TheLondon Borough of Croydon has over 120parks and open spaces within its boundaries, ranging from the 200 acre (80ha)Selsdon WoodNature Reserve to many recreation grounds and sports fields scattered throughout the Borough. Croydon covers an area of 86.52 km2, the 256thlargest district in England. Croydon's physical features consist of many hills and rivers that are spread out across the borough and into theNorth Downs,Surrey and the rest of South London. Some of the open spaces in Croydon form part of the well-knownLondon LOOP walks where the first section was opened on 3 May 1996 with a ceremony on Farthing Downs inCoulsdon. As a borough in Outer London it also contains some open countryside in the form of country parks. Croydon Council is associated with several other boroughs who are taking part in theDownlands Countryside Management Project. These boroughs areSutton; and bySurrey County Council; theCity of London Corporation; the Surrey districts ofReigate and Banstead andTandridge; and theCountryside Agency. An additional partner is Natural Britain.[1]
Duppas Hill was Croydon's first public recreation ground, bought by the Board of Health in 1865.Addington Hills is a majorfloodplain in London for theThames Valley and is recognised as a significant obstacle to the growth of London from its origins as a port on the north side of the river, to a large circular city.Mitcham Common also forms part of the borough although it is only partly in Croydon, theLondon Borough of Merton has the dominant half of the common, whileSutton make up most of the south side.
TheQueen's Gardens,Park Hill and Norwood Grove are examples of ornamental gardens in the Borough.
There are also many recreation grounds such as the one inSouth Norwood which is currently undergoing major refurbishment works. Examples of meadows includeHeavers Meadow andBrickfields Meadow both located inSouth Norwood.
TheGreat North Wood was a natural oak forest that covered theSydenham Ridge and the southern reaches of theRiver Effra and its tributaries. It is a major part of the history of Croydon. The most notable tree, called Vicar's Oak, marked the boundary of four ancient parishes;Lambeth,Camberwell, Croydon andBromley. John Aubrey[2] referred to this "ancient remarkable tree" in the past tense as early as 1718, but according to JB Wilson,[3] the Vicar's Oak survived until 1825. The earliest surviving mention of the wood dates fromassize records in 1272, and it was known to be owned by the Whitehorse family during the reign ofKing Edward III. WhenOliver Cromwell seized it from theArchbishop of Canterbury it was measured to cover 830 acres (3.4 km2), but held only 9,200 oaken pollards. At this time it was known to stretch as far asStreatham from Croydon. Much timber was taken from the woodlands for use in the Royal Dockyard atDeptford as well forcharcoal burning and building purposes. Much of the surviving woodlands were cleared and developed as a result of theCroydon Inclosure Act 1797 (37 Geo. 3. c.144Pr.) and sale of the lateLord Thurlow's estates in 1806, although some substantial fragments remain, notably the nature reserves atDulwich Wood andSydenham Hill Wood.
Apart from smaller green areas such as sports grounds and smaller gardens, andSelsdon Wood, which isNational Trust property, the following are the major open spaces in the Borough:
TheRiver Wandle is also a major tributary of theRiver Thames, where it stretches toWandsworth andPutney for 9 miles (14 km) from its main source inWaddon. It forms a rough western boundary with theLondon Borough of Sutton, and for part of its length forms the boundary between the London Boroughs of Croydon andLambeth The main river ends atWaddon with one of its tributaries ending inSelhurst. Anothertributary starts inThornton Heath as theNorbury Brook, becomes the River Graveney and joins the Wandle near Summerstown.
Wandle Park is one of 11 parks throughoutGreater London chosen to receive money for redevelopment by a public vote. The park received £400,000 towards better footpaths, more lighting, refurbished public toilets and new play areas for children.[5]
The amount of green spaces in area can affect the climate of that particular area. Croydon has atemperate climate in common with most areas ofGreat Britain, it is similar to that ofGreenwich inInner London: itsKöppen climate classification isCfb.[6][7] Its mean annual temperature of 9.6 °C is similar to that experienced throughout the Weald, and slightly cooler than nearby areas such as the Sussex coast and Central London.[8] Rainfall is considerably below England's average (1971–2000) level of 838 mm, and every month is drier overall than the England average.[9]
| Climate data for London Borough of Croydon | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °F | 38 | 39 | 42 | 46 | 52 | 57 | 61 | 61 | 56 | 51 | 43 | 40 | 49 |
| Mean daily minimum °F | 34 | 34 | 36 | 38 | 44 | 50 | 53 | 52 | 48 | 44 | 48 | 36 | 42 |
| Averageprecipitation inches | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 2.8 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.4 | 2.00 |
| Mean daily maximum °C | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 11 | 14 | 16 | 16 | 13 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 9 |
| Mean daily minimum °C | 5 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 16 | 13 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 9 |
| Averageprecipitation cm | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 5.07 |
| Source: Weatherbase[10] | |||||||||||||
