page_title: Thornton Heath
section_title: Culture and architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Thornton Heath / Culture and architecture
caption_attribution_description: English: Thornton Heath Pond, Croydon, Surrey If geograph had been in existence back in 1953, the category for this location would have been "pond". Up until that time, the whole of this traffic island had been a pond. Back in the good old days, highwaymen used to be hanged from the gibbet beside this location; a practice which has, sadly, died out! After 1953, gardens and a small ornamental pond were built; there was also a not very attractive toilet block. An American musician friend (who might have been forgiven for not knowing the correct name for this location), referred to it as "the toilet roundabout" ..... but then she was American. As before, the pond became full of rubbish, and an eyesore. About 10 years ago, the current gardens were designed. Gone was the pond; in its place, a water feature consisting of three cascading towers (one can be seen to the left of picture). Unfortunately, the designer failed to take into account the fact that the wind blows. The water went everywhere apart from where it should have gone, and people avoided the gardens as a result. So; we finally reached today's situation, a garden with a dry water feature.
context_page_description: Thornton Heath is an area of south London, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Surrey, it has formed part of the London Borough of Croydon since 1965. It is 7.2 miles south of Charing Cross and is to the north of Croydon proper.
context_section_description: Architecturally, Thornton Heath is predominantly Victorian in both its residential and commercial sectors. There are a number of imposing, even grand, buildings surviving from this period.
  Two examples are St Paul's Church and St Alban's Church.  St Alban's is an  Anglican church and is listed Grade II. Built in 1889, it was the first church designed by the late Victorian architect Sir Ninian Comper. It is situated on a  busy junction (of Grange Road and the High Street), as can be seen in the photograph. It is described as being of a red-brick perpendicular style with stone dressing.
  At the junction of the High Street and Parchmore Road, on a site previously called Walker's Green, stands the Clocktower, which was built in 1900, financed partly by public subscription.
  However, the  Victorian baths did not survive, and were replaced by a modern sports and leisure centre in 2004. It cost £8m with £2.8m from the British National Lottery Good Causes Fund through Sport England.
caption: Decorative features at former Thornton Heath Pond
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