03/05/2023 05:01:40 PM
93. Priory Park
This is, I think, with the exception of East Finchley Cemetery which we visit each Saturday, the only open space of the 205 parks we've visited that we've been to more than once – he’d been there with his excellent keyworkers from Kisharon and liked it so much he asked to go back with me.
Priory Park is one of the most popular parks in Haringey. It’s an irregular U shape with large open grassy spaces, an ornamental garden, tennis courts, paddling pool (used as a play area when there’s no water in it), café, toilets, playground, and large area for netball practice and junior cycling. It’s home to the Hornsey Pétanque Club. It was first awarded the Green Flag Award in 2003 and has kept it ever since.
The park was created in two sections. land at the eastern and southern ends were purchased in 1891 by the local authority and opened in 1896 as the Middle Lane Pleasure Grounds. In 1926 the western section was added, after the authority bought land that had been used for allotments during the First World War After the war an plan for the council to develop the field for housing was dropped on grounds of cost, and an expanded park was renamed Priory Park. Despite the name, there has never been (as far as is known) a priory on this site. The park is named after the sprawling estate that once covered the area and the 19th century mansion that stood inside it.
The original eastern section of the park has bedding displays, walks, shrub beds and mature trees. The western section is mainly grassed, with lines of trees, with some of the grass left long to encourage wildflowers. That section also includes the Philosophers’ Garden, a quiet area bounded by hedges and fences. It is named after a group of local retired men who, from the nineteen thirties until the nineteen sixties, would meet daily in Priory Park. The Priory Park Philosophers became a social group, entertaining themselves and others, singing, playing cricket and bowls, and also raising money for charity. The garden includes a wildlife pond where newts and frogs have been seen, sculptures (for example “The Drop” shown below).
There’s no car park but we managed to find space to park on the street. There are entrances on Priory Road, Middle Lane, Barrington Road, Abbeville Road (all London N8).
Judith Field
Priory Park, 112 Middle Lane, London N8 8LN
26/04/2023 04:59:18 PM
92. Thornhill Square
This square, a quiet oasis off the Caledonian Road in the Barnsbury area of Islington, is the largest in the borough. It’s bounded by Victorian terraced houses, all listed buildings. We drove past it on the way to a different park, but it was on our list, so I stopped there instead. We will visit that one another time, when I feel up to the grind that is the Archway Road, and beyond, that forms our route to Islington.
The gardens and the land around them were originally owned by Thomas Thornhill in the 19th-century, who developed it for housing. The land where the garden is was at the time used as a commercial market garden nursery and the garden was formally opened in 1890, but for the private use of the residents. The gardens were donated to Islington Council in 1947 for public use, and in 1953 the gardens were re-designed and landscaped as part of the Council’s “Coronation Year” improvements.
The garden has mature trees, lawns, rose beds, ornamental borders, benches, and a playground. It’s a haven for insects and is a site of local importance for nature conservation. A local community group looks after it in collaboration with Islington Council. One of the donors to the group is listed as “a former Prime Minister, whose house backed onto the gardens”. That must have Sir Tony Blair, who lived in the next street from 1993 to 1997.
Another famous resident was Edith Garrud, who trained the suffragette unit “The Bodyguard”, in jujitsu and the use of Indian clubs to protect Emmeline Pankhurst.
There are no café or toilets in the garden, but there used to be toilets (later demolished). These gained unexpected notoriety in 1977, when the decapitated head of the London gangland criminal, Billy Moseley was found there. Other body parts were found in the Thames. His disappearance, apparent torture, and eventual murder was a major news story in the mid nineteen seventies. The Sunday mirror, for example, described it as “the world’s most gruesome jigsaw”.
Two men were convicted of his murder in 1977 and jailed for life, but their conviction was overturned in 2002 when it was proven that the police evidence against them had been falsified. Whoever dumped the head in the garden toilet is still unknown.
