Danson Park, Bexleyheath, England

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest:  

Remains of an 18th century landscape park attributed to Nathaniel Richmond.

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING

Danson Park lies to the north of the A2 trunk road, East Rochester Way, between Welling to the north-west and Bexleyheath to the east. Suburban housing almost entirely encloses the site, with the A221, Danson Road providing the eastern boundary, Danson Mead and Parkview Road the northern boundary, and Radnor Avenue and a footpath to the rear of houses in Merlin Road the west boundary.

The site occupies about 74 hectares, enclosed within 20th century walls and railings, and is relatively flat, sloping moderately to the south with The Mansion located on a ridge of high ground that runs east/west through the site, this ridge effectively dividing the park into two halves. A valley which runs east/west across the southern part of the site was infilled by a lake behind an artificial dam. The height of the earth bank at the dam shows the significant depth of the valley. The land rises southwards in a ridge beyond the lake.

REFERENCES used by English Heritage:

T Fisher, The Kentish Traveller's Companion (1776)

E Hasted, The History and Topography of Kent (1797)

Country Life, 142 (6 July 1967), pp 123-125

D Stroud, Capability Brown (1975), p 222

M Scott, The Story of Danson (1982)

B Cherry and N Pevsner, The Buildings of England: London 2 South (1983), pp 137-138

D Jaques, Georgian Gardens, the reign of nature (1983), pp 84-85

Danson House Historic Survey, (Colson Stone 1997)

Maps

[all reproduced in Colson Stone 1997]

Plan of Danson and Adjacent Parks, 1753

Rev Joseph Spence, Plan drawn up by Rev Joseph Spence on a visit to Danson, May 1763

Attributed to Nathaniel Richmond, A Plan for the alterations proposed at Danson, 1762-1763

Andrews, Drury, and Herbert, Map of Kent, 1769

Sale Plan of an Estate called Danson, 1805

Plan of the property of John Johnson, dated 1823-1830

Inslip, Plan of an Estate called Danson in the County Of Kent, 1823-1830

Tithe map for Bexley parish, 1844

Sale plan, 1922

OS Surveyor's drawing, 3" to 1 mile, 1799

OS 6" to 1 mile: 1933 edition

OS 25" to 1 mile: 1st edition published 1865

2nd edition published 1897

Illustrations

George Barrett Snr, Portrait of Danson, 1766 (in Colson Stone 1997)

Description written: September 1997

Amended: October 2001

Edited: November 2001