Parks and open spaces in Newham

Thames Barrier Park (Mar 2007)

The London Borough of Newham, in spite of being one of the more crowded areas of London, has over 20 parks within its boundaries, as well as smaller recreation grounds. The larger parks in the Borough include:

• Beckton District Park North
• Beckton District Park South
• Central Park, East Ham
• East Ham Nature Reserve
• King George V Park, Custom House
• Stratford Park
• The Thames Barrier Park 2005 riverside park, developed following an international competition won by a team led by the acclaimed French landscape architect, Alain Provost, best known for his work at the Parc Citroen in Paris.
• West Ham Park
• Lister Gardens, Plaistow
• Plashet Park, Forest Gate

Newham is a riverside borough, and one of the largest open spaces is the Thames itself. A riverside path exists, but flood prevention works can often make river views problematic.

Other features:

• The Royal Docks comprise three docks—the Royal Albert Dock, the Royal Victoria Dock and the King George V Dock—built between 1880 and 1921 on riverside marshes. The three docks collectively formed the largest enclosed docks in the world with a water area of nearly 250 acres (1 km²) and an overall estate of 1100 acres (4 km²). The docks were constructed to provide berths for large vessels that could not be accommodated further upriver. The Royal Docks were finally closed for shipping in 1981.
• The River Lea forms the western boundary of the borough. The towpath is suitable for walking and cyclists. It can be readily accessed from Three Mills and provides access to Hackney Marshes and the Lee Valley Park.
• The Greenway is a shared footpath and cycleway running along the route of the Northern Outfall Sewer. It runs south-east from Wick Lane in Bow; through Stratford and Plaistow in Newham. The route crosses a number of roads, but is otherwise traffic free.
• The 200 acres (0.81 km²) City of London Cemetery and Crematorium is in the north-east of the borough.

In 1998, the council set up a controversial new police force, the Newham Parks Constabulary, to police these parks. The force was renamed the Newham Community Constabulary and was subjected to an investigation into abuse of power and corruption, following considerable coverage in Private Eye. The force was disbanded in July 2009.^[1]

See also

• Bow Creek Ecology Park

References

External links

• List of parks in Newham

Parks and open spaces in London Royal parks Bushy Green Greenwich Hyde Kensington Regent's Richmond St James's Large urban parks Alexandra Arnos Barking Barra Hall Battersea Blackheath Brockwell Burgess Clissold Crystal Palace Dulwich Enfield Town Finsbury Forster Memorial Hampstead Heath Hanworth Holland Mayesbrook Mountsfield Old Deer Parsloes Primrose Hill Pymmes Queen's Park Ravenscourt Ruskin Southwark Valentines Victoria Wandsworth Wanstead West Ham Wimbledon Country parks Bayhurst Wood Bedfont Lakes Belhus Woods Eastbrookend Fairlop Waters Fryent Hainault Forest Havering High Elms Hornchurch Lee Valley South Norwood Stanmore Stockley Trent Commons Barnes Blackheath Bostall Heath Clapham Ealing East Sheen Hackney Marsh Hainault Forest Ham Hampstead Heath Hayes Keston Mitcham Monken Hadley Peckham Rye Plumstead Stanmore Streatham Tooting Tylers Wandsworth Wimbledon and Putney Wormwood Scrubs Marshes Aveley Crayford Erith Hackney Hornchurch Ickenham Ingrebourne Leyton Rainham Tottenham Walthamstow Wennington Woodland Bostall Coldfall Copse Dulwich Epping Forest Grangewood Park Highgate Lesnes Abbey Mad Bess Old Park Oxleas Park Petts Queen's Russia Dock Sydenham Hill House gardens Belair Park Boston Manor Park Broomfield House Cannizaro Park Chiswick House Danson Park Grovelands Park Grove Park Gunnersbury Park Hampton Court Park Hillingdon Court Kenwood House Langtons Marble Hill Park Morden Hall Park Morden Park Osterley Park Syon House Valence House Museum Walpole Park Entry-fee charging Kew Gardens London Wetland Centre Community gardens Phoenix Garden Calthorpe Project