Park of the week

146. Finsbury Gardens 

This small garden is nowhere near Finsbury Park, Finsbury Square or Finsbury Circus. It’s actually in Bounds Green, but in Finsbury Road.

The land in this area probably formed part of the large Bowes Farm Manor Estate, granted by Henry IV to the Dean and Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral in 1412. In 1852 the Finsbury Freehold Land Society purchased 92 acres of Wood Green Farm and developed the Wood Green Estate. 

The New River Company (now Thames Water) had plans to realign the New River, which brought fresh water to north London, and bought what is now Finsbury gardens to run the river in a tunnel underneath, opened in 1859. In 1895 land above the tunnel was leased to Haringey and became Finsbury, Nightingale, and Avenue Gardens (see number 68 for our visit to the two), public gardens laid out with grass, trees set in shrubberies, and curving paths. They first appear on a map in 1912. The tunnel, and the river it contains, are the reason no houses were built on the site.

Among the mature trees in the garden are five horse chestnuts on the east side that may date from the original planting, there are also two large conifers. The north end of the garden is laid out with hard surfacing and a children's playground and park area including sandpit, small hill to climb and this giant wooden lizard.

Judith Field

Finsbury Gardens, Finsbury Road, London N22 8PA