Park of the week

12. Gladstone Park

This large park is In Dollis Hill, between Wembley and Hampstead, on a hill with views across London. It’s not an area I’m familiar with, but I spotted the park when looking at a map, trying to identify one Jack was talking about but didn’t know the name of. All he was able to tell me was that it’s near his primary school (he has an amazing memory). Gladstone park wasn’t it, but Jack didn’t mind. I’m glad we went there, it’s one of my favourites and it was much more enjoyable than the one he actually meant (I eventually identified it). 

Gladstone Park evolved from the parkland of the Dollis Hill Estate and became a public park in 1901. It was named after the former Prime Minister Sir William Gladstone, who had spent many years staying in Hill House (contained in the park) as his weekend retreat. The low walls, all that remains of the house, are at the top of the hill. The park is large enough that it didn’t feel crowded. 

It’s more interesting than some we’ve visited (and which I won’t be writing about) because it has a lot of different areas to explore. These include large areas of parkland of different sorts – not just a vast open space although it includes that. It has a walled garden, duck pond, tree-lined avenues and open ground, sports pitches, playgrounds, and an outdoor gym. There are sculptures, like this bird, which I managed to photograph during a split second when children weren’t clambering over it.

Among the tree lined avenues is the Gandhi Peace Grove.

Behind a locked, fenced enclosure is the Holocaust Memorial, created in 1968 by a local Jewish sculptor who had been a prisoner of war. It consists of four seated figures and one standing. It is inscribed ‘To the memory of Prisoners of War and Victims of Concentration Camps 1914-1945’.

It’s possible to park on the roads on all sides of the park and there’s a car park by the Dollis Hill Lane entrance. It’s a ten-minute walk from Dollis Hill station.

Judith Field

Gladstone Park, 52 Mulgrave Rd, London NW10 1BT