Kelsey Park

Kelsey Park
Kelsey Park
	Main lake with Heron Island in distance, October 2021
	Location within Greater London Location within England
Type	Urban park
Location	London, England
OS grid	TQ 376 689
Coordinates	51°24′07″N 0°01′23″W / 51.402°N 0.023°W
Area	32.25 hectares (79.69 acres)
Established	1913
Etymology	Kelsey family who owned estate in 15th century
Managed by	Bromley London Borough Council (in partnership with Friends of Kelsey Park)
Status	Open year-round
Connecting transport	Rail: Beckenham Junction; Bus: 162, 352, 358 (to south); 54, 227, 354, 367 (to north)
Facilities	Café, toilets, children's play area, tennis courts, mini golf course, tree walk, children's nature walk
Website	Friends of Kelsey Park

Kelsey Park is a public park in Beckenham in the borough of Bromley, Greater London. It historically formed the landscaped park of the Kelsey Manor Estate. The river Beck runs through it.

History

The original mansion was built around 1408 for William Kelshulle and demolished around 1800.^[2] A second mansion was built for Richard Bennett around that time and then acquired by Peter Richard Hoare, the elder (a partner in the banking firm C. Hoare & Co) in 1835.^[2] Peter Richard Hoare, the elder converted the manor into a rambling Gothic Revival house.^[2] The house passed to Peter Richard Hoare, the younger in 1849: he added a chapel, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, in 1869.^[2] It then passed to Charles Arthur Richard Hoare in 1877.^[3]^[4]

The land adjoining Wickham Road was sold in the 1890s and laid out with large Arts and Crafts movement houses designed by Francis Hooper.^[5] The house became a convent for the All Saints Sisters of the Poor in 1895 and then became Kepplestone School for the Daughters of Gentlemen in 1901.^[2] Following the death of Charles Arthur Richard Hoare in 1908, Beckenham Urban District Council acquired the estate in 1911.^[2]

Kelsey Park was officially opened to the public by Right Honourable John Burns MP, President of the Local Government Board, on 31 May 1913.^[6]^[7]^[8] The house itself was used by the British Army during the First World War and was demolished in 1921.^[2]

Kelsey Park Sports College which was opened in 1968 takes its name from the fact it was built on the historic Kelsey Park Estate; however following Academy conversion in September 2011 it was renamed to Harris Academy Beckenham.^[9]

Kelsey Park is managed by Bromley London Borough Council in partnership with Friends of Kelsey Park, a non-profit organisation formed in 1997 that consists of around 600 members and publishes the triannual Kelsey Park Magazine.^[1]^[10]

Information board by northern entrance off Manor Way
Gate lodge near northern entrance
Kelsey Lodge, a Grade II–listed late Victorian Tudor Revival lodge by the eastern entrance off Wickham Rd.^[11]
River Beck waterfall just north of main lake
Ornamental cat in a flowerbed

Paths and benches near main open area
Ice house near southern end of park, probably dating from the early 19th century^[12]
Wildlife of Kelsey Park
More wildlife of Kelsey Park
Water birds of Kelsey Park

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Kelsey Park. London Gardens Trust.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Kelsey Estate". Beckenham History. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
^ "St Barnabas Beckenham". Archived from the original on 6 October 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
^ Callaghan, A. (2020). History of Kelsey Park. Kelsey Park Magazine, Autumn 2020. pp. 16–17.
^ Nairn's London, Ian Nairn, 1965
^ "Beckenham's Kelsey Park prepares to mark 100 years of opening to the public". Bromley Times. 29 May 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
^ Sheldon, V. (2013). Tom William Thornton and Kelsey Park. Kelsey Park Magazine, Summer 2013. pp. 5–7.
^ Lindsay, G. (2022). Memories of Kelsey Park and the Thornton family connection. Kelsey Park Magazine, Early Spring 2022. p. 11.
^ "Beckenham School at centre of Harris Academy row deemed 'satisfactory'". Bromley Times. 14 January 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2014.
^ Home. Friends of Kelsey Park. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
^ Historic England. "Kelsey Lodge (1186808)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
^ Longley, P. (2020). The Kelsey Ice House. Kelsey Park Magazine, Autumn 2020. p. 7.

[LGT-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Kelsey Park. London Gardens Trust.

[beck-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g "Kelsey Estate". Beckenham History. Retrieved 3 February 2014.

[3] "St Barnabas Beckenham". Archived from the original on 6 October 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2014.

[4] Callaghan, A. (2020). History of Kelsey Park. Kelsey Park Magazine, Autumn 2020. pp. 16–17.

[5] Nairn's London, Ian Nairn, 1965

[6] "Beckenham's Kelsey Park prepares to mark 100 years of opening to the public". Bromley Times. 29 May 2013. Retrieved 3 February 2014.

[7] Sheldon, V. (2013). Tom William Thornton and Kelsey Park. Kelsey Park Magazine, Summer 2013. pp. 5–7.

[8] Lindsay, G. (2022). Memories of Kelsey Park and the Thornton family connection. Kelsey Park Magazine, Early Spring 2022. p. 11.

[9] "Beckenham School at centre of Harris Academy row deemed 'satisfactory'". Bromley Times. 14 January 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2014.

[10] Home. Friends of Kelsey Park. Retrieved 13 March 2022.

[11] Historic England. "Kelsey Lodge (1186808)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 March 2022.

[12] Longley, P. (2020). The Kelsey Ice House. Kelsey Park Magazine, Autumn 2020. p. 7.

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Districts	Anerley Aperfield Beckenham Berry's Green Bickley Biggin Hill Bromley Bromley Common Chelsfield Chislehurst Coney Hall Crystal Palace Cudham Downe Eden Park Elmers End (including Upper Elmers End) Elmstead Farnborough Foxbury Goddington Green Street Green Hayes Hazelwood Hockenden Horns Green Keston Kevington Leaves Green Locksbottom Longlands Luxted Mottingham New Beckenham Orpington (including: Broom Hill, Crofton, Derry Downs and Ramsden) Park Langley Penge Petts Wood Plaistow Poverest Pratt's Bottom Ruxley St Mary Cray St Paul's Cray Shortlands Single Street Southborough South Street Sundridge Sydenham Upper Norwood West Wickham Widmore
Attractions	Bethlem Gallery Bethlem Museum of the Mind Bromley Little Theatre Chislehurst Caves Churchill Theatre Crofton Roman Villa Crystal Palace Crystal Palace Bowl Crystal Palace Dinosaurs Down House St Blaise's Well
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