About

Friends of Belair Park is a non-profit organisation; striving to protect, promote, and enhance wildlife, landscape, & heritage at Belair Park for the benefit of all.

The current Chair is Dr Martin Heath.

News about future Friends' meetings, and public meetings; as well as information on joining the Friends, and joining our email list, will be displayed here shortly.


Wildlife

Belair Park is home to numerous species of animals and plants - including water birds, bats (which can be seen at dusk in the summer feeding over the lake). There are willow trees and alder growing around the lake, and some beautiful mature oak trees elsewhere in the Park.

Along the lake-side there is a wildlife area, maintained by the Friends - established by Martin Heath, which contains native bankside wildflowers (including ragged robin, sedges, and irises) and has log-piles and small ditches to provide habitat for invertebrates and small mammals.

Raft 'bird islands' have been built in the lake itself to provide protected areas for waterfowl to nest.

Heritage

Belair Park is Southwark's only Grade II* listed landscape. There are also listed structures within the park -these include the park lodge, entrance gate and an old stable building.

Belair (the house/mansion) was built in 1785 in the style of, or possibly by, the architect Robert Adam. Its grounds included an artificial lake made by damming the River Effra.

The house was damaged in World War II and was later taken over by Southwark Council, which renovated it - for a time it was used for the community for sports changing facilities, a dance/ballet hall, toilets and classes..

It is now used as an upmarket restaurant.

Link to Belair House Restaurant website - click here.


Belair, Belair Park, Dulwich, c. 1972


Latest News

Under construction!

This website is under construction and will shortly have many more features. Thank you for your patience!

News about Friends of Belair Park meetings, and membership will shortly be available.

Störm Poorun 16.11.2004


Park Information

Park entrance:
Gates on Gallery Road
Situated at the corner of Gallery Road/Thurlow Park Road, Near West Dulwich Railway Stn, Dulwich, South London SE21

Getting there:
Rail - nearest station is West Dulwich; Bus - P4 and Thurlow Park Road SE21. There is a bicycle and car park at Gallery Road entrance.


Leisure

Children's playground:
suitable for ages 2 to 10 yrs
Duck pond/lake:
The pond is situated in the middle of the park.
Dog walking area:
Dogs can be let off the lead within part of the park. Dogs are not allowed in the play area.

Link to Southwark Council website - click here.


Sports

Sports facilities

Cricket pitch:
The pitch can be booked by calling the booking office on 020 7525 1050. A short session (1/2 day) is £27.00. A long session (1 day) is £52.00.
Football pitch:
The pitch can be booked by calling the booking office on 020 7525 1050. A junior pitch for the length of one match is £22.00. A senior pitch is £42.00. Small sided pitch for young players is £16.00.
Tennis courts:
The tennis courts are free of charge. There is no booking system - just turn up and play.
 


Refurbishment

Infrastructure improvements (phase one)

Phase one is now complete and the park has new paths, drainage and railings. A new payground is on the way.

The Friends of Belair Park have an active involvement with the park and in the improvement project.

Lake improvement project (phase two)

Phase two, last autumn, the ducks living on Belair lake got a rude awakening as Southwark Council started 'desilting' the lake. In fact, work was started only after most ducks had migrated for the winter.

Despite numerous problems in the early stages, over 1500 cubic metres of silt have been removed from the bottom of the lake. The silt was deposited onto one of the sports fields in the far corner of the park.

The Council's tree contractors have provided huge amounts of wood chip that have been mixed into the silt as part of a mammoth composting project. The mixture was turned into suitable compost for the flower beds in Belair Park and other parks around the borough.

Meanwhile the lake was naturally refilled through a combination of groundwater, rain water run-off and springs and is back to its normal levels. The ducks certainly seem to be very happy with their new silt-free home.

Report parks problems online!
If you spot a problem in one of Southwark's parks, please let them know. You can use their new online parks problem reporting form. You don't need an email address and you don't have to give your contact details. You can report anything from overflowing litter bins to overgrown grass.