Queen’s Gardens is a very pleasant green oasis adjacent to the Town Hall in Croydon, and just a few minutes’ walk from the busy shopping centre. It is popular with office workers, and for wedding photographs for those undertaking Civil Ceremonies in the Town Hall, but not that well known to many of the visiting shoppers, who never stray this far. It is a mix of lawns, formal borders and a more informal sunken garden, complete with palms.

It has an interesting history: the ‘sunken’ gardens to the north of the site were formed from the railway cutting which led to the former Croydon Central railway station. During the early days of the railways, the two current stations, West Croydon and East Croydon were built by the London and Croydon Railway (1839) and the London and Brighton Railway (1841) respectively, but the townspeople felt neither station was conveniently sited for the town centre. This pressure led to the authorisation in 1864 of a short branch line from East Croydon station to a new station on the site of the present Town Hall, which duly opened as Croydon Central station in 1868. It was a spacious two-platform terminus, handsomely provided with an Italianate station building in brick.

Alas, with a meagre service of just 12 trains a day, passengers found it easier to use the other two stations, and the service ceased in 1871. After pressure from the Council, a service was reinstated in 1886, (this time as ‘Central Croydon’) but this too lasted only until 1890, when the station closed for good. But one advantage of the legacy was that it provided a large, consolidated site for redevelopment. The Council used this opportunity to build the original Town Hall, Courts, a Police Station and Public Library. The sunken garden was constructed in the cutting and opened in 1896.

In 1968, the lawns facing Taberner House were laid out, which at that time remained separated from the sunken gardens by Mint Walk and the Victorian Police Station. The Police Station was demolished in 1980, and the two sections of garden joined together as we see them now. They were opened by the Queen on 21st June 1983.

I work in offices in central croydon and sometimes escape to these gardens in lunch breaks in the summer. Really beautiful and amazingly juxtaposed with the hussle and bussle of central croydon. Lovely! Always nice to find green space in city centres.

I was so pleased to discover this small area with urban gardens right in the heart of Croydon. Opened by the Queen in 1983 it has blossomed ever since. At one of the weddings I attended, we came down here for photo shoots. With the vast array of beautiful flowers amidst a beautiul fountain, this garden truly represents what tranquility and serenity one can find in the open. As I sat on the bench, I imagined myself coming down there again, to bask in the lovely sunshine and soak in the pleasant scents of the colourful flowers overlooking me. It even gets more attractive because there are a bit more private areas the next level below, like (its like a one storey plan) and you can enjoy a lovely novel in the more shaded areas or for those serenaders, its a nice place too. You cannot miss it. It's just right across the Registry.