New extension to King George's Park (to Acuba Road)

Pencil drawing and watercolour by Stephen Chaplin of a view of the 1994 extension to King George's Park towards Acuba Road. Dated 19 July 1994.

This drawing and watercolour shows the southern extension of King George's Park shortly before its official opening by the Mayor of Wandsworth on 30 November 1994. In the foreground samplings line a path with a note that railings had not yet been put in place. Behind are shown more mature trees and residential buildings. The latter are annotated and identified as the apartment blocks in Dounesforth Gardens (built between 1950 and 1966), Acuba House (an early 1930s purpose-built mansion block) and the modern blocks of flats built on the north side of Bodmin Street (from the late 1980s onward).

The original King George's Park was laid out between 1921 and 1923 by the garden designer Percy Cane and opened by King George V. The 1994 extension at the southern end of the park in Earlsfield, commonly referred to as the "Bodmin Street field", added the former "Wangas sports ground" to the park. The intention was to preserve public open space along the River Wandle, by extending the public walkway and green space along its course.