Judith Field
Thornhill Square, London N1 1BQ
19/04/2023 04:57:18 PM
91. Friary Park
This is a formal Edwardian park in Friern Barnet, formed from the grounds of Friary House. It was opened to the public in 1910, and the house is now a café. The building is also used as a centre for a number of community groups.
Just as a reminder, Friern (originally Freren) in Friern Barnet refers to the lordship of the knights of the Hospital of St. John, who owned the land between the late twelfth century and the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the mid-sixteenth century. Barnet means a ‘place cleared by burning’.
The park has old oak trees that pre-date its creation, and a small stream, Blacketts Brook, a tributary of Pymme's Brook, near the western boundary. The park is a Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation and has received a Green Flag Award.
At the park's highest point is an 11-foot bronze statue, ‘The Peacemaker’, dedicated to Edward VII, who had died the day before the new park was due to be officially opened. It was donated by benefactor Sydney Simmons, who paid for the purchase of the Friary Estate, on the condition that it forever remain a public park. The statue stood in the park for more than a century without anyone realising it was actually of Queen Victoria (at age 42), made as a memorial to the Great Exhibition, until the Friern Barnet & District Local History Society discovered its true origins.
The statue originally held a rod of equity and mercy on which a dove, symbolising peace, perched. That was replaced with a spear, which had broken over time. Barnet Council’s restoration work reinstated the dove, and the statue was returned to Friary Park in September 2022.
The park has a basketball hoop, tennis courts, football pitch, skate park, play and picnic areas and an outdoor gym, as well as toilets. It contains quiet gardens and large open spaces, and there’s a walking trail right around the park.
There is access from Torrington Park, Friary Road, and Friern Barnet Lane, N12. We found space to park on the street.
Judith Field
Friary Park, Friern Barnet Lane/Torrington Park/Friary Road, London N12 9PD
12/04/2023 11:19:11 AM
90. Cassiobury Park
This is the principal park in Watford. It’s twice the size of Hyde Park and was voted one of the top twenty parks in the UK in 2021. Part of it is a local nature reserve, with ancient trees including oak and cedar. There are also wildflower meadows, and wildlife includes dragonflies and butterflies, bats and muntjac deer, mandarin ducks, little egrets and herons. About half of the park is wooded and there are walking trails through the woods. The River Gade runs through the park, which also borders the Grand Union Canal.
Cassiobury was once the lands of the Abbey of St Albans, then later the estate of the Earl of Essex who commissioned gardens, tree planting and a deer park. The park was created in 1909 from the purchase by the local authority of part of the estate. I wondered about the name, given that Cassio was a brand of calculators and similar available in the nineties (and perhaps still is). It goes back earlier, though- the name ‘Caegesho’ refers to an area of land granted by Offa, King of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia, to the Abbey of St Albans in 793. ‘Caeg’ might have been a man’s name, while ‘ho’ means ‘a spur of land’ in Old English. The spelling gradually evolved into Cassio and the ‘bury’ part comes from the word for a fortified place.
The park has won the Green Flag Award eleven times, most recently in 2022. It has play areas and facilities for children of all ages, quiet areas with picnic tablets, riverside and canalside walks and open spaces for sports. There’s a paddling pool (open from April to September) and a miniature railway (open every day in the summer, otherwise only at weekends), outdoor gym, several cafés, and toilets. There are tennis courts, sports pitches and lots of open space to walk in or to play sports. The park also has a bandstand where live music is performed in the summer months.
There are entrances on Rickmansworth Road, Langley Way, Gade Avenue, Cassiobury Park Avenue and Parkside Drive (all in Watford). There’s a car park at the Gade Avenue entrance. You have to pay if you park there for more than two hours, which you may find you need to do as there’s a lot going on in the park.
Judith Field
Cassiobury park, Gade Avenue, Watford WD18 7LG
03/04/2023 01:12:16 PM
89. Moatfield Recreation Ground
Moatfield Recreation Ground, in the centre of Bushey, was the site of a medieval manor house called Bourne Hall, surrounded by a moat. The house was first recorded in 1231 and stood, possibly with rebuilding and additions, until it was demolished in the eighteenth century. After this the area was meadow, until the nineteen thirties when it became a recreation ground.
