Earlierthisweek the Mayor opened London's largest new park since the 2012 Olympics. It's Springfield Park in Tooting, and given Sadiq went to school less than half a mile away he was surely* well chuffed.
Springfield Park covers 32 acres around the rim of a new health campus, so is a substantial chunk of recreational space. It has grassy bits, wetland bits, humpy bits, wildflower bits and also a pavilion cafe for the purchase of coffee and croissants. It's not a cross-the-capital must-do but it is very pleasant and a proper local boon. It also has quite a history.
Surrey County Pauper Lunatic Asylum opened here in 1840, expanded incrementally and was renamed Springfield Mental Hospital after WW1. At its peak it had over 2000 patients and also an adjacent dairy farm to keep several of them occupied. Parts of that farm were sold off for housing, then the remainder for a girls' secondary school and a 9-hole golf course. The Central London Golf Centre opened in 1992 (polo shirts and smart tops only) and proved a popular destination for inner city golfers, even Michael Aspel. You can perhaps see where this is heading.
The hospital meanwhile was coping with an increasingly old set of facilities across 67 ageingbuildings, so 15 years ago a decision was made to rebuild and restructure. A modern health campus was planned intermingled with over 1200 new homes, literally embedding mental health services within the community. What we have now is Springfield Village incorporating Springfield University Hospital... and on the site of the old golf course is Springfield Park.
The main spine road is Springfield Drive, which at first sight could be any new development anywhere. Four-storey blocks of vernacular flats line the eastern flank with multiple short mews bearing off, some still under construction. But several of the buildings on the western side are in fact occupied by wards, day units and clinical specialists, also assessment and tribunal suites, also well-hidden car parks for those attending appointments from across five boroughs. If it doesn't look anything like a normal hospital, that's because it isn't.
Springfield Village's focal point is Chapel Square, one side of which is the Victorian hospital chapel which is now occupied by a proper gymnasium (i.e. for doing gymnastics rather than grunting and pumping). The square would be a nice place to sit were most of it not occupied by a zigzagging ramp, leaving space for just three long concrete perches. What is nice is that those mingling outside the cafes could be medical staff, could be mental health patients or could be flat-owning professionals from around the corner, and everyone just gets on together, or at least appears to.
The original hospital building still stands and from the park resembles a huge stately home with multiple branching wings. The NHS has entirely evacuated leaving room for an exclusive collection of luxury apartments, obviously, because something's got to help fund all this regeneration. It's been branded The 1840 to help emphasise its historic provenance, although only the central hub with 1 8 4 0 written in the brickwork is really that old and one wing should more accurately be called The 1874. More awkwardly it creates a vast gated enclave in the heart of Springfield Village, making it unnecessarily awkward for those in the plebbier flats on Springfield Drive to reach the park.
And the park is well worth getting to. It's approximately L-shaped and a good ten minutes walk from one end to the other, as befits land that used to be a golf course until 2018. Most of it's grass but thankfully it's a lot more varied than that, including a wetlandstripe along the western edge. I don't think these are converted water hazards, they're a bit deep for that, but I did spot dragonflies from the footbridge and also copious butterflies in the long grass alongside.
One large grass oval is essentially an amphitheatre, or alternatively a picnic terrace, while a web of paths weaves throughout making this a good spot for a jog or stroll. The obligatory fitness circuit has been included, although each piece of apparatus is really no more than a few chunks of wood so probably cost the developers less than installing a couple of fitted kitchens. Intriguingly it is still the developers who have long-term responsibility for the park, Wandsworth council having turned down the offer of buying it for £1 because they couldn't afford the upkeep.
Like the Olympic Park a full-time team of gardeners keeps everything in good order, although I note that the only patch of unparched green grass in the entire Village is on the verge outside the showhome because that's where the priority is. Close by is one of the final crescents of new homes, this within the footprint of the old golf course and permitted only because it was declassified as Metropolitan Open Land to permit partial development. It'll be easier to walk through to the park from the main street after this rim of townhouses is complete.
A word about the local bus service. Route G1 has always dropped by, in a ridiculously contorted way, and back in May route 315 was extended to terminate here as well. Absurdly only one bus stop has been provided within the whole of Springfield Village, despite two being shown in the consultation documentation. Alas the proposed stop near Chapel Square never materialised, the pavement's edge instead occupied by parking bays, so the bus goes over 900m without stopping straight past where most people work and live. I don't know who didn't liaise with who but it is a criminal waste of public transport opportunity.
The jewel in the park is the area at the top end closest to Wandsworth Common. Here spoil from the redevelopment has been landscaped into a scenic mound, with a paved spiral to the summit which has already been joined by desire line paths from those who can't be arsed to go the long way. From the upper benches you can look down towards a sensory garden, a cylindrical shelter, a playground area and the inevitable cafe which opened last Saturday. Toast Stores are offering a very limited menu at present but the pavilion was packed out yesterday suggesting Springfield Park's already sprung to life.
