Park of the week

33. Roundwood Park

This formal Victorian Park in Willesden has English Heritage grade two listed status and holds the Green Flag Award.
In the 19th century it was known as both Knowles Hill and Hunger Hill Common Field. In 1892 the local authority bought the land, consisting of a hill and a few trees, from the owner of Roundwood House. After a lot of work by the architect and surveyor Oliver Claude Robson and further development, the park was opened in 1895. At the opening the Chairman of the Parks Committee described it as ‘a veritable Garden of Eden without the serpents.’ Close to the main entrance is a roofed drinking fountain built in 1895 to commemorate the opening. Two oak trees were planted in 1897 in honour of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. To mark the 100th anniversary of the park in 1995, the paved rosebush-lined central pathway was fitted out with new seats and a Victorian-style gazebo.

The park is mainly laid to open lawns crossed by paths, with shrub beds, rockeries, and mature trees. There’s a café with an outdoor sitting area, and toilets (inside), a children’s playground, outdoor gym, and a bowling green. There’s also an aviary, housing zebra finches, cockatiels, canaries, and golden pheasants. It also has budgies, so we were able to say hello to Peppy and Bilbo again (see Pinner Memorial Park) and their grey friend Cloudy.

The paths lead to a viewing area at the top of a hill, from which you can see Wembley Stadium. The park is bounded on the north by Willesden New and Willesden Jewish Cemeteries, which you can also see from the hill. I don’t know whether it was for this reason that a man sitting on a bench some distance away was singing ‘Knocking on Heaven’s Door’, accompanying himself on the guitar. It might have been a coincidence, but I thought it was peculiar and rather tasteless, particularly as we visited in November 2020, shortly after the second national lockdown had been enforced. 

There is no on-site carpark but there is space available on nearby streets.

Judith Field
 

Roundwood Park, Harlesden Road, London NW10 3SH