Not far from the Elephant & Castle and situated between the Rockingham Estate and Trinity Church Square (the most complete and best preserved square in South London), this small park has a remarkably natural quality for its location. Many of the smaller open spaces in north Southwark are heavily managed and so it is a pleasant surprise to find the informality of Dickens Square Park in a built-up area lacking accessible wildlife sites.
Local Wildlife Site
Accessible Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation
Dickens Field
Borough: Southwark
Grade: Local
Access: Free public access (all/most of site)
Area: 1.01 ha
Description
Wildlife
The edges of the park have been allowed to evolve into woodland of sycamore and hybrid black poplar, with hawthorn, hazel, bramble and elder in the undergrowth. Rough grassland and tall herbs such as cow parsley, mugwort and nettles provide further habitat. In a survey of bird life in almost 300 of London's smaller parks and squares, this site scored among the top ten, with 11 species recorded. These included some very uncommon species for central London such as blackcap and green woodpecker. Robin, wren, great tit and long-tailed tit can also be found here and jay and chiffchaff have been recorded. This site is valuable in its own right but it also forms a stepping stone allowing some species to move between other nearby parks such as Tabard Gardens and Newington Park.Facilities
Play area
No photo yet available for this site
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