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St Mary's 'must-visit' family park now open

21 April 2008

Kick-starting the first phase of Southwark Council's £1.5billion regeneration scheme for the area, the newly transformed St Mary’s Churchyard Park is now open to the public, providing much needed open green space in the heart of Elephant and Castle.

Situated between the old London Park Hotel site and the Fusion Leisure Centre, this historic space which was neglected and underused for many years, now has something to offer everyone; new playground facilities -suitable for babies and toddlers through to children in their early teens, lots of benches and seats, and paved and planted areas throughout - making it a "must-visit" park.  The new main entrance reconnects the park to the city with an open plaza where local residents, commuters, students and passers-by can get away from the busy pace of the area, but still be part of the street life.

Designed by award-winning landscape architects Martha Schwartz Partners, the transformation into a family-friendly park was made possible thanks to the support of the Diocese of Southwark who own the land, and a generous £1.35m grant from the London Development Agency.

Southwark Councillor Paul Noblet, executive member for regeneration, said:  the completion of St Mary’s Churchyard Park, which is the first stage of the Elephant and Castle regeneration scheme, is a fine example of how a once unloved and isolated patch can be converted into a family-friendly park for everyone to enjoy.”

Tuesday 6th May we'll be holding an official opening day, and there will be a new edition to the park - although you won't actually be able to see it for long!

Year 6 pupils from Crampton Primary School have been participating in an exciting project to bury a time capsule. The children spent several weeks working with Southwark Council's Parks Community Outreach Officer preparing items for the capsule, which will stay buried for at least 50 years.

The students have already collected coins, badges, a model car, tube map, and a local area map for the capsule, and are putting together a photo history of Elephant and Castle. They've also produced a newsletter with predictions of how they think people will live in the year 2057, written letters to "future relatives" and gathered together photographs, leaflets and souvenirs, ensuring that whoever opens the capsule in years to come will have a real insight into what life was like in the early part of this century.

So come along between 12 noon and 3pm on Tuesday 6 May.  The first 200 to arrive will receive an Elephant and Castle gym bag.