The historic features of Tooting Common are set to get a £273,200 restoration.
The council was successful in its bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund and has been awarded the funds to draw up plans to revitalise the common’s most prominent features.
A drinking fountain
The council will add to the funding with £52,000 from its own budgets.
Tooting Bec Lido on the common
The restoration will include proposals for the conservation of the 1930s drinking fountain, the tree avenues, a Victorian fossilised tree and lakes.
It will also create a project, The Common Story, unravelling some of the common’s history.
Plans will also be drawn up to enhance Tooting Bec Lido and refurbish the pavilion on Woodfield Recreation Ground.
Environment spokesman Councillor Jonathan Cook said: “This exciting project aims to improve how the common is managed as a whole and provide a better local amenity for residents to enjoy.
“It will also help make sure that the common’s important historical features and its important biodiversity are preserved for future generations.”
During the Boer Wars thousands of troops camped on the common waiting to be transported to Africa
The common covers 220 acres and is the largest open space managed by the council.
Anti-aircraft guns and a POW camp were situated on the common during WW2
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