The Grade II listed Brockwell Hall was originally built between 1811-1813 when the area was part of Surrey and was the country seat of glass merchant John Blades as the centrepiece of his Park Estate. The perimeter of today’s park reflects the boundary of the original estate.
The land and house were acquired by the London County Council (LCC) in March 1891 and opened to the public on 2 June in the following summer, led by the local MP Thomas Lynn Bristowe. At the unveiling, he died of a heart attack on the steps of Brockwell Hall.
In 1901 the LCC acquired a further 43 acres of land north of the original park.
J.J. Sexby, the Chief Officer of Parks of the LCC designed the conversion of the estate into a public park. When he came to the estate he described it as displaying “a wildness … the beauties of Nature unadorned… long stretches of undulating grassland dotted here and there with fine specimen trees … When it was bought for the people of London, it was already a park – not a park site.”
Sexby introduced recreational activities, a swimming pond, lakes and cascades, a rustic bandstand and floral carpet bedding near the Hall. Tea Rooms operated in the Hall from the beginning and a children’s gymnasium was installed in the stable yard between the Hall and the stable block.
In the 1920s, there were 13 cricket pitches in the park, which attracted crowds of up to 1500. Brockwell Park was home to the Galton Institute.
The Lido open air swimming pool opened in 1937, leaving the old pond to model boats and later geese. A children’s playground, all-weather football pitches and tennis courts were also added. While building the first phase of the Tulse Hill Estate in 1939, the LCC added an access onto Tulse Hill itself, with a way through the new estate to the Brixton Hill area beyond.
Since 1892, Brockwell Hall has hosted a café on the ground floor. Brockwell Hall was restored after extensive fire damage to the main block in February 1990, and presents a view that is very close to the original Georgian concept of a country house set in a park estate.