Park of the week

151. Woodside Park

This park is actually in Wood Green. 

The site was originally part of the much larger Chitts Hill Estate which covered a large part of Wood Green and beyond. Most of what later became the park was developed as Earlham Grove House and grounds in 1865.
Former occupants include philanthropist Catherine Smithies (1785–1877), who founded the Bands of Mercy animal welfare group which later merged with the RSPCA. Wood Green local board of health purchased Earlham Grove House, with eleven acres of land, in 1893. 

I found out that, in 1899, before land was converted to a park and opened in 1900, three men were prosecuted for playing pitch and toss there on a Sunday, in breach of Sunday gambling laws. One of the accused had got away at first, over a barbed wire fence, but when one of the police officers ‘attempted the same feat, came to grief, tearing his uniform and losing certain money.’ The men were fined 2s 6d with costs, i.e. 12.5p, equivalent to about £21 today. 

The park has a mix of open grassland, trees, (horse chestnut, lime and oak), a play area, sports pitch, bowling club and a sensory garden with seating and aromatic plants. 

An interesting building in the park is the Mushroom House or Round House, Wood Green’s oldest building. This is the former gate house to Chitts Hill House, built in 1822 and now Grade II listed. It’s tiny, with only two bedrooms, but the 1871 census shows it was home to the coachman, his wife and six children plus a lodger. It became a tearoom, then a children’s playhouse, then fell derelict, but it was restored and is now in residential use.

There’s a café, toilets and benches. There isn’t a car park, but we parked on a nearby street.

Judith Field

Woodside Park, 294 High Rd, London N22 8YX