Park of the week

95. Headstone Recreation Ground

This park, one of Harrow’s six Green Flag Parks, gained the Award in 2022. It’s a remnant of a medieval estate once owned by the Archbishops of Canterbury. The land was worked as a farm until the nineteen twenties, although by then the land was increasingly being sold for housing development. In 1925 it was sold to the local authority and opened as Headstone Park in 1928. 

Headstone Manor, inside the park, is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It consists of four separate historic buildings with the Harrow Museum and Heritage Centre based in the Manor House itself. The other three are the tithe barn, small barn, and granary. The tithe barn dates from the sixteenth century and was used for stabling and crop storage by the Archbishops and tenant farmers. By the nineteen twenties it had become dilapidated but in 1943 repairs were undertaken and it became The Barn Theatre, used as part of the Second World Wartime Holiday-at-Home Scheme. This was designed to prevent unnecessary travel by encouraging local authorities to draw up a programme of amusements for the summer months. The events were designed to save space on trains for troops and to keep people at home. 

The park includes lots of open space, football and cricket pitches, children’s play areas, tennis and basketball courts, outdoor gym, wetland area, a marked walking trail, woodland, and hedgerows, which are home to wild plants and flowers.

A section of Yeading Brook runs through the park. This is a sixteen-mile tributary of the River Crane (which is itself a tributary of the River Thames). Sticklebacks can be found here.

Dogs are allowed in the park, although there are some dog-free areas. There’s a café, and toilets, in the museum. There’s also a car park.

Judith Field

Headstone Recreation Ground, Pinner View, HA2 6PX