Lamorbey Park
Lamorbey Park is a 57-hectare (140-acre) park in
History
The earliest recorded owner of the estate was Thomas Sparrow, a reeve, in 1495.[3] He died in 1513, and his daughter Agnes and her husband James Goldwell built the first house there, probably a timber house with later brick wings added.[3] The Goldwell family sold the estate in the late 17th century, and the house and estate had several different owners, including Charles FitzRoy, the son of Charles II.[3]
The 119-hectare (290-acre) Lamorbey (or Lamaby) Estate was bought by William Steele, a director of the East India Company, in 1744.[1] He had the 17th century mansion rebuilt, and formally laid out the estate's land to the north, east and south as a park.[3] When he died in 1748 the property was split between his daughters, and in 1761 it was divided into two parts when sold to different owners.[3] In 1783 the property was reunited when both parts were bought by David Orme, a Scottish doctor.[3] Orme made a number of alterations to the property, including re-routing the driveway.[1] Orme died in 1812 and the property passed into another branch of his family, the Malcolms, who had made their money from sugar plantations in Jamaica.[4]
In the 1830s Orme's grandson, Neil Malcolm, commissioned
In 1933, during the rapid development of the area, the north-east part of the park was sold to New Ideal Homesteads as residential land,[3] and became part of the Penhill Park Estate.[4] In 1946 the Kent Education Centre bought the mansion, opening an adult education centre the following year.[3] From 1950 use of the mansion and surrounding gardens was shared with Rose Bruford College, a drama school, which has used the premises ever since.[1][3] The golf course was reduced from 18 to 9 holes, and two secondary schools were built,[1] one to house the relocated Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School (from 1954) and one the newly-established Hurstmere School. The remainder of the grounds, consisting of The Glade, The Dell, and Pine Tree Walk, continued as a public park.[1] The Glade, a 7.4-hectare (18-acre) area of historic landscape laid in the 1920s, features a large lake that houses the Lamorbey Angling Society.[2]
Historic parks register
The park was added to the
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Historic England. "Lamorbey Park (1000289)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
- ^ a b "The Glade". bexley.gov.uk. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Lamorbey" (PDF). bexley.gov.uk. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
- ^ a b c d "Lamorbey House". Rose Bruford College. Retrieved 16 June 2017.