Culverley Green is formed by a triangular space, bound north by Culverley Road and intersecting with Thornsbeach Road diagonally below. The Culverley Green space is a central pivot of the Culverley Green Conservation area, designated in 1990 and protected under a Article 4 directive. It is boundaried by a number of mature trees and berry bushes, with a modern British Telecom public phone booth) o
n its western front. Access is by gated entrance and the park forms an enclosure within the conservation area void of animals or ball games. The boundaries of the Culverley Green are modestly maintained by wired fencing. The Culverley Green Residents Association meet to support and maintain the Green, tending to the flower basins in addition to organising local events around the Culverley Green during the calendar year including charity events, sales and noticeboards for community activities. This conservation area of the south of Catford is very distinctive in its un-city-like character: the broad leafy shaded roads tend to be fairly quiet and unused as rat runs for Catford, whose main arterial route, the A205, south circular road, divides geographically into north and south. The character of the southern conservation area is marked by large period villas with stucco fronts and characteristic features of architectural interest from the high Victorian and Edwardian era. Homes are unusually spacious for its proximity to the city, and the roads are off-road unmetered parking reflecting its family and residential character despite conversion into flats. Of the Culverley Road, a local primary school, Rushey Green, represents the most modern development not in keeping with the period aesthetic, next to the residential apartments of Apex Apartments whose design characteristics mirror the high vaulted peaks of the traditional villas. The nearby Cavendish Court, completed in 1997 reflects the virtues of the conservation area with its neo-victorian facade in white and red brick, staggering the levels of the apartments to meet elegantly with the two storey heights of the homes on Culverley Road. North of the Culverley Green lies the Corbett Estate, a large 1/4 district of Lewisham formed by a Scottish puritan whose architectural legacy could not be more strikingly in contrast to the Culverley Green. The contrast between the end of the Culverley Green at Inchmery Road where it meets Sangley Road is very sharp, also denoted by the absence of foliage in Sangley Road comparative to its conservation status neighbour. Geographically, Culverley Road, Inchmery Road, Bargery Road, Thornsbeach Road, Arran Road, Penerley Road, Newquay Road contribute to this conservation area named the Culverley Green. The conservation area is one of the finest areas within Catford, Lewisham for residential living with excellent transportation via four train stations within Catford [two at Catford itself, including Catford Bridge]; Hither Green and Bellingham Stations; an arterial bus route running along the Bromley Road [A21] serving connections to Beckenham, Bromley and beyond, with access to the Croydon tram links via Elmers End; eastbound by connection to Lee Green and Grove Park and Woolwich, and westbound along the A21 towards Penge, Sydenham and buses into London. With such an array of transport networks, the Culverley Green as an oasis of nature within the city is also flanked by several larger parks; Forster Memorial Park to the south (and further afield, the larger Beckenham Park); Mountsfield Park towards Lewisham & Hither Green; Bellingham Play Park to the east along the Waterlink Way, west of the A21, and the private St Dunstans sports grounds. In fact, the Culverley Green Conservation area [refer to Lewisham Council Conservation Map] extends across the Bromley Road into Canadian Avenue too. Walking around the area is often the best way to appreciate the distinctive architectural flavour of these languid leafy and quiet London roads. Proximity to two local primary schools on Culverley Road lead to road traffic at peak school drop off and collection hours which settle during holidays, school breaks and evenings. From the Lewisham Council website:
Culverley Green conservation area
Designated in 1990, this area is mainly an Edwardian residential suburb built around the turn of the last century. At the edge of the conservation area shops (and notably the former cinema dating from 1913) line Bromley Road, the major thoroughfare and once the main coaching route between London and Kent. Housing is mainly early twentieth century with some late-Victorian villas remaining in Canadian Avenue. Building detail, which gives the area its special interest, includes carved and moulded capitals and window surrounds, terracotta window dressings, sash windows, solid timber doors and stained glass.
