The lake was a fishpond in the house Casino which stood on Denmark Hill.

The house dated from 1796 to 1797 and was built on Dulwich Estate land.

In the early 20th century the estate had difficulties in finding tenants and the house was demolished in 1906.

The site was acquired by the Camberwell Borough Council, which had been persuading the Estate to release land for social housing and the Casino Estate was built to designs of Sir Frank Barnes, the architect of Eltham's Well Hall Estate, and the garden became a public park.

The church seen in the background is St Faith's, Sunray Avenue.