The Butterfly and Bee Border, Cottons Park

Image: © Marathon Taken: 31 May 2017

Cottons Park was originally known as Cottons Recreational Ground and was once owned by the Cottons family as part of the Cottons Estate. Cottons House was owned by Nicholas Cotton who occupied a prominent position in Romford in 1568 when Queen Elizabeth I visited. Nicholas Cotton died two years later. The family continued to live in the house for many years but eventually they fell on hard times. The 15 acres of Cottons Recreational Grounds was bought by the Council for £4,500 in 1920. Most of the labour in the park to add facilities was carried out by the unemployed by arrangement with the Unemployment Committee. On the night of 17th October 1940 a line of German bombs fell this part of Romford and three of these fell across Cottons Park. One of the three bombs landed near the park's public underground air raid shelter and six people from the nine inside were killed. These included a mother and her two sons aged five and twelve months. The bed here is just inside the entrance from London Road and is designed to attract butterflies, bees and other flying insects, as well as moths and beetles.

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