Welcome back to Londonist: Croydon Edit! Piloted by Londonist editor and committed Croydonian Will Noble, it's about all things in the borough of Croydon — including features on Croydon's crazily rich history, interviews with the people who make Croydon what it is, the latest on Croydon openings, exhibitions, gigs and events, and lots more.
I promised you some walks didn’t I. This one’s more of a leisurely saunter, but I think you’ll like it, and as you’ll find out later on, it comes with the option of extending into a meatier amble.
The Borough of Croydon has over 120 parks and green spaces—not too shoddy for somewhere that’s been branded a “new skyscraper tomb town, dedicated to the soulless pursuit of commerce”, right? One of these spaces is Coombe Wood (aka Coombe Wood Garden), which is a mere 35-minute walk (or 15-minute tram ride) from the melee of East Croydon station, yet, to use a hackneyed phrase, a whole world away.
Case in point, though: even before you reach the entrance to the gardens, along the final Coombe Road approach, there are blackberries ripe for plucking (if you’re reading this in mid August, anyway); you might want being a Tuppaware box and take some home for a crumble. Good grief, I suddenly feel like Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
In this realm of Croydon, where the verdant blankets of Lloyd Park, Coombe Park and the Addington Hill appear, the bucolic ray gun really is set to stun. Coombe Wood itself reveals itself as 14 acres of Monet-esque lily ponds, echinacea-studded rockeries, sweeping bordered lawns, hosts of purpletop vervain swaying in the breeze, hot pink shocks of fuchsia, and miniature babbling waterfalls tickled by fronds of fern.
Oh, and the occasional humorous-yet-undeniably-threatening sign which makes you feel like you’ve stumbled into the countryside alright:
Once upon a time, all of this was a private garden—the grounds of Coombe Wood House, built in 1898 by Arthur Lloyd, brother of Frank Lloyd, who gives nearby Lloyd Park its name… and I think that’s enough Lloyd for once sentence.
In 1948, the gardens were purchased for the good people of Croydon (that’s us btw), and are now free for all to roam. (All, that is, except dogs. Sorry about that.) Some of the roses here were planted by former local firm Nestle; mildly ironic seeing as they make Quality Street.
Coombe Wood House—which was for a while part of Croydon General Hospital, and later still, a restaurant—remains in situ, although I can’t work out what it is right now (quite possibly private). I’d love to see inside, not least because it has (or had, anyway) a church organ, with the keyboard in the main entrance, and the pipes fitted into the staircase panels. What’s more, the organ was originally powered by water tanks in the garden. Anyway, here’s Coombe Wood House peeking through the cedars:
If you brought a picnic from the Sainsbury’s at East Croydon, then well done for being so prepared (bet you brought that Tuppaware box too). I recommend noshing your scotch egg on the huge lawn, flanked by wildflowers and bordered at one end by mature trees.
But the gardens are also home to the Coach House Cafe, a homey little place in the old stables, with a walled garden out the back, and an art-filled space inside for colder days.
They do the usual teas, coffees and cakes, but also an array of homemade sandwiches (I had the BLT, and very good it was too), jacket potatoes and the like—as well as full-blown meals like lamb shank and steak and ale pie. The prices are very reasonable.
What’s more, the only time the cafe isn’t open is Christmas Day itself. Indeed, though arguably at its best in spring and summer, there’s something to enjoy in Coombe Wood year round.
Maybe the best thing of all about Coombe Wood is that you don’t need to exit the way you came in; a trail at the back of the gardens leads you up a steep incline into Coombe Wood itself. Oddly, this doesn’t appear on Google maps, but trust me, it’s there. In fact, at this time of year it’s a bosky paradise of ferns and pines:
From here, you can pretend you’re Robin Hood/Maid Marian/an Ewok till you make your way through to Conduit Lane, which opens up more of sylvan Croydon to you, in the form of Croham Hurst and Littleheath Woods. Or in my case, the road leading to Selsdon and the Golden Ark micropub. But that place is another post altogether…
There’s not too much info online about Coombe Wood, but you can either Google it, or catch the tram to Lloyd Park or Coombe Lane, either of which it’s just a short walk from. Here’s a bit more on the Coach House Cafe. Let me know if you end up going!
All images: Will Noble
Hi - It's a lovely place! Take a look at https://londongardenstrust.org/conservation/inventory/site-record/?ID=CRO018 for a bit more history (and check out all the sites in Croydon on London Parks & Gardens Trust's Inventory).
OH I didn't know you could get out through the back!!! What a fun discovery and a good reminder to go visit. I haven't been since winter, I bet it looks so lush in full bloom.
P.S "new skyscraper tomb town" christ, who said that 🙃