Erection date: 1907
The colour photo shows the shelter from the front, east side. The black and white photo is from the information panel. It shows the rear of Woodlands shortly after the house has been demolished leaving just what is being kept of the rear facade to form the shelter. The off-centre garden steps (shown on the map on our Woodlands page) are still in place in this photo. This suggests that the way the shelter was made was to leave the back porch in place and move the front porch backwards to join up with it (rather than vice versa).
Site: Portico from Woodlands (1 memorial)
SE5, Ruskin Park
This portico is from one of 8 houses (nos.162-176) on the west side of Denmark Hill which were demolished to allow the creation of Ruskin Park in 1907. The panel attached to the structure says it comes from "170 Denmark Hill, known as Woodlands" and shows two images of the house: both of the back, one a painting. The other is the B&W photo we have used here. The 'portico' in the Park is actually made of two porches, from the front entrance and the back entrance - as if the house that was keeping them apart has been removed.
The panel attached to the structure reads:
"This Grade II listed building was originally part of a villa that stood at 170 Denmark Hill, known as Woodlands, whose first occupant was Captain James Wilson (1760 – 1814), a sea captain and trader who later became involved in missionary work in the South Pacific. The house was subsequently acquired by London County Council when the houses were pulled down and Ruskin Park was created for the public in 1907. The ground floor porches on the front and rear were saved from number 170 in order to provide the park with a decorative all-weather shelter. A plaque installed to commemorate Captain Wilson’s adventurous life has since been lost.
"The structure had been in a poor state of repair for many years, becoming almost an overgrown ruin, and boarded up. It was added to Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register in 2005. The restoration began in 2016, with work including the stabilisation of the structure, repairs to the brickwork, roof, tiled floors and upper mouldings on the columns, detailed joinery and repainting. It was reopened to the public in 2017.
"The Portico restoration was enabled by a partnership between Historic England, the London Borough of Lambeth, Heritage of London Trust and Friends of Ruskin Park with support from the Wates Family Enterprise Trust, the Herne Hill Society and the Maas Gallery."
Sources include: .
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