The site has been identified as an Area of Archaeological Significance because of its size and good preservation. Various archaeological surveys have been carried out on the site to try to locate the manor house, which is thought to have been in the northwest of the park near to the play area. It’s protected by the Fields in Trust organisation. This means that there is a legal agreement between Fields in Trust and a space's landowner that they will retain it for use as a green space, usually a public park, playing field or recreation ground, in perpetuity.
Today Moatfield is home to Bushey Rangers FC. The Friends of Moatfield Group work closely with local authority parks officers to promote and improve the park. It hosts a variety of events through the year including BMX fix and tricks, an easter egg hunt, tai-chi, football tournaments and coaching.
The principal paths, including a public footpath passing through the park, are accessible for wheelchairs. There’s an outdoor gym and playground, plus lots of open space to walk in. There is no café or toilets (or should that be "there are?" I'm never sure, but anyway there aren't any.
The recreation ground is accessible on foot from Bournehall Lane, Bournehall Avenue and Moatfield Road, Bushey. There is a small carpark next to the football clubhouse on Bournehall Lane but we found space to park on a nearby street.
Judith Field
Moatfield Park, Moatfield Road, Bushey WD23 3FE
30/03/2023 09:58:53 AM
88. Cherry Tree Wood
This is a local nature reserve in East Finchley, on the boundary between the London Boroughs of Barnet and Haringey. It is owned and managed by Barnet as one of their Premier Parks. It’s a Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation.
It was once part of Finchley Wood, which stretched from Highgate to Whetstone in the medieval period, and contains ancient woodland. It was included in a larger swathe of woodland, meadow and pasture owned by the Bishop of London, including Highgate Wood, Queens Wood (see 26) and Coldfall Wood (see 1). It provided an income from harvested fuel wood and pigs.
The wood used to be known as Dirt House Wood because the night soil and horse manure cleaned from London’s streets was brought as fertiliser for the hay meadows to the Dirt House, now the White Lion pub next to East Finchley station. The woodland was reduced in size as land was taken for the railway and for house building in the 1860s.
The need for a recreational space in East Finchley was recognised in the late nineteenth century but it was not until 1912 that the wood was seriously considered for this. Then, it had a reputation for rowdy behaviour and the local authority believed they would kill two birds with one stone if it became a recreation ground. They purchased it in 1914 and it opened to the public in 1915, with the name Cherry Tree Wood.
Hornbeam and oak grow in the wood, and wood anemone grow there in spring with other ancient woodland plants including ramsons (we have these in our garden in Mill Hill – a sort of mild wild garlic, very tasty). Nuthatch, great spotted woodpecker and mistle thrush can often be seen.
The wood has playgrounds, a café, toilets, tennis and basketball courts, a picnic area, woodland walks and an open grassed area - we celebrated my cousin’s sixtieth birthday there a few years ago.
There are entrances from Brompton Grove, Fordington Road and Summerlee Avenue (all N2) and East Finchley station is a five-minute walk away.
Judith Field
Cherry Tree Wood, Summerlee Ave, London N2 9QH
23/03/2023 09:53:57 AM
87. Milner Square Garden, Islington
This square, one of many in Islington, is in the Barnsbury area. It’s bounded by early Victorian terraced houses, all listed buildings. The square has a continuous terrace of houses with no features to break up the terrace - even the chimney stacks are hidden from view. It’s protected under the London Squares Preservation Act 1931.
It was created in 1841, as London expanded over the agricultural fields that once characterised much of Islington. Individual developers built terrace streets and often included squares so that the houses benefited from a central garden. Milner Square was part of the estate laid out for Thomas Milner Gibson MP, who leased the land from the Lord of Barnsbury Manor. By the late nineteenth century, Barnsbury began to be abandoned by the middle classes who were replaced by poorer occupants.
