Garden staircases in Dulwich and Crystal Palace. Steel stairs for the Norwood Ridge.

Raised floors and falling gardens on the ridge

Many houses on the Norwood Ridge have a raised ground floor above a lower-ground floor, or a back terrace high above a falling garden. Those changes in level are where an external steel staircase links a raised ground floor, terrace or upper flat with the garden, without the footprint of masonry steps. The ridge stays above 100 metres for well over two kilometres. After the Crystal Palace was re-erected here in 1854, Sydenham became fashionable, and the villas built around Westwood Hill mostly rose to three or four storeys.

Dulwich Estate consent and planning permission

Freehold residential properties within the Dulwich Estate are subject to its Scheme of Management, which can require prior written approval for work affecting the external appearance of a property or significant changes to a garden. Estate approval is separate from planning permission, and neither guarantees the other. In Lewisham’s Sydenham Hill conservation area, Mount Ash Road and Lammas Green have Article 4 directions. Southwark’s Article 4 direction for the Great North Wood removes certain permitted development rights for homes within 15 metres of Dulwich Wood and Sydenham Hill Wood, so a staircase in a garden backing onto the woods may need planning permission. Five boroughs meet around Crystal Palace, so depending on the address the planning authority may be Southwark, Lambeth, Lewisham, Croydon or Bromley. We look into which consents may apply before drawings are prepared; the decisions rest with the council and the Estate.

External staircases for the ridge, and how we make them

On the steeper ridge gardens, a split-level design puts a landing halfway down, where you can rest, change direction or step off onto a terrace, and a quarter-turn keeps the run tight against a retaining wall. A straight run suits a longer garden below a raised ground floor. A spiral can sometimes give a compact route between an upper level and the garden, depending on the property, how it will be used and any approvals needed. Balustrades guard exposed edges and long flights take a handrail each side; our comparison of garden staircase designs weighs them up. There is no charge for the site survey, which can also be done by video call. You approve drawings before fabrication, and the price is fixed before anything is made. Each staircase is fabricated and professionally spray painted in our workshop, and our fitters, who work only for us, can put it in within a week of it leaving the workshop.

Clay, springs and tree roots under the garden steps

Beneath the gardens is London Clay, overlain by the sandier Claygate Member, with sand and gravel on the highest points. Rain soaks through the gravel, sits on the clay and emerges lower down the hill as springs and streams; Sydenham Wells Park is named after the medicinal springs found there. We weigh up the slope, wet ground and tree roots during the free site survey, and only then settle how the staircase is supported. Where mature trees overhang a garden, perforated treads shed leaf litter, and our guide to finishes and tread types also covers colours, galvanising and powder coating.

Along the ridge and down its slopes

We fit garden staircases all along the ridge, from Dulwich Village and the Estate up Sydenham Hill and Westwood Hill to Crystal Palace, and down its slopes into Sydenham and Forest Hill, as well as in Herne Hill, East Dulwich, Gipsy Hill and Upper Norwood. Penge, Anerley and the rest of the London Borough of Bromley are covered on our Bromley and Orpington page.

Request a free site visit in Dulwich & Crystal Palace