Beddington Park

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Beddington Park is a public park in the United Kingdom which straddles Beddington and Wallington. Walking distance from Wrythe and site of various events of interest to the history of the Carshalton Nations, the park is classed as a heritage site by the Austenasian Ministry for Culture.

History

The site of Beddington Park was just south-west of a Roman villa, partially excavated in the 20th century, with a stone coffin discovered in 1930. Beddington Park itself originated as a deer park in the 14th century for the noble Carew family, whose manor house still stands in the park today, next to the parish church of St. Mary's Beddington. They sold the property to the local vicar, Canon Bridges, in the 1850s to pay off gambling debts; the park was bought from his descendants by the local council, and officially opened to the public on 27 June 1925. Parts of the park were used as allotments during the Second World War.

The first notable event connecting Beddington Park in some way to Austenasia took place on 3 February 2009, while local schools were closed following the Great Snow of 2009. A group of six students led by the then Crown Prince Jonathan and consisting primarily of knights and honorary subjects of Austenasia came under attack from a group of British teenagers, and fought them off in an incident remembered as the Skirmish of Beddington Park.

Over the following few years, the park became one of several meeting places for the large social group the core of which formed the nation of Orly. Due to Copan itself being unsuitable due to flooding, Beddington Park was therefore used for the site of the coronation of Queen Emma I of Copan by Emperor Jonathan I on 2 April 2014.

The park was visited by a small expedition of the Imperial Geographical Society on 29 August 2013, investigating local rumours that entrances to a legendary tunnel system are situated in the park. The expedition was unsuccessful in its attempt to find any evidence of tunnel entrances in the park.

Beddington Park was frequently visited by the family of Princess Hannah of Wildflower Meadows, who lived close to the park prior to moving in 2019. After the death of their pet dog Cleo - who also served as the first Honorary Mascot of the Order of the Bullmastiff - her ashes were scattered in the park on 26 February 2022.

The parish church of St. Mary the Virgin, which is located towards the south-east of the park, saw the Anglican wedding of Jonathan I and Princess Hannah on 5 November 2022. The situation of the church meant that those attending the service had to travel through at least part of the park to get to the wedding.

Geography

Beddington Park measures 58 hectares, and is roughly square-shaped. It is bisected by the River Wandle flowing east to west, with Forestedge and then Wandleside farther upstream. North of the river, the park is primarily open grassland, bordered by wooded areas to the north, east, and west. A café - the Pavilion - is situated to the north-east of this area, and east of the café are areas for football, cricket, and skateboarding.

South of the river, the park is slightly more wooded, albeit still with plenty of wide open grassy areas. Towards the east of this area is Carew Manor, the manor house of the park's founders, which now serves as a school. Nearby is a large Dovecote, built in the first half of the eighteenth century, which was an outbuilding of the manor and is a Grade II* listed building. Next to the manor house is the - also Grade II* listed - 14th-century flint church of St. Mary the Virgin, the local Anglican parish church. In the far south-east corner of the park is the Warren, a wooded area.

As the Wandle flows through the park, it veers towards the south, culminating in a large pond in the south-west of the park from which a culvert pipes the water under the adjoining road and out of the park to continue the flow of the river. To the north of this pond is The Grange, a restaurant situated on the edge of the park with gardens which gradually merge into it, and to the east is the Wet Meadow, a protected area with environmentally significant species of rare plant and insect.

Five bridges cross the Wandle as it flows through the park. Following the river as it flows east to west, the first is a small tarmacked bridge north of the Dovecote, which can be used by vehicles to access the Pavilion. It is possible to get underneath this bridge - water levels permitting - due to brick platforms lining the bank here, and so teenagers sometimes meet under the bridge. The second bridge is named Canon Bridges Bridge after the clergyman who bought the park in the 1850s, due to being commissioned by him, and has an ornate terracotta and brick design. The third is quite small and non-descript, installed in modern times to prevent visitors to the park having to walk too far to cross the river. The fourth is a bridge made of flint, perhaps also built by Canon Bridges. The fifth is a larger bridge spanning the pond, connecting the gardens of The Grange to a path leading out of the park to the south.

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