Archbishop's Park
This stop holds a seat we covered with mosaic, four murals and seven paving stones.
Archbishop's Park is the South Bank’s largest open public space (apart from the river walk) and a hidden gem.
Southbank Mosaics artists have worked with community volunteers to create a Tree of Life mosaic within the children’s play area of the park, surrounded by some wooden seating. The Tree of Life is an “oak” which carries within its boughs pineapples (referencing the area’s connection to John Tradescant, who grew the first pineapple in England) and bananas (representing the fruit of New Covent Garden in Vauxhall). Beneath the oak tree there are some lambs, which hint at a possible origin for the name of Lambeth as the “berth where Lambs” were brought to and from London.
Above the oak there is a dove of peace, which was made by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. Rowan suggested another theory, that the name Lambeth may have come from a Saxon word meaning “mud-bank.” A picnic is spread to one side of the oak tree and there is a bottle of wine with FOAP on its label - this refers to the Friends of Archbishop's Park who commissioned the work. We've also used children from Johanna Primary School, Evelina children’s Hospital and Coin Street Neighbourhood Centre as volunteers, who created four seasonal murals for a shelter in the park. Volunteers from Kings College University helped us out as well, and created seven paving stones for the same shelter.