Burgess Park
Find out about Burgess Park SE5, including facilities such as the cricket pitch, football pitch, tennis courts, fishing, BMX track, outdoor gym and café.
Find out about Burgess Park activities (PDF, 1.4mb).
Opening times
Burgess park is open at all times.
Location
- Albany Road, SE5
Entrances to the park include:
- Albany Road
- Old Kent Road
- Chumleigh Street
- Wells Way
How to get there
- car park - located at Albany Road; opening times 8am to 6pm
- bike park - Chumleigh Gardens off Albany Road
- tube - Elephant and Castle
- buses - Old Kent Road entrance 53, 63, 78,168, 172, 363, 453, Camberwell Road entrance 12, 35, 40, 45, 68, 468, Albany Road entrance 42, 343
Facilities and features
- toilets - located at Chumleigh Gardens, Tennis Centre at Addington Square, Burgess Park Community Sports Centre on Cobourg Road, BMX track and next to the fishing lake
- play areas - colourful, state-of-the-art play and climbing equipment situated in front of the Park Life café at Chumleigh Gardens; separate play areas for children under and over five years; during the summer we offer water play jets at Chumleigh Gardens
- lake - located near Old Kent Road and Albany Road; fishing is permitted with the purchase of a day ticket from dawn to dusk on half of the lake; dogs must be kept on a lead to avoid them jumping in
- Chumleigh Gardens - the renowned world gardens are designed to reflect traditional English, Asian, Mediterranean, Oriental and Caribbean planting; there are raised beds for community gardeners to grow vegetables; free to visit; keep dogs on a lead
- Glengall Wharf Garden - the Burgess Park food growing project is situated at Glengall Wharf Garden and runs a wide variety of activities throughout the week (contact Burgess food project for further details)
- BBQs are suspended until further notice
Sports facilities
- sports centre (Cobourg Road) - range of sports including community football, rugby and cricket for all ages - grass pitches and AstroTurf can be hired by teams and school groups; to enquire for availability and bookings, email or call 03330 050 403
- cricket pitch - booking required (fees and charges apply)
- football pitch - booking required (fees and charges apply)
- tennis courts (Camberwell Road) - open daily 12pm to 9pm except for public holidays, call 07759 131 439
- fishing - for details of angling within Burgess Park
- running - 5km route around the park marked with butterfly symbols painted on the pathway and recycled iron markers (register with parkrun for weekly time trialled runs)
- The BMX Track London - 400 metre BMX National Standard track open daily until 9pm (all welcome subject to an initial induction)
About the park
At 56 hectares, Burgess Park is Southwark's largest park. The park stretches from Camberwell and Walworth in the west to Peckham and the Old Kent Road in the east.
Burgess Park is a young park, built between the 1950s and 1980s. It was developed as a result of the Abercrombie Plan for open spaces in 1943. The area was once home to factories, densely populated streets and the Surrey Canal before it was badly bombed during World War II.
The park was named after Councillor Jessie Burgess, Camberwell's first woman Mayor in 1973.
In 2012, Burgess Park re-opened after an £8m transformation, establishing it as a park central to the local community and recognised for its heritage, sports facilities, lake, wildlife, design and horticultural and even barbecues.
Page last updated: 02 March 2023
