Park of the week

195. Stanmore Recreation Ground

This park is in Stanmore. It’s mainly a large open space big enough for a football pitch, with paths around the edge, benches, shrubs and trees, including old and very large oaks. This is one of my photos, I've been messing about with it instead of writing.

The site the park occupies was probably once part of the estate of Stanmore Hall, built by the Duke of Chandos in the 18th Century. In 1889 the estate was purchased by William Knox D'Arcy, who had made a fortune in Australia. He lived in the house until his death in 1917. The house was then used as an assize court and during World War II it was used by US troops. From 1947 until 1971 it was a nurses' home for the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital. By the 1930s the grounds were already being built over by new houses. 

The park was opened in May 1932. The Hendon & Finchley Times reported on it, with the headline “A Stanmore Lung” and described the park as “all that could be desired”. The name originally suggested had been The People’s Park, but Stanmore Recreation Ground was preferred.

In 1939, trenches were dug in the park, for people to use for protection during air raids if they were away from home or a shelter.

In 1950, a local paper reported that a special gate had been opened to enable a disabled boy aged 10, who had difficulty walking to the entrance, to get into the park. It cost £l2 7shillings and 9 pence (worth about £380 today) and the boy’s father agreed to pay have the cost plus a yearly fee of £1. The gate was meant to be for the boy’s use only, but there’s no information on how this was to have been enforced.

The park has an outdoor gym, playground and a bowls club. There’s a car park, but no café or toilets. 

There are entrances on Stanmore Hill and Dennis Lane.

Judith Field

Stanmore Recreation Ground, Stanmore Hill, Stanmore HA7 3DS