High Elms Country Park is an extensive 250 acres (101.2 ha) public park on the North Downs

North Downs

The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. The North Downs lie within two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty , the Surrey Hills and the Kent Downs...

 in Farnborough

Farnborough, London

Farnborough is a settlement in the London Borough of Bromley. It is a suburban development located 13.4 miles southeast of Charing Cross.-History:...

 in the London Borough of Bromley

London Borough of Bromley

The London Borough of Bromley is a London borough of south east London, England and forms part of Outer London. The principal town in the borough is Bromley.-Geography:...

. It is a Local Nature Reserve

Local Nature Reserve

Local nature reserve or LNR is a designation for nature reserves in the United Kingdom. The designation has its origin in the recommendations of the Wild Life Conservation Special Committee which established the framework for nature conservation in the United Kingdom and suggested a national suite...

, and together with the neighbouring Downe Bank

Downe Bank

Downe Bank is a nature reserve owned and managed by the Kent Wildlife Trust in the North Downs, close to Downe in the London Borough of Bromley. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest together with the neighbouring High Elms Country Park...

, a Site of Special Scientific Interest

Site of Special Scientific Interest

A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...

. The park surrounds High Elms Golf Course, and has extensive woodland, chiefly oak and beech, chalk meadows and formal gardens. It also has a cafe, a visitor centre, nature and history trails and car parks.

The rangers of the Bromley Countryside Service, who manage borough owned parks, are based at the park.

There is access from High Elms Road and Shire Lane.

History

The history of the High Elms estate can be traced back to the Norman Conquest, when it was given by William the Conqueror to his half-brother, Odo, bishop of Bayeux. In the early nineteenth century it was acquired by the Lubbock family, and in 1840 the astronomer and banker, Sir John Lubbock, 2nd Baronet

Sir John Lubbock, 2nd Baronet

Sir John William Lubbock, 2nd Baronet FRS was an English banker.He chaired the family bank Lubbock & Company. He was the nephew of Sir John Lubbock, 1st Baronet, succeeding him by special remainder, and the grandson of the Reverend William Lubbock...

 inherited it on the death of his father. He built a grand new mansion in the Italian style. He became a friend of Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...

, who lived nearby at Down House

Down House

Down House is the former home of the English naturalist Charles Darwin and his family. It was in this house and garden that Darwin worked on his theories of evolution by natural selection which he had conceived in London before moving to Downe....

, and Lubbock's son, the third baronet, also called called John Lubbock

John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury

John Lubbock, 1st Baron Avebury PC , FRS , known as Sir John Lubbock, 4th Baronet from 1865 until 1900, was a polymath and Liberal Member of Parliament....

 and later Baron Avebury, was a close friend of Darwin and frequent visitor to Down House from his childhood.

In 1938 the estate was sold to Kent County Council

Kent County Council

Kent County Council is the county council that governs the majority of the county of Kent in England. It provides the upper tier of local government, below which are 12 district councils, and around 300 town and parish councils. The county council has 84 elected councillors...

 and the house became a nurses' training centre. In 1965 the area became part of the London Borough of Bromley, and the estate was transferred to the new borough. The land then became public open space, but in 1967 the mansion burnt down.

Listed buildings

There are the following Grade II Listed Buildings in and around the park:

Eighteenth century Gate Piers and Wrought Iron Railings

Cuckoo Lodge

Eton Fives Court, built about 1840

Grotto, constructed between 1885 and 1896

Ice Well, constructed about 1850

Old Lodge, early nineteenth century cottage

Outhouse at the Clock House, probably a granary with a horse gin, early nineteenth century

Stone Garden Shelter 1913

The Clock House, early nineteenth century stables of High Elms converted to a house

BEECHE

Bromley Council has established the Bromley Environmental Education Centre at High Elms (BEECHE) at the park, with environmental programmes for schools.

See also

• Bromley parks and open spaces
  Bromley parks and open spaces
  The London Borough of Bromley in London, England has over one hundred parks and open spaces within its boundaries: some large, like Crystal Palace Park, and some small, such as recreation grounds. Some of the open spaces form part of the South East London Green Chain...
  
  
• List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in London

External sites

• London Borough of Bromley, High Elms Country Park Local Nature Reserve
• Natural England Citation, Downe Bank and High Elms
• London Borough of Bromley, Bromley Environmental Education Centre at High Elms (BEECHE)
• Natural England, Nature on the Map, Downe Bank & High Elms (SSSI)
• Gardens of Kent, High Elms Country Park
• London Borough of Bromley, High Elms Trail
• Hidden London, High Elms
• High Elms Golf Club, Historic High Elms