MYATT'S FIELDS
Myatt's Fields or Camberwell Park is but a short distance to the south-west of Kennington. This Park of 14.5 acres was one of those princely gifts which have been showered on the inhabitants of London. It was presented by Mr. William Minet, in whose family the land has been since 1770. His ancestors were Huguenots who had come to England at the time of the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes.
It was handed over to the newly-formed County Council in 1889, having been previously laid out. The way in which this was done with an avenue, which will some day be one of the great beauties of the neighbourhood, and which is in the meantime a pleasant shady walk, has already been commented on. For its size, Myatt's Fields is one of the most tasteful of the new parks. Its quaint name is a survival of the time when the ground was a market-garden leased by a certain Myatt from 1818-69. The excellent qualities of the strawberries and rhubarb raised there, gave the Fields such a good reputation in the district, and the name became so familiar, that it was retained for the Park.
Camberwell Green is a distinct place, not far distant, and is noticed among the village greens of London.
