Park of the week

203. Kenton Recreation Ground

Kenton Recreation Ground, in Kenton, is a green space offering an outdoor gym, multi-use fields, basketball and tennis courts, a playground and exercise paths. It won the Green Flag Award in 2024, highlighting its quality and value as a public space. Part of the park is an area of local importance for nature conservation. The park has some formal beds and various areas of ornamental shrubs and conifers, and trees throughout with a line of Lombardy poplars next to the raised playing field.

Kenton Recreation Ground has a history rooted in the local area's development. Originally, the land was part of the hamlet of Kenton, surrounded by fields with names like "Great Little" and "Gorefield". Kenton (‘the farm of the sons of Coena’) probably began as a Saxon settlement in a forest clearing. It was near a prehistoric track, the modern Honeypot Lane.

In 1930, Wealdstone Urban District Council purchased the land, previously used as a sewage farm, to create a recreational space for residents. It was officially converted into the Recreation Ground in 1936. 
While looking through the British Newspaper Archive for relevant snippets, my eye was caught by the heading “Cycle path outrage”. It seems that in 1997, Harrow council planned a two-metre-wide cycle path in the park. Local families were concerned that it would be a waste of money, when the council were looking to make large cuts across the board, and create a hazard. I don’t think the path is there, although there are ordinary paths, and in 2020 something called a pump track for BMX riders was opened, offering different levels of difficulty. There’s a junior park run each Sunday morning.

Kenton Recreation Ground has a car park, and there are parking spaces on nearby streets. 

Judith Field

Kenton Recreation Ground, 39A Carlton Ave, Harrow HA3 8AX