The Rom Skatepark

Skatepark, 1978, designed by Adrian Rolt of G-Force.

LAYOUT: the Rom Skatepark occupies an 8,000m² site just west of Upper Rainham Road, in a corridor of green land that follows the course of the River Rom from which the park takes its name. The central 4,000m² is surfaced in shotcrete (pressurised concrete), with a series of bowls and hollows of various shapes let into its surface.

The seven main features are as follows, in clockwise order:

THE POOL: a twin-lobed bowl, approximately 6.7m in diameter and 2.75m deep, with a 2m ramp at one end and a metal rim. This is a standard design, based on the keyhole pool at Skateboard Heaven in Spring Valley, California and the San Diego 'Soul Bowl'. The resemblance to a swimming pool is emphasised by the smooth lining material ('marbleite' resin, according to a contemporary article) applied over the shotcrete surface, as well as the raised flagstone-like surround (known as 'coping' in skateboard parlance) and the layers of blue mosaic tiles beneath the rim.

THE MOGULS: six interlinked bowls of varying depth and diameter, arranged in a triangular formation with a high concrete 'shoulder' separating each from each.

THE PERFORMANCE BOWL: a single large bowl, 9m in diameter and up to 4m deep, with a long wedge-shaped entry ramp. Like its Californian prototype, the 'Vertibowl' at Paramount Skatepark, it was once enclosed by a curving vertical wall that served to increase its depth; this was taken down within a year of opening.

THE SLALOM RUN and FREESTYLE AREA: a long ramp that forms the site's main east-west axis; its eastern end is raised up, while to the west it descends into a large shallow rectangular bowl used for freestyle manoeuvres.

THE SNAKE RUN: a serpentine formation, shallow at one end and gradually deepening towards the other.

THE FOUR-LEAF CLOVER: four small bowls of unequal depth, arranged in a clover-leaf formation, each separated by a shallow concrete lip.

THE HALF-PIPE: a long, deep capsule-shaped bowl with vertical walls (partially lowered and shortened since construction) along the straight sides.

A number of temporary or moveable wooden ramps are placed at various points around the site. These, and the clubhouse and indoor mini-ramp to the north, are not of special interest and are excluded from the listing.