Park of the week

121. Waterfields Recreation Ground

This park, which I found by looking at an online map of the area, is a Green Flag-winning open space situated on the River Colne, just to the north of Watford Town Centre. The land it occupies used to be pasture. The park was laid out in 1901, with lime trees planted around the boundaries.

The park was refurbished in 2015 and has a playground, football pitch, table tennis and plenty of green open space, with some wild areas for biodiversity. The River Colne, a tributary of the Thames, runs though the grounds and visitors can walk along a riverside path on either side. The banks are lined with lime, willow and alder trees, and natural vegetation. This section of the river is designated as a ‘Local Wildlife Site 84/014 for Flowing waters (rivers and streams).’ 

Near the bridge over the river is an obelisk:  a Grade II listed historical coal marker. The city of London placed these markers on coal transport routes to mark the places where tax had to be paid. At first the money raised was used to help pay for the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire in 1666. The legislation was renewed in 1861 and the Marker in Waterfields dates from this time. The London Coat of Arms is marked on the southeast face of the obelisk.

Just inside the park is a small garden featuring a sculpture of a swimmer on a plinth, about to dive into the water. He wears a stripy Edwardian bathing costume, with his head covered with a knotted handkerchief. In the early nineteen hundreds this was the site of a freshwater lido, and in the nineteen thirties it was the home of the Watford Swimming Club. The statue is part of the Colne River Sculpture Trail, a series of five sculptures set up in 2014 to celebrate Watford’s cultural and social heritage.

There’s a small car park. Spaces are also available to park on nearby streets.

Waterfields Recreation Ground, Shaftesbury Road, Watford WD17 2RG