Parks and playgrounds directory

Location

Coulsdon, Marlpit Lane.

Area

10 acres 4.05 hectares.

Facilities

Opening times

• Cafe
• Car parks, 1 off Marlpit Lane and 1 off Nineacres Way
• Children's playgrounds
• Toilets
• Putting green
• Tennis courts. To book a tennis court, please visit Croydon Parks Tennis and select a location
• Basketball court
• Bowling green - run by Friends of Marlpit Lane Bowling Green

This park has been awarded the Green Flag Award.  To find out more about the award visit greenflagawards.org.uk.

History

Coulsdon Memorial Ground was opened in 1921 after being purchased in 1920 by the Coulsdon and Purley Urban District Council and part by public subscription from Messers Hall and Company Ltd. The putting green area was purchased several years later. All the land was originally part of Edmund Byrons Coulsdon Estate.  

The park is situated on a fairly steep slope and is laid out for a number of sports. At the top of the hill there is a memorial which takes the form of a portico with a rear wall bearing the names of the fallen, with the inscription To the memory of the men of Coulsdon who fell in the Great War 1914‐ 1919. A bronze plaque was added bearing the words and in memory of those who fell in the World War 1939‐1945.  

To the rear of the recreation ground are deep chalk quarries which in the past had spur lines from the local railway running right into the slopes to transport the extracted stone.  

The site benefits from play areas divided into three sections and was refurbished in 2009 with funding from The National Lottery.  The play areas consist of a toddler agility trail, toddler junior play area and a play area for older children and teenagers.