Oaks Park is Sutton’s largest public park and merges with the
North Downs. The park includes meadowland and woodland and has
stunning views. It also has a wildlife sanctuary, animal hospital
and heritage trail.
There has been a house at The Oaks since at least the 16th
century. It was rebuilt in the mid-18th century as an Italianate
'villa' probably for the banker Thomas Gosling. The architect was
most likely Sir Robert Taylor (1714-1788) who had close connections
with the City of London, as he was a member of the Masons’ Company
and was elected Sheriff in 1782. Parts of the surviving stable
block may be Taylor’s work. The house was later occupied by the
12th Earl of Derby. The house was demolished between 1956 and 1960,
leaving only the Bakehouse and a few outbuildings.
The framework of the existing park was created for the Earl of
Derby in the 1770s. It was laid out in the manner of Capability
Brown with a belt of trees around the perimeter and carefully
placed groups of trees within this to produce the perfect ‘natural’
landscape.
The gale in October 1987 was a disaster for The Oaks. Most of
the mature trees were blown down and the shelter belts around the
edge of the park were totally devastated. Many new trees have
subsequently been planted.
The walled kitchen garden is set aside from the house in the
usual late 18th century manner. It is in the upper part of a
shallow dry valley and has been levelled by raising the ground in
the centre. The area around the greenhouse has been shaped into a
Victorian garden with a lawn and scattered trees.