Eltham, SE9
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), ancient Oxleas woods (more than 8000 years old) covers 77 hectares and features woods of oak, silver birch, hornbeam and coppice hazel. Adjacent Castle Wood contains the folly Severndroog Castle built in 1784 as a memorial to William James of the East India Company. It has a cafe.
Next to Castle Wood, is Jack Wood, which has a small rose garden and a terrace garden with great views across London. There are further areas of woodland and parkland: Shepherdleas Wood, Oxleas Meadows, Falconwood Field and, across the A2 main road, Eltham Park North, although they all merge into each other to make an amazingly sizeable area of countryside in London.