Park of the week

48. Waterlow Park

This park is in Highgate Village. It’s on a steep hillside and has some of the best views over London. 

The land the park occupies has been laid out as gardens since the seventeenth century. It was formed from the combined grounds of five houses, including the poet Andrew Marvell’s cottage, and Lauderdale House. Sir Sydney Waterlow, businessman and Lord Mayor of London bought the properties and their grounds and in 1872 he leased them to St Bartholomew’s Hospital for patients who were convalescing. It was used for this until 1883. Waterlow gave it to the local authority in 1889, as a ‘garden for the gardenless’, as he put it. The park, described in the Illustrated London News as a ‘munificent gift of delightful pleasure grounds’ was officially opened in October 1891.

Lauderdale House still sits at the edge of the park and is now used as a tearoom and for functions and arts events. On the terrace is a large wrought-iron sundial with the hours marked by surrounding bedding plants.

The park has paths throughout and is landscaped with three ponds, one of which is designated as a restricted nature area. There are borders, grassy slopes, and a wide variety of trees. There are barbecue areas, and tennis and netball courts. Writing this takes me back to my Liverpool schooldays and memories of netball, running pointlessly up and down the playground in gym skirt and t shirt (tights not allowed) while the PE teacher stood shivering, anorak hood up, hands in pockets, shouting commands like ‘mark your partners’, through chattering teeth. I still think netball is a stupid game. The park also has an area for pétanque, which is more to my taste. I like to play boules – and to write it.

There are toilets in the park, and a café in Lauderdale House. There is also a children’s play area, with equipment for young children. This lack of large swings put Jack in a bad mood so we headed for home, which involved walking up a very steep hill. As Jack is not very fit and, when we visited, I was recovering from illness, before we reached the top we both sounded like Darth Vader. Luckily, there are plenty of benches to sit on.

There is parking on surrounding streets, although I imagine this could be hard to find. We were lucky enough to find a space on Highgate Hill. The nearest station is Archway, about a 10 minute walk away, or you can get a bus from there to the park.

Judith Field

Waterlow Park, Highgate Hill, London N6 5HG