Sunset Studios

Southwark Park

Canada Water · 1.9 miles

Southwark Park is located in Rotherhithe, in central South East London, England, and is managed by the London Borough of Southwark. It first opened in 1869 by the Metropolitan Board of Works as one of its first parks. It was designed by Alexander McKenzie and covers 63 acres (250,000 m2). It takes its name from being in what was the old parliamentary constituency of Southwark at the time of its opening.

Bricklayers Arms Roundabout

Southwark · 1.9 miles

A complex road junction in south London merges a four-way green roundabout with an elevated flyover and a one-way bypass lane, linking the A2 and the London Inner Ring Road where Bermondsey, Walworth and Elephant & Castle meet. The roundabout sits at the convergence of Tower Bridge Road, Old Kent Road, New Kent Road and Great Dover Street, and can be reached from any of these routes. Pedestrians can cross the surrounding streets via pelican crossings that have been in place since 2009, while the former underpasses that once connected to a proposed Bakerloo line extension were filled and levelled in 2013, creating broader paved walkways around the green space. The site is recorded as a park on OpenStreetMap and falls within the Southwark area. The name derives from a coaching inn that occupied the location for more than six centuries, its sign displaying the coat of arms of the Worshipful Company of Tylers and Bricklayers. Excavations during the inn’s 1890s reconstruction uncovered very old foundations and a hoard of ancient coins. After the mid-18th-century construction of Westminster Bridge and New Kent Road, the inn served as a stop for coaches travelling between the City of London and the West End, particularly those heading to Kent’s brick-producing towns. The junction’s modern layout was authorised by the London County Council in December 1962, with construction commencing in 1967 and involving demolition of buildings on the three main roads. There is no admission charge, and the green central island provides a brief respite for motorists and walkers alike. The surrounding streets give direct access to local amenities, and the area remains a focal point for traffic moving between the south-east quadrant of the orbital motorway and the bridges west of London Bridge.

Greenland Dock

Pepys Estate · 1.9 miles

A water-filled historic site in the Rotherhithe district of the London Borough of Southwark, Greenland Dock lies close to the Pepys Estate and forms part of the River Thames’s south-bank waterfront. Though originally constructed as a wet dock between 1696 and 1699, it now functions purely for recreation and is one of only two enclosed docks still operating on this side of the river, the other being the smaller South Dock, to which it is linked by the channel known as Greenland Cut. The dock began as Howland Great Wet Dock on land owned by the Russell family, built under the Howland Great Wet Dock Act of 1696 and designed by shipwright John Wells to refit East India Company vessels. From the 1720s it accommodated Greenland whalers, prompting the later name change, and by the early nineteenth century it had become a centre of the timber trade after its 1806 sale to timber merchant William Richie. A substantial expansion overseen by Sir John Wolfe Barry between 1895 and 1904 more than doubled its size and added a large lock, allowing ocean-going steamers to berth. The dock was incorporated into the Port of London Authority in 1909, suffered wartime damage, and after the 1970 closure of the Surrey Commercial Docks passed to Southwark Council. While much of the surrounding Surrey Docks were filled in, Greenland Dock survived and, in 1981, was transferred to the London Docklands Development Corporation for regeneration. Today the dock’s water body provides a venue for leisure activities such as rowing and waterside walking. Access is via the surrounding streets of Rotherhithe, with the dock forming part of the public open space network; no admission charge is mentioned, and basic facilities are supplied by the local authority.

King's Stairs Gardens

Rotherhithe · 1.9 miles

Riverside walks and historic memorials give King’s Stairs Gardens a distinct character along the Thames in Bermondsey, just opposite Southwark Park and a short distance from Rotherhithe. The park is bounded to the north by the river and to the south by Jamaica Road (A200), offering views across the water and a direct link to the riverside promenade created in the early 1960s. Within the green space, stone markers commemorate the Silver, Golden and Diamond Jubilees of Queen Elizabeth II, the first unveiled by Her Majesty in 1977 and later additions presented by the Earl and Countess of Wessex. The site originated from post-war planning when the London County Council declared Bermondsey a reconstruction area in July 1947 and endorsed a riverside park in early 1948. After a series of objections and a compulsory-purchase order approved in September 1954, a design for the riverside walk was approved in 1960 and opened in November 1962, with the name King’s Stairs Gardens officially adopted the following January. Subsequent phases added grassy areas in the 1960s and, after a reassessment by the Greater London Council in 1968, three further green-space extensions were completed by 1982, establishing the layout that remains today. Protection of the area has been reinforced over recent years. A local campaign in 2010 persuaded Thames Water to abandon plans that would have affected the park, and the London Borough of Southwark granted village-green status in March 2012 under the Commons Act 2006. Fields in Trust added its own safeguard in 2013, and together with the nearby Edward III manor house the garden forms part of Southwark Council’s Edward III’s Rotherhithe Conservation Area.

Peter the Great Memorial

Albury Court · 2.5 miles

The bronze ensemble on Glaisher Street marks the tercentenary of the Russian tsar’s 1698 visit to England, standing at the junction where the River Thames meets Deptford Creek within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. Set beside the Millennium Quay housing development, the monument occupies a broad marble platform that rises on five steps and is bordered by a stone balustrade. Central to the arrangement is a tall statue of Peter the Great in 17th-century dress, holding a pipe and a telescope, flanked by an ornate bronze throne on the left and a bronze figure of a court dwarf on the right. Bronze cannons on stone plinths terminate the platform, each bearing grotesque plaques and bilingual inscriptions that recount the tsar’s stay at Sayes Court and his study of English shipbuilding at the nearby royal dockyard. The memorial, unveiled in 2001 by the Russian ambassador and Prince Michael of Kent, incorporates works by Russian artist Mihail Chemiakin and architect Vyacheslav Bukhayev. It lies on a pedestrian path on the south bank of the Thames, accessible from Glaisher Street and visible from the surrounding waterways. The nearest town identified in mapping data is Albury Court. No admission fee or visitor facilities are recorded in the source material, and the site remains open to the public as part of the riverside landscape.

Brunel Museum

Rotherhithe · 2.5 miles

Located in Rotherhithe, Southwark, the former Brunel Engine House now houses the Brunel Museum, a small history museum set within the original infrastructure of the Thames Tunnel. The brick engine house and adjoining tunnel shaft were designed by Sir Marc Isambard Brunel as part of the world’s first underwater tunnel, which opened in 1843. Between 1825 and 1843 the building functioned as a boiler house, powering steam-driven pumps that removed water from the tunnel. From 1961 the structure has displayed information about the tunnel’s construction and the wider work of Marc and Isambard Kingdom Brunel, including a model of the patented tunnelling shield and artefacts from the tunnel’s later use as a pedestrian link between Rotherhithe and Wapping. The chimney and engine house received Grade II listing in 1974, were stabilised by a charitable trust in 1975 and restored in 1979. In 2006 the site was renamed Brunel Museum and its exhibition was expanded with a mural on the shaft and bench-seating incorporating bridge models. A roof garden created in 2012 now hosts a cocktail bar, while the shaft itself has been refurbished for events and occasional tours. The museum participates in the annual Open House Weekend and runs a programme of walks, school-holiday activities and both in-person and online tours. Admission is subject to a charge, and wheelchair access is limited. Opening times are published on the museum’s listing, and the nearest town is Rotherhithe. Facilities were upgraded during major works in 2007, adding a café and improved toilets, and further refurbishment of the shaft in 2016 introduced a freestanding staircase to improve visitor access while preserving the historic brick walls.