Coombe Wood, Croydon

Coombe Wood near Croydon is an ornamental garden and woodland. I went in early May primarily to see the rhododendrons and azaleas but they were already past their best. However the gardens and woods were still really pretty and well worth a visit.

Coombe Wood was first opened to the public in 1948. It was the former garden of Coombe Wood House. Coombe Wood supplied water to the estate through three conduits, hence the name of the adjoining road, Conduit Lane.

You enter the gardens and are met by colourful flower beds and a small pond on the left.

A little path winds through a rock garden. Surprisingly the rockery is made from artificial rock, named Pulhamite after the landscape garden who created it in the late 19th century, James Pulham.

Heading towards the woods -

Rhodondrodons -