Park of the week

104. Finsbury Circus Gardens

Not to be mixed up with nearby Finsbury Square, or not so nearby Finsbury Park, Finsbury Circus Gardens is the largest open space in the City of London. 

For the ten years up to August 2020, it was closed as the central part was occupied by Crossrail, who used it to dig down and sideways to the tunnels underneath in constructing Liverpool Street Elizabeth Line station. It has a large lawn in the centre, surrounded by tall trees, including London plane, lime trees and a Japanese pagoda tree, and a bandstand.

This Grade II listed garden is what remains of Moor Fields, London's first public park, dating from 1607. The Circus was created in 1812, the name reflecting its elliptical shape, like the circuses in ancient Rome. It was opened as a public park in the early twentieth century, having previously been a private space for the use of the freeholders or leaseholders of the surrounding buildings.

The lawn is lined with benches, and I sat for a while, watching a group of hi-vis jacketed children on the other side, from a nearby nursery perhaps, playing with hula hoops. I was visited by a baby starling. I wish I’d thought to bring some birdseed for it. I’ll have to add that to the fish food we always take along; perhaps in separate pockets of my jeans.

The City of London Corporation is said to be bringing proposals forward to improve the gardens and introduce a new pavilion building that will be used as a café and restaurant. There isn’t one at the moment, nor toilets.

Just outside Finsbury Circus is what looks like a small stone obelisk, dedicated to the memory of George Dance the Younger, the architect who designed the Circus. The road in front of it has an array of large manhole covers, and the indents at the top of the obelisk are open spaces. The obelisk is actually hollow, and it’s a ventilation tower. The site used to be an underground toilet, but in 1997 the site was cleared and taken over for use as an underground gas storage facility. 

Assuming you don’t want to drive, and in particular try to park in the City, the easiest way to the garden is by Underground to Moorgate, from which it’s about a 5-minute walk. 

Judith Field

Finsbury Circus Gardens. Finsbury Circus, London EC2M 7DT