South London Bandstand Where Bowie Performed Gets Well-Deserved Grade II Listing

by Liz Seyi Digital marketing manager

Given all of the other highly rewarding aspects of Living In Croydon – ranging from the rich culinary scene to the many sporting and leisure activities that can be enjoyed here – it’s sometimes easy to overlook the astounding cultural heritage that South London also has to offer.

A reminder of this came recently, in the shape of a bandstand where a young David Bowie performed being given a Grade II listing, in recognition of its historical significance.

How did Bowie come to be associated with the bandstand?

It was in 1969 – an incredible 50 years ago now – that the late English singer-songwriter set up the free Growth Summer Festival in the Beckenham area of South London where he was living at the time, shortly after scoring his first hit, “Space Oddity”. It was as part of this event that he performed a short set at the landmark, in front of a small audience.

The cast iron bandstand itself had already stood in Croydon Road Recreation Ground since 1905, but it is the structure’s association with Bowie that especially captures many imaginations today – especially given suggestions that he may have written the lyrics to “Life on Mars” from the bandstand’s steps.

Another song written by Bowie, “Memory of a Free Festival”, is known to have been directly inspired by the event. However, the bandstand is not notable solely because of its link to Bowie, as it is also an example of the kind of bandstands that were once a much more common sight across Britain’s public parks, piers and seaside promenades.

Bandstand “shows us how powerful our historic places can be”

Duncan Wilson, chief executive at Historic England, which advised the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to give the bandstand its Grade II listing, commented: “It is a rare survival from a historic iron foundry in its own right, but its significance as a site that inspired David Bowie shows us how powerful our historic places can be and how important it is that we protect them so they will continue to inspire people for years to come.”

It’s a sentiment that we can strongly agree with here at ISLAND, where we have apartments and penthouses available for those who are interested in living in Croydon so that they can be inspired by South London’s distinctive urban landscape for themselves. Simply register your interest in our properties on our website today, and we will be pleased to get back in touch with you.

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Created on Nov 17th 2019 23:13. Viewed 199 times.

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