How many layers of history do you think are buried beneath our feet here at Lamorbey Park? This park is a 57-hectare green space in the London Borough of Bexley. It surrounds Lamorbey House. The house itself is a Grade II listed mansion.
Lamorbey Park’s story begins long ago. Thomas Sparrow, a reeve, owned the estate in 1495. His daughter Agnes and her husband James Goldwell built the first house. The Goldwell family sold the estate in the late 17th century. Charles FitzRoy, son of Charles II, was among the later owners.
In 1744, William Steele of the East India Company bought the 119-hectare Lamorbey Estate. He rebuilt the mansion. He also laid out the land to the north, east, and south as a park. After Steele died, the property was divided. David Orme, a Scottish doctor, reunited it in 1783. He rerouted the driveway.
Neil Malcolm, Orme’s grandson, hired John Shaw in the 1830s. Shaw redesigned the mansion with a Jacobean facade. He removed interior walls and added an orangery. John Neil Malcolm then remodeled the house further.
From the 1860s, the property was tenanted. In 1910, it became a hotel called the Lamorbey Park Residential Hotel. Sidcup Golf Club leased part of the grounds for a golf course. James Braid may have designed it.
Herbert John Sheppard, a Greenwich businessman, took over the hotel in 1926. He created pleasure grounds. These included a bowling green, tennis courts, The Glade, and Pine Tree Walk. He also opened a new entrance from the west. Bathing in the lakes was encouraged.
Residential land was sold in 1933 to New Ideal Homesteads. This became part of the Penhill Park Estate. In 1946, the Kent Education Centre bought the mansion. It opened an adult education center. Rose Bruford College, a drama school, began sharing the premises in 1950.
Two secondary schools were built. These were Chislehurst and Sidcup Grammar School and Hurstmere School. The remaining grounds became a public park. The Glade features a large lake that houses the Lamorbey Angling Society.
Lamorbey Park was added to the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens in 1988. It is listed as Grade II. The Glade is an 18-acre area of historic landscape. It was laid out in the 1920s.
Today, Lamorbey Park offers a glimpse into the past. You can see traces of its various owners and uses. From private estate to hotel to public park, Lamorbey Park has evolved. The park continues to offer a place for recreation and relaxation. Take a moment to appreciate the layers of history.