In the first half of the 20th century the square, along with much of Islington, became impoverished. The seedy houses were converted to bed sits and small flats. The run-down buildings were bought by the local authority in 1973 and restored and converted into council flats.
The centre of the square was a vegetable garden until the nineteen thirties. Since then, it has been a playground and this was renovated in 2018. There’s also a sports court. The centre also has planted borders and a small brick pavilion.
We found space to park on a nearby street. It was interesting to visit a different sort of open space, and Jack was happy because of the playground, so it was worth slogging along the Holloway Road with all its traffic lights. I plan to visit more pocket parks – according to the government definition, occupying no more than half the size of a football field, and often considerably smaller (see, for example, no. 61, Mapesbury Dell).
Judith Field
Milner Square Garden, London N1 1TW
23/03/2023 09:40:24 AM
86 Town park, Enfield
The village of Enfield was one of the largest medieval parishes in Middlesex and was fully cultivated by the time of the Domesday Survey. Town Park is a surviving fragment, along with Bush Hill Park Golf Course of the pre-Elizabethan Old Park estate of Enfield Manor. Many rich people moved to Enfield from the seventeenth century onwards and built fine houses such as Chase Side House. Town Park was created on 23 acres of the former Chase Side House estate, which the local authority bought in 1894. It was laid out and opened to the public in 1902. A bathing lake opened in 1905.
From the entrance on Cecil road, the park opens onto flower beds and hedged rose gardens on either side of a path with a Giant Redwood Tree growing in the middle, with seating around its trunk.
There are also oak, lime and horse chestnut trees. To the south are playing fields and open grass leading to a remnant of the Enfield Loop of the New River, which separates the park from the private golf course.
This river is an artificial waterway opened in the seventeenth century to supply London with fresh drinking water. When the river loop was piped underground in the late nineteenth century, a public campaign lobbied for the preservation of the remnant for its ornamental value, and it was saved from being filled in.
The bathing lake is no longer in use, but it contained three ponds, surrounded by raised beds planted with a variety of ornamental shrubs. Today one of the ponds has an island planted with shrubs and another is now an interactive water play park.
The park also has a cafe, toilets, a playground and interactive aquatic play areas for young children. There are tennis courts and multi-use games areas. As far as I can tell there isn’t a car park and we parked on a nearby street.
Judith Field
Town Park, Enfield, Cecil Rd, Enfield EN2 6LE
Judith and Jack's Park of the Week
23/03/2023 09:40:24 AM
87. Milner Square Garden, Islington
This square, one of many in Islington, is in the Barnsbury area. It’s bounded by early Victorian terraced houses, all listed buildings. The square has a continuous terrace of houses with no features to break up the terrace - even the chimney stacks are hidden from view. It’s protected under the London Squares Preservation Act 1931.
It was created in 1841, as London expanded over the agricultural fields that once characterised much of Islington. Individual developers built terrace streets and often included squares so that the houses benefited from a central garden. Milner Square was part of the estate laid out for Thomas Milner Gibson MP, who leased the land from the Lord of Barnsbury Manor. By the late nineteenth century, Barnsbury began to be abandoned by the middle classes who were replaced by poorer occupants.
In the first half of the 20th century the square, along with much of Islington and its population, became impoverished. The seedy buildings were converted to bed sits and small flats. The run-down buildings were bought by the local authority in 1973 and restored and converted into council flats.
The centre of the square was a vegetable garden until the nineteen thirties. Since then, it has been a playground and this was renovated in 2018. There’s also a sports court. The centre also has planted borders and a small brick pavilion.
We found space to park on a nearby street. It was interesting to visit a different sort of open space, and Jack was happy because of the playground, so it was worth slogging along the Holloway Road with all its traffic lights. I plan to visit more pocket parks – according to the government definition, occupying no more than half the size of a football field, and often considerably smaller (see, for example, no. 61, Mapesbury Dell (scroll down a bit).
Judith Field
Milner Square Garden, London N1 1TW
