Kennington Park, 238 Kennington Park Road, London SE11 4DA
Kennington Park Air-Raid Memorial
Battle & memorial
Place photograph
5.8
Wildland
Under 1 hour
Time
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Cost
Atmospheric
Feel
Why it's Wildland
5.8On 15 October 1940, a bomb struck shallow air-raid shelters in Kennington Park during a raid on Waterloo and the docks. The memorial remembers those killed in the disaster, whose full death toll remains uncertain.
This is a place of remembrance rather than a wild landscape, but its connection to a largely forgotten civilian tragedy gives it real historical weight. The stone memorial makes that history tangible within the park where the shelters stood.
Atmospheric
Find your way
Open mapKennington Park, 238 Kennington Park Road, London SE11 4DA
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Know this place a little better?
The experience
Visit the memorial in Kennington Park’s South Field and read its inscriptions. It is a short, reflective stop; the supplied evidence does not support a longer itinerary centred on the memorial alone.
Things to do
Read the memorial inscriptions
The stone carries a quotation from Maya Angelou and an inscription remembering people killed when a bomb destroyed an air-raid shelter near this spot.
10–20 minutes
Consider the South Field shelter site
The shelters were in Kennington Park’s South Field. The memorial is nearby, but not at the shelter location itself.
10–20 minutes
Make a day of it
Quick escape · Under 1 hour
A short visit to the memorial
- 01
Find the memorial in the South Field, near the Tinworth Fountain Gate.
- 02
Read the inscriptions and take time to reflect on the events they commemorate.
Verified history
On 15 October 1940, during a raid on Waterloo and the docks, a bomb hit shallow trench air-raid shelters in Kennington Park. The Friends of Kennington Park report that 104 people are thought to have died and that 48 bodies were recovered. London Remembers gives a different formulation on the memorial inscription: it commemorates more than 50 people killed. The memorial, carved from Caithness stone by local resident Richard Kindersley, was unveiled in 2006. Its inscription includes a quotation from Maya Angelou. The memorial is near the Tinworth Fountain Gate; the shelters were in the South Field, not beneath the sunken garden.
Hidden details
The memorial does not mark the shelter’s exact position — The memorial is near the Tinworth Fountain Gate, while the air-raid shelters were in the South Field. London Remembers specifically cautions against identifying the sunken garden as the shelter site.
The death toll is presented differently in the available accounts — Friends of Kennington Park give an estimated 104 deaths, while the memorial inscription refers to more than 50 men, women and children. The sources do not present these figures in the same way.
When to go
· No particular time is evidenced as preferable.
No seasonal detail for the memorial is provided by the supplied sources.
Check conditions before visiting; no site-specific weather or path information is evidenced.
What to look for
- 01
The Caithness-stone memorial, its Maya Angelou quotation and the inscription commemorating those killed on 15 October 1940. The memorial stands near the Tinworth Fountain Gate
- 02
the air-raid shelters were in the park’s South Field.
The story
War & battle
Best time to go
No season-specific reason to visit is evidenced.
No particular time of day is evidenced as preferable.
How long to spend
Under 1 hour
Perfect for
Solo · History lovers
Before you go
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Practical information
Opening & access
The memorial is in Kennington Park’s South Field, close to the Tinworth Fountain Gate. A supplied source describes the park as open to the public; check current access arrangements before visiting.
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Parking
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Toilets
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Food & drink
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Accessibility
The source row reports a wheelchair-accessible entrance; confirm the route and current conditions before visiting.
Cost
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Gallery
Place photographsKeep exploring
Around Kennington Park Air-Raid Memorial
Within 50 km · approximate straight-line distances
