Park of the week

122. Reveley Lodge

Reveley Lodge is a Grade II listed Victorian house and public gardens in Bushey Heath. It’s managed by the Reveley Lodge Trust, which was set up to preserve the house and gardens and to provide an arts and education resource for the local community. It also has a gallery, and I got the idea of visiting the garden after a friend put on an art exhibition there.

The house was built between 1842 and 1845 as a ‘gentleman’s cottage’ – a small country house within easy reach of London. The property included a chaise house (for a carriage) and stable.

The gardens are open to the public six days a week all year round and entry is free. There is a formal terrace and listed conservatory, lawns, rose garden, kitchen and flower garden, pond, woodland walk, summer meadow, herbaceous borders, medicinal plants, and beehives. There’s also a ‘human sundial’ - you stand in a marked place on one of the lawns and move your arms to set positions. However, I went at the beginning of October and there wasn’t any sun.

World War II impacted the lives of the owners of Reveley Lodge, and information boards about the war, based on their diaries and letters, are on display on the terrace. Towards the end of the war, the Nazis deployed V1 flying bombs and V2 rockets. The rockets travelled at supersonic speed and there was no audible warning. The nearest a V2 rocket landed to Reveley Lodge was between Harrow and Pinner. I don’t know if that’s the reason why there’s a rocket tucked away among the trees that looks like a half-sized V2. It was put in the garden in August 2022, and you can step inside it.

A time capsule was buried close to the roots of an oak tree in the garden in January 2022 to mark the 80th anniversary of The Association of Jewish Refugees (AJR). The Association planted trees around the UK to thank all the British people who helped Jewish refugees find safety in Britain from Nazi Europe, and to celebrate the contribution that the Jewish refugees have made to British life. 

There’s a tearoom and café, and toilets. Parking spaces for disabled visitors can be pre-arranged, otherwise there is space to park on nearby streets.

Judith Field

Reveley Lodge, 88 Elstree Road, Bushey Heath WD23 4GL