In South London, beyond the worlds of Brixton and Peckham, lies a hugely popular and yet criminally underrated park. Crystal Palace Park may be one of well over a hundred parks in the city, but it’s inarguably one of the city’s best. After all, it’s home to dinosaurs, a zoo, a maze, a skatepark, a fishing pond, pedallos, concert venues, cafes, historic sculptures, sporting facilities, and more.
But it’s fair to say that some parts of the park have fallen into disrepair in previous years, due to both the passage of time and property damage. But the park has been quietly undergoing a makeover to change all that.
The restoration plans were first announced back in 2024, with works beginning in 2025. But fret not, the park remains open while works are taking place. Some areas are currently not accessible while renovations are underway, but you can still enjoy most of the park.
In fact, depending on when you visit, you can even watch the restorations taking place. It’s quite fascinating to watch experts carefully breathe new life into the dinosaur sculptures, in particular.
How is Crystal Palace Park underrated?
I hear you, I hear you – how on Earth could I suggest that Crystal Palace Park is underrated? After all, it plays host to huge outdoor concerts in the summers, and it’s just generally flipping enormous.
But in a recent ranking of London’s best parks, based on “park ratings, social media activity, monthly Google search volume and overall size”, Crystal Palace Park didn’t even crack the top 10. Instead, the likes of Hyde Park, Hampstead Heath, Wimbledon Common, and Kew Gardens took the top spots.
So while Crystal Palace Park is hardly a secret, it’s far from London’s most well-known patch of greenery. But that’s likely soon to change!
Previous works at Crystal Palace Park
This is not the first time the park has undergone regeneration work, with prior plans, renovations, and more dating back to 2015. Previous work has included:
- A new café and community space
- A new skatepark
- Previous conservation and repairs of the Grade I listed dinosaurs, Grade II listed sphinxes and south terrace steps
- and more…
Current park restoration
Encompassing such an enormous plot of land as Crystal Palace Park means there are quite a few things that need restoring, renovating, and regenerating. Across the breadth of the park, all manner of work is being done to fix, modernise, and renew the park.
Current works for the park include:
- A new Dinosaur Playground
- Restoration work to the Geological Court: home to 30 dinosaurs, and 14 geographical illustrations
- Restoration of the Italian Terraces
- Improvements to the ‘Paxton Axis’ – the canopied walkway near Penge gate, known as the Grand Centre Walk
- Improved accessibility
- A new Visitor Centre
- and more.
When will it all be done?
Different parts of the park restoration will be completed at different times.
Works on the dinosaurs and surrounding tidal lakes were expected to be done by April, 2026; however, these are still ongoing.
The renovation of the Italian Terraces is expected to be completed by June, 2026.
The area around the Grand Centre Walk and the new Visitor Centre, in the south-east portion of the park, should be completed by June, 2026.
The expectation is that the restoration works will be completed by late summer, 2026. So there’s not long to go until you can enjoy Crystal Palace Park in all its newfound glory!
Find out more about the Crystal Palace Park regeneration here.
